Whats are the ten most deadly permissions?

Question

I would like to know what would be the top ten most deadly permissions that can be requested by an android. I know it might be a matter of opinion, but supposing that I had the 10 permission listed in by an application, I would definitely know my application did not generate a whole lot of confidence among users. What would be the permissions I would most likely like to avoid asking the user for.

I am aware of permissions like BRICK and SHUTDOWN but since they don't apply to third party devs I would like to know only of permission which can be requested by a third party developer.

PS: need not necessarily be 10. Any number of permissions you believe might lead to the user being weary of application would be nice.

Answer 1

CALL_PRIVILEGED - call numbers without going through the dialer

SET_ALWAYS_FINISH - controls whether or not applications become finished when put in background. Could lead to some nasty trackers or something.

READ_CONTACTS - could lead to some data stealing for ppl to add to their spammer lists.

Answer 2

I think it depends on what the app is meant to be doing.

Some days ago, for example, I was looking for a task killer app, and I ended not installing any because all the "Task Killers" I saw on the market requested full internet access. Why would they need internet access in order to kill a task? If they wanted internet access in order to display ads then they should say so, but otherwise I take the paranoid approach and I assume it is spyware.

Other than that, I am very protective of my SIM card and contacts.

Answer 3

Any app which uses ACCESS_INTERNET and READ_CONTACTS could be stealing your contacts. However, there are thousands of apps in the market that have these permissions and probably aren't...

Answer 4

Here are some I found that could potentially be very dangerous (not including the ones above :) GET_ACCOUNTS - Allows access to the list of accounts in the Accounts Service MOUNT_FORMAT_FILESYSTEMS - Allows formatting file systems for removable storage. PROCESS_OUTGOING_CALLS - Allows an application to monitor, modify, or abort outgoing calls. READ_SMS - Allows an application to read SMS messages.

SEND_SMS - Allows an application to send SMS messages.

READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE - Allows an application to read from external storage WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE - Allows an application to write to external storage

And of course the best way to transmit some of this data

INTERNET - Allows applications to open network sockets.

Answer 5

BRICK - Disable a device