Database Users

Do any custom roms have any data privacy features built in? How safe is our data?

It worrys me when I try to install a new app, only to see a long list of permissions its requesting. Why would a simple game require it access my call logs, phone number etc...
Is there anything built into custom roms that prevents this private data being sent out? Can these apps really pull your info such as your whole contact list and call history?
I just installed an app called LBE privacy guard, and even Launcher Pro is trying to access my call logs and sms messages. Ive set most all apps to restricted on it and my security log is full of downloaded apps trying to access my info.

redspeed said:
It worrys me when I try to install a new app, only to see a long list of permissions its requesting. Why would a simple game require it access my call logs, phone number etc...
Is there anything built into custom roms that prevents this private data being sent out? Can these apps really pull your info such as your whole contact list and call history?
I just installed an app called LBE privacy guard, and even Launcher Pro is trying to access my call logs and sms messages. Ive set most all apps to restricted on it and my security log is full of downloaded apps trying to access my info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CM7 allows for the ability to restrict permissions for specific applications(not finished yet), but that's the only one.
FWIW, Launcher Pro requests those permissions to do little "pop ups" on the dock for missed calls and text messages.

Decad3nce said:
FWIW, Launcher Pro requests those permissions to do little "pop ups" on the dock for missed calls and text messages.
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Click to collapse
That makes me feel a little bit better at least. Thought Launcher Pro was betraying me by stealing my info
When an app requests permissions like read contact data- does it actually have the ability to go through my private contact list and send back the names and phone numbers to their server?

I've always thought it funny that people who worry about data security will install a ROM built by a semi-anonymous chef. At least when you deal with Samsung and Sprint you know who has to answer for any problems. With a cooked ROM, who knows what could be in there?

I don't know what they would want to do with anyone's contacts but like posted above most apps use notification features even though some don't use the feature that often it is still available I trust that Google's os has certain inalienable features to keep app in check and make sure data is safe..... I haven't heard of anyone being killed or follwed because location data was sent to a corporation .... now calleriq is something to be requined with...

No one show the OP what carrieriq is ...lol
Sent from my SPH-D700

poit said:
I've always thought it funny that people who worry about data security will install a ROM built by a semi-anonymous chef. At least when you deal with Samsung and Sprint you know who has to answer for any problems. With a cooked ROM, who knows what could be in there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe moderators examine Roms for that sort of thing. Also, if it was found out that someone was doing that, there would be some major problems.

Wheres my Phone

Would anyone be able to tell me if there is an app like HTC Sense online that lets me see where my phone is at any time?
Cheers

Where's my Droid
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

Try
samsungdive.com

redesignni said:
Would anyone be able to tell me if there is an app like HTC Sense online that lets me see where my phone is at any time?
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try Android Lost

digi_fort said:
Try Android Lost
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
.....................

The best & free solution is already on your phone. On your SGSII Go to Settings>Accounts & Sync. Create a Samsung account there if you haven't already. Then go to samsungdive.com to track your device, lock it, make it ring if lost.

what if it is stolen and the ROM has been changed?

Cerberus protects even starting without a Sim or a different one, and capture photos if wrong screen lock, call logs and SMS, remote wipe, tracking with GPS, phone wake and scream, popup message, apply extra lock, call phone even if you don't know the number, record calls, hide app, etc. can be SMS or Web activation, Cheap lifetime license and can be installed on 5 devices. Vendor built Sim checker before then two years ago and I can confirm that service is still running. can be moved to /system/app and survives factory reset, Basically only new flash ROM will kill it.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

With remote lock applied from Web site

Lol just saw can take photo on demand and email it, or if phone finder dismisses a popup request to return the phone.
Used push notification unlike Samsung solution which I found was battery killer
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

You can give a try to
- Watchdroid
- Phone locator
- Lost Phone
- Wheres my Droid
- SMS remote control
....
I didn't still find the right one ;-) and still searching....

