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Comment by andrewia | Hacker News Reader

Google removed the install-time permissions dialog because they replaced it with runtime permissions. This makes sense - some users wants PayPal or WhatsApp to access their contact list, and others won't. It also fixes "permission blindness", where users blindly accept a long list of permissions because they need the app, or just stop caring because it's too much to comprehend all at once.

Obviously, this isn't perfect, especially since Google removed the internet permission and allowed all apps to access it. Allowing advanced users like us to toggle off internet access in the "App info" permission page would be a good compromise, and I hope and Android team does so to match Apple on their security efforts.

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It's taken a decade, but it's pretty much moved back to the permission model that j2me had, which iOS and Android deliberately removed & sold as better UX. Seems like the original devs of j2me knew what they were doing - only the joe public's weren't ready for permission popups then like they are now. :sigh:

Fixes “permission blindness”? So, the current form of Google Play (app) Store “Data Security” section of each app being shown as “(blank)” is surely yet another form of “permission blindness”.

Google Play Store being proactive in protecting these end-users from their own form of stupidity (or “permission blindness”, as you have eloquently pointed out) is just opening themselves to potential liability ramifications instead of deferring to end-user’s responsibility of maintaining their own privacy.

I think that the term “permission blindess” is better referred to as an app having zero privilege.

And “App Privileges” should have referred to runtime permissions and should have been displayed in the first place at the Google Play Store instead of install-time privileges.

Your apps have no permissions until you allow them. If you install spyware and it wants all your contacts and files it has to ask. You simply select "no" and then remove it.

Apps would force you to consent to eg contact permissions "in case you want to share something to a contact" and then harvest all your contacts. Apps can no longer use that pretense.

you get prompted for such granularity of privacy AFTER it gets installed but not before you could preview such app settings.

Yes. It has no access after being installed and before prompting. What exactly is the issue?

“Permission blindness” still remains at the stage BEFORE app installation.

Perhaps we can call what it is now as “trust me first, then we will let you verify”.

When it should be “trust but verify first”.

You should be able to review the list of required permissions before installing the app anyway.

I find it frustrating when I install a simple app and it asks me for every permission possible. Waste of time.

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