How to Keep Apps from Stealing Data on Your Samsung Galaxy S3 or Other Android Device

By Nelson Aguilar

Jan 24, 2013 11:33 PM

Angry Birds Rio game loading screen with a blocked device ID notification.

When downloading any application on an Android device, you will always be prompted by the following...

Image Credit f-secure.com

Whether it's Angry Birds, Shazaam, or Chrome, every application will ask for permissions. If you try and deny these permissions, it won't install, leaving you with no other option but to accept. So what can you do?

Well, XDA Developers member Noxious Ninja created an application called PDroid Privacy Protection that allows you to use apps without giving them permission to access all your personal data!

PDroid Privacy Protection allows users to block application access to things like:

Device ID (IMEI/MEID/ESN)
Phone and mailbox number
Incoming call number
Outgoing call number
GPS location
Network location
List of accounts (including your google e-mail address)
Contacts
Call logs
Calendar
SMS
MMS
Browser bookmarks and history

Image Credit ggpht.com

To install the application:

Make a NANDROID backup so that if anything goes wrong, you can revert back to your device's current working state.
Install the PDroid app.
Reboot into recovery.
Flash pdroid-1.32-VRBLK3.zip (you can find a general guide to flashing here).
Wipe cache.
Reboot the device.
Open the application and configure the settings.

Image Credit ggpht.com

For more details on how the application works and instructions on installing it, check out the XDA thread.

Image by F-Secure

The next big software update for iPhone is coming sometime in April and will include a Food section in Apple News+, an easy-to-miss new Ambient Music app, Priority Notifications thanks to Apple Intelligence, and updates to apps like Mail, Photos, Podcasts, and Safari. See what else is coming to your iPhone with the iOS 18.4 update.