[scubafan]

Hi, I have sometimes toyed with the idea of learning how to use Cobalt to install the app from my satellite service to watch programs I recorded since (of course it's not available in BB10).

What I want to know is whether or not apps installed this way retain the obnoxious behavior of wanting to get total access to any part of your cell or refusing to open? I have never shared my contacts with ANY of the 80+ apps I've used on my Q10. Besides my personal desire for privacy, NONE of the people on my list gave me permission to share private information like address, birthday or unlisted phone numbers. As I also have patient names on my calendar and stored phone numbers etc as well I would be in violation of HIPAA laws. Yes, I know that most people ignore them, at least until they are sued or hit with a big fine...

So, is there any way to use android applications and still prevent the app from data mining your entire device?

Just my $.02, YMMV ! ;-) sent via my Q10

[AmritD]

Hi, I have sometimes toyed with the idea of learning how to use Cobalt to install the app from my satellite service to watch programs I recorded since (of course it's not available in BB10).

What I want to know is whether or not apps installed this way retain the obnoxious behavior of wanting to get total access to any part of your cell or refusing to open? I have never shared my contacts with ANY of the 80+ apps I've used on my Q10. Besides my personal desire for privacy, NONE of the people on my list gave me permission to share private information like address, birthday or unlisted phone numbers. As I also have patient names on my calendar and stored phone numbers etc as well I would be in violation of HIPAA laws. Yes, I know that most people ignore them, at least until they are sued or hit with a big fine...

So, is there any way to use android applications and still prevent the app from data mining your entire device?

Just my $.02, YMMV ! ;-) sent via my Q10

Not on a BB10 device I believe.

Posted via CB10

[scubafan]

I thought it was unlikely but since the BB10 system DOES let you control all of the permissions I hoped that the app could be fooled into "thinking" it had all the access it wanted by the cobalt installing it yet the device blocking actual access. It'd be a spectacularly useful modification of the OS that would allow everyone to have all of the apps they "can't live without" and still have the security and better ability to multi-task that BlackBerry has given us!

Just my $.02, YMMV ! ;-) sent via my Q10

[fresh_prince916]

Hi, I have sometimes toyed with the idea of learning how to use Cobalt to install the app from my satellite service to watch programs I recorded since (of course it's not available in BB10).

What I want to know is whether or not apps installed this way retain the obnoxious behavior of wanting to get total access to any part of your cell or refusing to open? I have never shared my contacts with ANY of the 80+ apps I've used on my Q10. Besides my personal desire for privacy, NONE of the people on my list gave me permission to share private information like address, birthday or unlisted phone numbers. As I also have patient names on my calendar and stored phone numbers etc as well I would be in violation of HIPAA laws. Yes, I know that most people ignore them, at least until they are sued or hit with a big fine...

So, is there any way to use android applications and still prevent the app from data mining your entire device?

Just my $.02, YMMV ! ;-) sent via my Q10

You are kinda weird in sense that you get permission from other ppl before you get apps. I'm respectful however I ain't gonna go thru my entire contact list and ask each person if it's OK.

Posted via CB10

[scubafan]

Prince, I was making the point that I would HAVE TO ASK everyone in my contacts if I was going to allow an app to data mine it. If you read carefully enough ALL of the apps that want your contacts make it implied that since you agreed to use the app, you secured permission from every contact 1st! A few years ago there was a big outcry for a few days because an app didn't hide the language but instead spelled out how many uses they have for the data and before you installed it you are told in bold print that by installing it you are stating that you DID ask everyone for the permission and was given it. 90% of the fools who would do almost anything to avoid actually learning something railed against the "evil" app creators sudden nefarious change while they blissfully go through life never aware that the app (Spotify, I think) was doing exactly what all of their other apps do or possibly less. The only difference is that they were putting it in plain language instead of 3 pages of dense legalese! Of course, the uproar from the sheep lasted less than a few days...

So, if you need to have it spelled out, I NEVER have installed a single app that wouldn't run unless I gave it access to contacts, device ID, browser history, my BBM account or texts. The only app I have with GPS access is the high value Gas Buddy app since it gives me a return value that's worth it. Every app I try is treated with the same value. Thanks to the valuable BB10 OS, I am able to un-check all of the different areas that an app wants to access that are none of their business. If they have no legitimate reason for wanting it besides data mining I stop the install, delete the app and then leave a 1 star review blasting the app for being intrusive with the headline confirming that plus the headline says DELETED!!

FYI, a well written app can run just fine without any access other than shared files IF you want it to store data for your needs. I currently have 87 running apps and all run normally without the access. The BlackBerry Maps is a great example. On the rare few times that I needed directions I enabled GPS. The vast majority of the time I just want to look at distances between two points for trip planning. If I'm not AT one of the points then it doesn't need to know where I am to still give me accurate answers! It just gives a pop-up asking for permission to get current location. I say no, and I use it with no issues, and it won't keep asking for permission either! So until the "coin" used to pay for apps is something other than personal data AND it begins to matter to users things won't change. Other than the frustration quotient for the few of us who actually value privacy and don't want companies making money by selling details of our lives. To stave off the probable "tinfoil hat" cracks made mostly by people who either don't value their privacy or worse, want to make money exploiting your privacy, I say bunk! I'm not afraid of the NSA or worried about "black helicopters". In the service I carried a high enough security clearance that I was given an FBI background check every six months so I don't think the government "might" know things about me, I KNOW they do! Like I said, I resent companies that think they have a right to sell my privacy and that I shouldn't be given any chance of preventing it. I know I'm in a tiny minority and don't expect to convert anyone I felt I should at least put the idea of people taking back control of their data, even in small bits at the start... until enough actually do so nothing will change.

Just my $.02, YMMV ! ;-) sent via my Q10