spyware, the new normal [was Re: tracking what files are being accessed by a process?]

[Andrej Marjan]

On Mon, Jan 7, 2013 at 7:07 PM, Giles Orr <gilesorr-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org> wrote:

>
> Hand in hand with all of this is the standard bypassing of Android's
> privacy controls.  Android has a bunch of access controls (ie. "Can
> access GPS" or "Can modify all files on filesystem"), but the vast
> majority of app authors ask for every permission they could
> conceivably use in any future permutation of the software right from
> the start, and the vast majority of Android users either pay no
> attention at all (think End User License Agreements on Windows) or
> need the app badly enough that they install it anyway.  Android's
> privacy controls weren't a bad idea, but it was kind of a poor
> implementation.  We should be telling the app whether or not it can
> have that permission rather than it telling us.  I think it would be
> reasonable for a map app to have to say "You haven't given me GPS
> permission so I can't tell you where you are," rather than the app
> saying "I can't install without this permission."
>

I was shocked when I got my first Android phone this year that its
permission model is so much worse than Symbian's (especially since Symbian
was a train wreck in every other way).

Is there an alternate Android distribution that actually does some sensible
permission management? I haven't wrapped my head around the Android
ecosystem yet, but so far I've only come across defunct projects that used
to do this.
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