Guys,
I have lost my Galaxy S1 earlier this year; had Samsung dive setup while the phone was lost, but did not help me.The phone was switched off by the time I realized the loss.
I guess, folk who get their hand on some ones phone, kinda know what to do with the Samsung beasts/beauties. Handovers to someone to wipe and flash, would be their best bet, I reckon. I am sory, not taking about all honest folks who would have return the devices to the actual owners.
Since then, have been searching for solutions which are wipe proof / flash proof but not successful. I have even checked android feature request sometime back ,found none.
Since then I have been thinking of this crazy idea that Google needs to implement as part of android OS.
Since we are registering phone / market app on the phone with Google with a gmail id, why can't Google associate the IMIE of the phone with that gmail id ?
If the registered user decides to sell / transfer the phone to someone else the registered user, the register user of the phone initiates the request for transfer with another gmail id / approves the request from another gmail id, without which all/most to the Google support Android features like maps, browser, market ,emails would not work.
i am not finished yet.., android should have a feature to re-confirm the ownership regularly every after a fixed duration of time, which can be user defined. As long as he/she is on data connection, the renewal is a silent process with the cached credentials on the device. If not, provide some window of time time reconfirm the ownership, failing which the lock the features down to just phone calls / limited set user defined and basic android operations. This could be a optional feature, rather than losing the phone and would opt for this feature and i wont mind reconfirming my phone ownership at regular intervals
If someone lost an android phone , he/she has to just change the registered gmail account password which would make if difficult to renew the ownership.If the phone has a data connection, using the registered Google account on the lost device,one should be able to push a message to displayhttp://media.xda-developers.com/images/icons/icon9.gifed on the lock screen and home screen. Similar to ChromeTohone / SendToPhone feature.
Mandatory reconfirmation on every flash which are not Non -Wipe. On devices with NFC/ similar chips with writable memory, the ownership details can be written to it and will not be wiped off by wipe or flashing.
Also I would make a humble request to all devs and ROM chefs to keep their busy hands off this feature, if implemented. Ethical stuff
We all love/hate our android phones but won't want to loose them, please let me know you feedback.
PS : I have moved on since my SGS1 only after mouning the loss,but now owns a SGS2

androidlost is the best

[Q] What is the best anti-thieft app?

Hy.
Do anyone know an app, maybe free, that if I lost or stolen my phone the app make pictures with the front camera and send it to an e-mail address or phone number with the current location? And if somebody make pictures/videos/phone call or send a sms, the app automatically (after a SIM card change too) send it to me or a preset address (e-mail/phone number)?
Thanks in advance!

I use an app called gotya unfortunately it's not a free app but it's cheap price on Google play it takes picture of person who tries to get into your phone plus it sends you an email with pic of person plus location very good app and there are other stuff you can do
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app

I use tasker for this. I have created a profile for tasker in this manner- If not connected to home wifi AND if I send it a specific "xxxxxx yyy" message from a certain number, it activates a certain tasker profile. Then it does the following every time someone tries to unlock via pattern lock- take front and rear pictures, turn on gps and mobile data, send pictures and gps coordinates every 25 minutes to a certain number and email. It also does the same routine every time I send it a specific message like say "location update" from a certain number. Once battery level reaches 30%- start backing up data to cloud accounts.
It can be programmed to do more of course lol but that would drain its battery very quickly. Also if someone just pulls out the battery/sim card, puts a new sim card, and then flashes a new rom, there's not much that can be done I guess with tasker or an app..

I like 'where's my droid'

Cerburus is my personal favourite

But these are not free And I do not want to use it via sms. I more prefer the website communication.

Prey.
Edit - You do realise there's a very simple/logical reason why most of these apps use activation SMS's (rather than web based); if I'm a thief & nick someone's phone, the last thing I'm going to do is turn mobile data on, but obviously if I'm going to actually use the phone, I'm going to leave mobile networks on.

