My flashlight is spying on me

Like most people, I have a flashlight app on my smartphone. It was a free download. It's handy to always have a flashlight in my pocket. I use it often while setting up on stage.
 
Yesterday I noticed that it was storing 8.2 MB of data (beyond the 6.7 MB the app itself takes up). I found that surprising. What on earth would a flashlight be storing? For that matter, why is a program that simply turns on a light 6.7 MB in size?
 
Then I checked the app's settings. Shockingly, I had given this flashlight the following permissions:
 
- read phone status and identity
- take pictures and videos
- read, modify and delete my USB storage
- change system display settings
- full network access: receive data from internet, view network connections, view wi-fi connections
- retrieve running apps
- control flashlight and prevent phone from sleeping
- modify system settings
 
Holy crap! This flashlight can take photos without my knowledge, monitor all network activity, know what other apps I have, and even reconfigure my phone.
 
I then checked other apps on my phone. I have a compass app that I actually paid for. It has permission to take photos and has full network access. Why does it need any of that to tell me which way is North?
 
Another one is called "Earth", a map utility. It has permission to find, use, add and delete accounts on the device.
 
AT&T installed an app that (I think) lets me use my phone as a TV remote. It can take pictures and videos, send, receive and edit text messages, record audio, read and modify my Contacts, read and modify my calendar, read and write web bookmarks.
 
It's true: there's no such thing as a free lunch. Those "free" apps may be nothing more than a trojan horse.
 

OMG that's frightening! Thanks for the heads up Dave.

When I got my first Android-based phone a few months ago, I went to Google Play to look for useful apps, especially free ones. It took me a while to notice the "Permissions" link way down at the bottom of the app description pages. It was a shock to see what we're agreeing to when we install some of these apps.

What privileges does band lab want on phones. Perhaps Meng can educate us on what they really do.

bitflipper
Holy crap! This flashlight can take photos without my knowledge, monitor all network activity, know what other apps I have, and even reconfigure my phone.

 
I don't care what your excuse is, Dave.  I *really* don't want to stumble across a picture of your junk on the internet! 

dmbaer

bitflipper
Holy crap! This flashlight can take photos without my knowledge, monitor all network activity, know what other apps I have, and even reconfigure my phone.

 
I don't care what your excuse is, Dave.  I *really* don't want to stumble across a picture of your junk on the internet! 

+1, nothing like the 12 seconds after this please...
https://youtu.be/kxl0nitAixc?t=4s

Yep.  Almost all of those handy little "flashlight" apps are data miners.  So you get a free flashlight, while some hacker in Russia gets all of your private data to do with as he pleases.  Free?  Not so much.  Smile and say Привет!  :D

What is the name of the flashlight app?

I feel like my iPhone flashlight comes on at random times when I'm filming with my phone. I definitely don't have it set to come on but sometimes it does. The first time it happened, I was trying to secretly film a crazy person singing along with her iPod on the subway. She was going nuts and I thought worthy of some footage. So I opened the camera app and very nonchalantly held the phone at the required angle, trying not to make it obvious. Only the flashlight went on and it shone right in her face. Needless to say, I had to get off the train a few stops before my intended destination. 

meng
What is the name of the flashlight app?

It was called "Flashlight". Probably one of many out there so named.

HeatherHaze
Yep.  Almost all of those handy little "flashlight" apps are data miners.  So you get a free flashlight, while some hacker in Russia gets all of your private data to do with as he pleases.  Free?  Not so much.  Smile and say Привет!  :D

And the stingy NSA who monitors and logs all data traffic on the net, of course get it for free on the way out ... 

It's a good job this isn't in the Coffee House otherwise I'd probably be starting a sister thread entitled "My Fleshlight Is Spying On Me"

Time to clean the phone of... unneeded stuff that may be spying on me.

Crazy world we 're living in , i tend to be paranoid , maybe because i come from a computing master degree , or maybe because i simply  know the world we're living in ,i deactivate everything on smart phone , unistall everything , only use minimal stuff ....same on computer , but i also know it's not sufficient so i  simply control what infos can be seen  ..... commercial use of information is the head of the iceberg , social engineering and population manipulation is another one area that sounds like a old 80 'movie but true , security agencies profiling ect .... again nothing dangerous until it comes dangerous and then , not escape ....
 
I remeber how i laughted when people we're exited to get finger print sensor on smartphones lol or eye reconnaisance on computers .... just waiting for the blood dna collection to close the circle ....