Android Permissions Can Be Dangerous: Full Guide to Managing Them

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Android Permissions and Your Mobile Security. Everything You Need to Know for Your Own Devices and for Business

Alexander Graham Bell’s invention of the telephone back in 1876 marked one of the most important cultural revolutions of mankind – its invention and everything that followed afterwards (the invention of the first dial phone, the apparition of the first mobile/cellular phone, the apparition of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th generation technologies) allowed us to communicate faster and have almost everything we need to know or acquire at the touch of our fingertips. At a certain point in mobile phones’ evolution, the Android operating system appeared – with an intuitive interface and various connectivity options, it is used on 74.43% of devices worldwide. Despite Android’s popularity, Android permissions – the principle on which it operates, put users’ mobile security at certain risks. Let’s find out more. 

Android Permissions List

Like I’ve already mentioned, Android operates on the principle of permissions, in order to protect your data from exploitation. This means that applications can access hardware and data only if and when they are given permission. The system maintains a list of permissions for each application installed on the device.  Moreover,  “the system resets the permissions of unused apps that target Android 11 or higher, and apps might need to update the permissions that they declare if they use the system alert window or read information related to phone numbers.”

Developers.Android.com mentions that there are various types of permissions: 


a. One-time permissions

The dialogue box for this kind of permissions contains the option called Only this time. If this option is selected, the app that requests a location, microphone or camera-related permission is “granted a temporary one-time permission”. 

b. Unused apps auto-reset permissionsIf an application hasn’t been used for months, user data are protected by the system, which automatically resets the runtime initial permissions. When it comes to permission dialogue visibility, Developers.Android.com explains:  “Starting in Android 11, if the user taps Deny for a specific permission more than once during your app’s lifetime of installation on a device, the user doesn’t see the system permissions dialog if your app requests that permission again. The user’s action implies “don’t ask again.” On previous versions, users would see the system permissions dialogue each time your app requested a permission, unless the user had previously selected a “don’t ask again” checkbox or option. This behaviour change in Android 11 discourages repeated requests for permissions that users have chosen to deny.” 

Permissions can also be classified according to how dangerous they are from a cybersecurity point of view:

a. Normal permissions Normal permissions include: ACCESS_NOTIFICATION_POLICY, ACCESS_WIFI_STATE, BLUETOOTH, BLUETOOTH_ADMIN, INTERNET, KILL_BACKGROUND_PROCESSES, MANAGE_OWN_CALLS, MODIFY_AUDIO_SETTINGS, SET_ALARM, SET_WALLPAPER, VIBRATE etc. 

b. Signature permissionsSignature permissions involve: BIND_AUTOFILL_SERVICE, BIND_INPUT_METHOD, BIND_VPN_SERVICE, CLEAR_APP_CACHE, MANAGE_DOCUMENT, READ_VOICEMAIL, REQUEST_INSTALL_PACKAGES etc. 

c. Dangerous permissions Dangerous permissions refer to: READ_CALENDAR, WRITE_CALENDAR, CAMERA, READ_CONTACTS, WRITE_CONTACTS, RECORD_AUDIO, READ_PHONE_NUMBERS, CALL_PHONE, ANSWER_PHONE_CALLS, SEND_SMS, RECEIVE_SMS, READ_SMS and so on.  You can find out more details about certain Android permissions at TechK47.com.  If you want to know how to access app permissions on Android or how to change app permissions, you should simply check the App permissions Settings section on your mobile phone or tablet. You should bear in mind, though, that turning off permissions may cause apps on your device to stop functioning.
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