[Android Apps and Games] adanedhel728:
I realize that I'm being the overly-paranoid tinfoil-hat type when I write the following, but I think that when it comes to root access, that's not terrible behavior.

This might be ironic to say considering what the rest of my message is going to say, but I think the concept is great and I wish Lamian and the rest of the LBE team great luck.

But when it comes down to it, I am choosing between allowing Pandora to access my contacts and allowing someone that I know nothing about to root access on my phone. At least with Pandora, I know what areas in which the program might be malicious, and it's less likely, even if not impossible, that Pandora will be malicious.

When I first found this, I dove headfirst into it, because it's something that I always thought Google should do themselves. And Lamien is absolutely right in saying that the "Android permission system sucks." But I now think that I should revert to my previous behavior: Simply avoiding programs that request things that I don't like. I've already uninstalled it. That also essentially means biting the bullet on IMEI/IMSI, since almost every program that exists requests that.

I'm not trying to say for an instant "DON'T DO IT, IT'S EVIL!" If you're willing to trust the LBE team, then I don't begrudge you for it; that's great. But this program is kind of self-defeating for me, personally. It's appealing to people that are mistrusting; not exclusively, but that is why it appealed to me. So... Do I trust the people that made this program itself? I don't actively distrust the LBE team, but I don't know them well enough to actively trust them either.

When I looked through the list of permissions that I had denied, the only really meaningful offense was Pandora (I simply uninstalled Facebook and The Weather Channel quite some time ago, which were far greater offenders). I realize, of course, that that's just my particular case; plenty of other people, I'm sure, have to deal with other, far more serious issues. So, I was brought to this decision:

Do I trust Pandora, a well-known company in the public spotlight, with my contacts data, or do I trust some guy from a message board with everything.

When I realized that that was my option, the less risky, though certainly still unsettling choice became apparent.

And I can just remove Pandora if it makes me uncomfortable.

I actually realized this as I was writing a blog post saying how awesome this program is. As I expounded the concept behind the program, I couldn't escape this conclusion. Once I realized this, I came to this thread and read it from beginning to end, which I rarely do. I was glad to see my concerns addressed. And the post from Mr. Strazzere was almost enough to alleviate my fears altogether. But then even he said to "Use at your own risk," and as short/y pointed out, "Future updates aren't guaranteed to be benign nor can we guarantee that the developer won't sell his app to someone who will turn it to nefarious means."

I'm not going to deny that I'm being tinfoil-hatty. I don't deny what Private-Cowboy said: "It has pretty much been proved that it doesn't [do anything nefarious]. Or at least some serious testing has been conducted and nothing negative has been found." I know that it's now clear that it is very unlikely that this is a malicious program. But I'm still struggling with it. I mean, this is still root access we're talking about here. Aren't we all familiar with the t-shirt that says "Fear me, for I am root?" I know I'm now in the extreme minority, but it still bothers me.

If Lamian comes back and reads this, I have two things to say. First of all, I mean no personal offense. I think you've made a great program here and I really love the effort that you've done. Maybe one day I can comfortably use it myself. But, secondly, if you want to get us tinfoil-hatters on board, I can tell you what you can do that will eliminate possibly all reluctance: Release the source code. That way the XDA geniuses can dissect it and give it the green light. Checks and balances / peer review. If, on the other hand, you have no interest in getting us tinfoil-hatters on board and you don't want to release the code, then that's your prerogative. I won't cry foul; in fact I will still wish you luck.

All that being said, I want to reiterate that I'm not at all trying to discourage the devs. Nor am I trying to discourage users. It's a great program. I just thought I'd voice my opinion.