How secure is my contact data?

[msprong]

Can someone tell me how concerned we should be about people/applications accessing my contact information that I sync with my Outlook? Aside from making sure I don't physically lose my phone, I want to know if I should be paranoid of someone getting access to private information I may have in my contacts.

Thanks.

 

[AndroidSPCS]

Google engineers have access to the data should they deem you important enough to look at, but they are highly monitored (according to Google) and can be fired if they abuse it.

So it's about as secure as expected with any cloud based data.

The other risk is installing malware apps that may steal your data, but if you don't go app crazy and use common sense you should be okay.

You have to weigh the pros and cons of having your data in the cloud. For me, it's worth using Gmail / calendar for the benefits.

 

[msprong]

I don't keep my contact data on gmail for that reason. It's only to be in my Outlook and on my phone. I'm all for the cloud for most things, but not with storing critical info.

 

[AndroidSPCS]

And that's fine.

What's ironic is that most contact info is email info - which is cloud based or at least internet processed, and phone numbers - which most companies have in some shape or form.

I don't see how / why contact info is so uber-critical. Why would anyone be so interested in *your* contact info?