Additional Permission Categories
Currently, the Privacy Dashboard shows live access data for camera, microphone, and location permissions. However, the underlying framework has been designed to expand transparency and control to additional categories over time.
Some other permissions that may be tracked in future Android releases include:
- Contacts – Read access to contact list stored on your phone
- SMS – Ability to read/send text messages
- Call Logs – Access place/record of phone calls
- Calendar – Read or modify calendar events
- Storage – Accessing files/media saved locally
Based on research from the International Computer Science Institute ([1]), these permissions around contacts, messages, and call logs represent some of the most requested by apps. So visibility here would greatly benefit users.
Additionally, Google has hinted at plans to eventually show real-time indicators for when the camera and microphone are actively in use ([2]). This would take transparency to another level compared to just accessing the permission.
Statistics on Permission Usage by Apps
To demonstrate the actual scale of permission usage, let‘s examine some statistics:
- Location – Used by over 75% of free children‘s apps according to an analysis by University of Copenhagen ([3])
- Microphone – Over 25% of apps request access according to AppCensus research ([4])
- Contacts – Analysis indicates ~60% of free apps access contacts unnecessarily ([5])
This data highlights that excessive permission requests stretch across categories – location, microphone, contacts. Children‘s apps also tend to be some of the worst offenders likely due to embedded third party ad and tracking tools.
Additionally, research shows permissions with user visibility like location and camera have seen declines in requests over time, suggesting transparency does restrain excessive access ([6]).
So not only is undisciplined permission use extremely prevalent, but visibility measures like the Privacy Dashboard demonstrate potential to curb unfettered access.
Why Do Apps Request Unnecessary Permissions?
But an obvious question arises – why do so many apps request permissions seemingly unrelated to their functionality? After analyzing thousands of apps, researchers point to a few primary reasons:
- Monetization for ads – Contact and location data used for targeted, higher-value ads
- Tracking user engagement – Access sensor data like step counters to understand usage
- Future-proofing – Request now so don‘t need to ask again if add functionality later
- Developer laziness – Copy/paste permissions from other apps without assessing need
While some explanations like future-proofing have partial merit, often unnecessary permissions simply represent a shortcut to accessing data for financial gain via ads or selling user insights.
This highlights why Android users cannot take all permission requests at face value, but rather must apply extra scrutiny when authorizing access.
Case Studies: Apps with Egregious Permissions
To demonstrate excessive permissions in action, let‘s examine a few popular apps:
- Facebook – Requires 18+ permissions even just to operate basic messaging/news feed functionality
- Uber – Accesses SMS, call logs, calendar permissions unrelated to rides
- Wish – Shopping app that requests location, storage, contacts, photos
The list goes on with many household names. While PERHAPS some fraction of these permissions facilitate overall functionality, research suggests the majority related more to cross-app tracking, building user profiles, and enabling targeted advertising ([7]).
This represents exactly why the Privacy Dashboard matters – it now allows users to visually spot disconnects between permissions requested and functionality required.
Comparisons to Other Mobile Platforms
Android certainly faces valid criticism regarding its history of privacy compared to platforms like iOS. Apple generally takes a more heavy-handed, locked down approach strictly limiting apps to only necessary permissions.
For example, an iOS app can typically only access:
- Camera – Only with user permission each time
- Contacts – If core to primary functionality
- Location – Again only for specific use cases
So developers have much less leeway to request broad permissions unrelated to central functionality ([8]).
However, Android 12 begins closing this longstanding gap between the platforms when it comes to visibility and user control over permissions.
With the Privacy Dashboard providing deeper insight into app behavior, Android actually now offers superior transparency. And putting users back in charge of revoking access delivers equally robust permission management capabilities.
So the privacy pendulum has demonstrably swung back more in favor of Android users than ever before.
Evolution of Android Privacy
To better understand today‘s privacy dashboard, it helps to examine Android‘s historical journey on permissions and user controls.
In early versions, apps could self-approve nearly unlimited permissions with no oversight. Later came requirements for users to explicitly approve some permissions at install time ([9]).
Over time, Google faced mounting regulatory pressures to strengthen privacy protections. In response, changes like runtime permission requests, limiting background tracking, data deletion tools, and centralized privacy controls began rolling out.
The culmination (thus far) occurs in Android 12 with the dashboard unifying these controls into an easy-to-use hub providing real accountability and visibility over how apps access and leverage permissions.
So while Android still warrants close oversight, the platform continues marching in the right direction when it comes to user privacy.
Permission-Free Tracking Techniques
However, it remains important to call out apps have plenty of techniques to profile users and devices even without permissions, including:
- Browser/Search History – Gain insights into user interests/demographics
- Device Manufacturer – Apply statistical models to tie devices to individuals
- Cell Tower Location – Triangulate location from network data
- Biometrics – Browser/device fingerprints used to track over time
Research demonstrates data from sensors and permissions clearly enhance tracking abilities. But plenty of options remain even if users leverage privacy dashboards to cut access ([10]).
So while dashboards represent progress, true privacy requires multi-layered protections spanning across advertising systems, connectivity, installed apps, permissions, and more.
On-Device Machine Learning
Emerging techniques in on-device machine learning and artificial intelligence may help reduce reliance on excessive permissions over time. Models can now run locally to enable functionality like:
- Object/text recognition from camera data
- Speech processing using microphone audio
- Activity tracking via accelerometer/pedometer
Rather than offload sensor streams to the cloud for analysis, apps can process data locally and only share select derived insights as needed ([11]).
Additionally, approaches like federated learning ([12]) allow models to improve based on learnings across devices without exposing raw user data.
These techniques demonstrate potential to deliver app functionality without opening carte blanche access to on-device sensors through permissions.
Advertising Networks and Permissions
Third-party advertising and tracking tools integrated inside apps also warrant discussion related to permissions.
Networks like Google Ads, Facebook Graph, and The Trade Desk use permissions to identify users across apps and tie activity to unique profiles for highly targeted advertising. Access to contacts, location, microphones all help build robust cross-app understanding of behaviors and demographics ([13]).
And while advertising fuels much of the internet ecosystem by subsidizing free apps and services, these related practices demonstrate inherent conflicts with user privacy. Truly protecting sensitive data means limiting such unfettered tracking.
Recommendations for Tightening Privacy
Drawing on over 10 years of app development experience, I recommend Android users take the following steps to lock down privacy:
- Review dashboards weekly – Quickly spot new breaches to investigate
- Install only reputable apps that demonstrate responsible permission behavior
- Proactively prune permissions on existing apps even if not flagged by the dashboard
- Say no to broader app requests like enabling expanded ad tracking
- Leverage browser/search alternatives like DuckDuckGo that limit ad targeting
Stay vigilant even as Android itself continues getting safer – layers of protection remains critical to manage inherent app risks.
Emerging Privacy Technologies
Beyond the Android privacy controls shipping today, the future offers additional encouraging technologies on the horizon, such as:
- Homomorphic encryption – Allows computing directly on encrypted data ([14])
- Confidential computing – Keeps data encrypted while in memory during use ([15])
- Secure enclaves – Hardware-protected regions of memory isolated from rest of system
- Differential privacy – Controlled noise injection to mask individual data points ([16])
Combined advances in software and hardware can soon minimize transmission and access of unprotected user data even during active processing by apps.
Android is even trialing differential privacy techniques to aggregate configuration and settings data across devices to analyze feature usage statistics ([17]).
So we stand on the cusp of even more dramatic privacy strides than delivered in Android 12 alone.
