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Top comment on the lemmy world this was cross posted with points out among other things that the app isn't a system app and doesn't otherwise have permissions to access most of what is claimed here, and from a cursory glance at the app on my phone that claim looks correct. is there something I'm missing or is this post just wrong?
Comment in question: https://discuss.tchncs.de/comment/16670102
You're not missing something, a lot of this is FUD, Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. Same as the Intel ME conspiracy theories which largely lose all their bite when given even the least bit of scrutiny. It's one of those things to make people afraid for attention and clicks but ultimately contains a lot of vague points, and possibly even misinformation. If you feel worried just install the placeholder, but a lot of what's shared in the article about bypassing permissions when it's not even a system app is FUD and ultimately misinformation, since as pointed out it isn't a system app and has no permissions declared.
You're not missing anything. This is FUD.
Can you explain what you mean to a less technologically inclined person?
FUD = Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt: the paranoia over the topic is needless and you don't have to take any action.
I disagree with this view and did replace SafetyCore with the dummy placeholder .APK, personally.
Oh ok, thank you for the explanation. I also replaced it just to be safe
As discussed in other threads it's a non system APK which holds no dangerous permissions and can't gain them. It will (once enabled and if you let it) scan inbound and outbound messages for nudity. It's there to prevent people from receiving unsolicited nudes without consent, or if they're sending nudes make sure they aren't falling into some pedo groomer blackmail.
I understand the initial response, but now that the info is available I question the motives of people still spreading it.
Well, then I trust my own ability to not fall prey to such blackmail and would rather omit the scanning for battery life's sake. So yes, I'm nitpicky (if that's the conclusion).
It's not open source so it's up to trusting Google for that to be true.
Google and Microsoft have already proven to me that they can and will ignore their own os requirements. I have no confidence that " not having permissions" matters here
Yea, even the article pretty much says it’s okay
Cool. Probably won't cause issues on my GrapheneOS device, but I'll check.