I use avg anti virus protection it works great.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

Since someone sold my S4 last month and I was careless by not installing any kinda anti-theft or security, i googled a lot about this stuff after buying my new phone. Always set a password/pattern lock for your phone. It not just helps against thieves but also against nosey family members/friends/co-workers, etc. About the free anti-virus/anti-theft app that captures pictures from the front camera as well as the capture location and sends you an email, Lookout Security & Antivirus works just fine. It takes a picture of the person that incorrectly enters your password/pattern more than 3 or so times. It also has a signal flare feature which emails you the location of your phone when the battery is low. For all this to work well though, i suggest turning on your phone's GPS along with the mobile data when you leave your home (assuming you're on wifi there). It might affect your battery life a bit but it's worth it imo. Samsung also has some anti-theft features built in btw. Go in Settings>More>Security and you'll see a 'Find my mobile' tab with Remote Controls and SIM change alert, set them both up asap. Also once you do all this, in the Security settings, go into Device administrators and make sure Android Device Manager and Lookout are both checked. Hopefully this helps you!

Try prey
Sent from my GT-I9500 using xda app-developers app

Well I use Cerberus now, and I bought it
It is great. Via SMS commands works fine.

Exchange Services - SmsRelayService HELP!!!!!

Someone please help! Having read the very little amount of content I can find so far, I am extremely concerned that somehow some or all of my text messages are being relayed to an email account via the Service (SmsRelayService) that is running under the app Exchange Services.
I don't seem to be able to find anything conclusive, but what I have found is that it is likely to be relaying text messages to an Exchange Account?
I can stop the Service and it stays 'stopped' until a text message is received and it starts running again.
Now have a Note 4, having upgraded because my last handset appeared to have been tampered with and was also behaving in this manner, as well as my Google Location History recording me in places that I never was. On that handset there were even more questionable apps running, one of which appeared to be some form of spyware when searched in Google!
Is there any way that you can dig deep into the operating system of the device and see what is going on?
Is there any way of identifying is my suspicions and those of others that I have seen post similar stories are correct?
One of the reasons I started to question it initially and then look into it was because I was receiving overly descriptive and some unnecessary text messages from someone and at the same time, another device nearby was demonstrating email notification sounds!
Not only that, but certain things that I had not discussed with certain people, but had discussed over text with others (in no way related or connected) were being brought up!
Help please.... is SmsRelayService under the app Exchange Services something to be worried about?????

I was also shocked by the lack of information on this "SmsRelayService" There are tunz of questions out there about it.
After much research and messing with my phone I feel the service is stock BUT can be hijacked by some unknown application to send all texts to a 3rd party. My x was getting my text messages somehow. In her email account i found she had set up a service on her own phone first to test and she would receive every text on the phone and also location. I assume she set it up on her own phone first to figure it out then she put it on my phone. I have a rooted phone with a custom rom. strangely the SmsRelayService had permission for EVERYTHING on my phone. From sms to photos and every single admin right possible. I doubt this is normal for that service. my custom Rom has a "App ops" menu that shows what the service has used or not. In my case it looks like she was only accessing my sms messages. Killing the service did not help as when a new text came in it started back up and accessed the new messages. Once i removed all the permissions for "SmsRelayService" in the "App ops" menu i no longer had the problem of the service accessing the texts. Without this menu option i don’t know how i would have stopped it. I'd assume there is an app or process killer out there that would have been able to shut it down but it'd take someone else with a normal rom to let us know.
in my case I’m lucky it was only sms's. It looks as though whatever she put on my phone was only getting sms's. the app having access to all rights on the phone a better or more in depth spy app/program could have accessed much more. Only spying my sms activity i did not notice ANY extra battery drain. Also this app is known with Microsoft exchange and that messes up a lot of the research. I have never setup any other account but a gmail account so without a link there i don’t know why else it'd been activated in the first place if not for a spy app. I'll try and post back in a few weeks after i'v been able to see if she suddenly doesn’t have information that she shouldn’t know.

