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Why does a weather app need access to phone state and identity?

T

tenchy

Well-Known Member
Why do some weather apps need these permission:

  • Phone callsread phone state and identity
    Allows the application to access the phone features of the device. An application with this permission can determine the phone number and serial number of this phone, whether a call is active, the number that call is connected to and the like.
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yet others manage without?

I cannot see why weather needs this at all?
 
If you tell us the Weather app you're talking about, I'm sure some of us will give you our opinions on if it's a good app or not :)
 
fdbryant3 said:
I'd actually recommend asking them, if they don't answer or your not satisfied with their answer go with someone else :-)
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I did. Apparently it is for one of the ad providers.
I'm not keen on that if I am honest.
It's bad enough telling the Umbrella corp (google) everything.
 
It may be a moot point as Met Office seems like a good alternative, but I did some research on why this permission is used. As others have noted, this permission can mean a lot of things- it can be used to determine your phone's state, your phone's unique identifier, and your internet's state. However, from my research, the most common thing it's used for is to read your phone's unique ID for ads. It's used by Google's AdMob, so that's where it comes into play most often. Apparently I have read that there are some privacy guard apps out there that are pretty good at blocking specific permissions- it might be worth looking into if you're worried about this sort of thing.
 
droididol said:
It may be a moot point as Met Office seems like a good alternative, but I did some research on why this permission is used. As others have noted, this permission can mean a lot of things- it can be used to determine your phone's state, your phone's unique identifier, and your internet's state. However, from my research, the most common thing it's used for is to read your phone's unique ID for ads. It's used by Google's AdMob, so that's where it comes into play most often. Apparently I have read that there are some privacy guard apps out there that are pretty good at blocking specific permissions- it might be worth looking into if you're worried about this sort of thing.
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Thanks. sounds interesting. A bit like a software firewall..
 
Many apps need to know the phone state so they don't do anything while you're on a call. There are also reports that Google wants to monitor voice calls so they can target ads based on key words said in the call. That's going too far, IMO. We need something like the Ghostery addon for Firefox, which blocks all those trackers. Admob, etc, are all blocked by Ghostery, and we really need an equivalent for Android, both for browsers and voice apps. I would pay for that.
 
sgosnell said:
Many apps need to know the phone state so they don't do anything while you're on a call. There are also reports that Google wants to monitor voice calls so they can target ads based on key words said in the call. That's going too far, IMO. We need something like the Ghostery addon for Firefox, which blocks all those trackers. Admob, etc, are all blocked by Ghostery, and we really need an equivalent for Android, both for browsers and voice apps. I would pay for that.
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The google part sounds believable to me!
 
Hi,

The MetOffice Application now wants to 'Read Phone status and identity', this is a new thing as it was all ok last month (June 2013).

I'll email them and ask why.

BigTed
 
Very quick response, I'm hoping they mean they are working to remove it...

Dear Ted,

Thank you for your email.

We are aware that there are a few issues with the Android which we are working to correct. The Met Office has no desire to collect any additional user information and as a Government organisation regards user privacy with the highest respect. We are working hard to resolve this situation.

Kind regards,

Jack

Weather Desk Advisor
 
"The issue you have referred to has been raised to our development team in order to rectify the situation."

Sounds good.
 
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