[HELP NEEDED] Messaging Apps (WhatsApp, Telegram) not working outside of Wi-Fi Range

Hey guys, so I'm totally new to this forum and have not had any experience regarding flashing/rooting/etc., so please let me know if you need any more infos. Thankful for any help you can provide
A friend of mine has recently "upgraded" my Galaxy S3 Neo (GT-I9301I) with Cyanogenmod 12.1 (12.1-20151007-UNOFFICIAL-s3ve3g) and (after having fixed the annoying camera-issue that seems to arise quite often), we have come across one major problem we cannot seem to fix:
WhatsApp and Telegram can NOT send or receive any messages if you are outside of WiFi-range. Within WiFi-range they work fine, no problems whatsoever. But as soon as you go outside and have to rely purely on network access, they just don't do what they are supposed to do. However, all other apps requiring internet-connection work perfectly fine outside of WiFi range (e.g. Google Chrome, GMail, Traffic Information services etc.), so there MUST be network-access.
Here is what we tried in order to fix it (without any success):
- DroidWall: We checked and unchecked and checked both boxes again (always applying the rules), so now the apps should have full access in and out of WiFi-range.
- We uninstalled and reinstalled both apps.
- We went into the App settings and checked if everything was set to "Allowed" instead of "Ignored" or "Always Ask".
- We went into the in-app "Settings-menu" of each app, in order to find any option that might restrict access - we did not find any.
- Simple things like restarting the phone, clearing app-caches, resetting the network-provider etc. did not work either.
So here I am, hoping that some pros among you have an idea how to proceed Thanks a lot in advance!!

DrDehli said:
Hey guys, so I'm totally new to this forum and have not had any experience regarding flashing/rooting/etc., so please let me know if you need any more infos. Thankful for any help you can provide
A friend of mine has recently "upgraded" my Galaxy S3 Neo (GT-I9301I) with Cyanogenmod 12.1 (12.1-20151007-UNOFFICIAL-s3ve3g) and (after having fixed the annoying camera-issue that seems to arise quite often), we have come across one major problem we cannot seem to fix:
WhatsApp and Telegram can NOT send or receive any messages if you are outside of WiFi-range. Within WiFi-range they work fine, no problems whatsoever. But as soon as you go outside and have to rely purely on network access, they just don't do what they are supposed to do. However, all other apps requiring internet-connection work perfectly fine outside of WiFi range (e.g. Google Chrome, GMail, Traffic Information services etc.), so there MUST be network-access.
Here is what we tried in order to fix it (without any success):
- DroidWall: We checked and unchecked and checked both boxes again (always applying the rules), so now the apps should have full access in and out of WiFi-range.
- We uninstalled and reinstalled both apps.
- We went into the App settings and checked if everything was set to "Allowed" instead of "Ignored" or "Always Ask".
- We went into the in-app "Settings-menu" of each app, in order to find any option that might restrict access - we did not find any.
- Simple things like restarting the phone, clearing app-caches, resetting the network-provider etc. did not work either.
So here I am, hoping that some pros among you have an idea how to proceed Thanks a lot in advance!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whatsapp needs an internet connection, ofc it want work because you have not an internet connection, if you are out of the wifi range than turn mobile data, be careful it will cost you some money
edit: maybe you dont have good signal

Try to reflash the rom, and check again. Also check if restricted background data is enabled (globally or specifically in these apps): Settings > Data Usage. Click on these apps and check the toggle is switched off and try to switch it on and off again. Also check in the main Data Usage page, clicking the 3 doted menu on the top right to be written "Restrict background data" and not "Allow background data"

Check your APN settings. Maybe a WAP-APN is selected by default. These APNs block Data on some ports. I had the same problem on my device after flashing CM12.1, the default value was wap.vodafone.de instead of web.vodafone.de

xantaro said:
Check your APN settings. Maybe a WAP-APN is selected by default. These APNs block Data on some ports. I had the same problem on my device after flashing CM12.1, the default value was wap.vodafone.de instead of web.vodafone.de
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That did the trick! You, sir, are a lifesaver!! :good: