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Remote Device Control Disclaimer

Remote Device Control

It is important that you read and understand the information below, before activating the remote device control feature in utter! or enabling it for a minor.

Device risks for non-rooted devices

If your password is in the possession of someone who knows your phone number, that person will be able to remotely track your location without you knowing. They will also be able to gain information from your device by using any of the commands within utter!

Device risk for rooted devices

As well as the risks detailed for non-rooted devices above, additionally with remote root access a person with your password and phone number will be able to execute root/shell commands on your device without you knowing.

These root commands may be able to access, copy and send all of your personal device information stored anywhere on your device. This may include email addresses, passwords and individual application login details, regardless of their encryption.

In addition, your device and external storage memory could be wiped which will result in all of your data being lost.

In addition, your device could be left unusable if remote changes to the Android OS are made.

What does the above all mean in simple terms?

It sounded scary didn’t it!

Someone discovering your password/pin code for any application, computer, bank etc can have terrible consequences. The above is no different to that.

You must keep your password safe and secure as you would with any other.

Your device contains a lot of your personal information, including a more precise idea of your location than anything else in your life. It’s worth taking very seriously.

This disclaimer is here only to draw to your attention, as simply as possible, the worst consequences of you not protecting the password you choose.

Why would I want to enable this feature then!?

In your hands only, this feature is very powerful for recovering your device if it is lost or stolen.

If all else fails and you are certain you’ll never see your beloved device again, being able to remotely wipe your personal information is essential. Whether this be just private photos of you and your family or the information contained in your inbox; you don’t want anyone seeing or reading it.

If you’re certain your device will never be seen again, being able to totally ruin it remotely so it’s unusable to any thief and they can’t sell it to anyone else, may give a little satisfaction in a rubbish situation.

To clarify, if you protect this password as you would with any other, then this feature will be secure as any other.

My child has this application installed – Can I track them?

As a once mischievous teenager, the thought of my parents knowing my every move would have horrified me!

However, you of course parent your children as you see fit! As a parent myself, in the unthinkable event that I couldn’t contact my child, being able to establish their location would lift the weight of the world.

If the device is switched off, or location information deactivated, this feature will of course not work, so you cannot rely on it.

Otherwise, knowing or setting their password will allow you to do this.

Please continue to read below.

My child has this application installed – Can anyone track them? I’m concerned.

YES.

If someone has access to their password or if they access their device and set it themselves, they can be tracked.

If this concerns you, please immediately uninstall the application without reservation.

Alternatively you can disable this feature. To do this, click on ‘Customisation’ in the main application page. Click on ‘User Password’ and enter ‘CHILD’ in both fields. This will disable this feature and all further attempts to set a new password or use this feature remotely will be ignored.

NOTE: If the application data is cleared, or it is uninstalled and reinstalled, it is not possible to persist this setting. A new password could be entered and the feature will become useable thereafter.

How to use the remote access feature

To control utter! remotely, you’ll need to have a password set. You can do this by clicking on ‘Customisation’ in the main application page. Click on ‘User Password’ and enter a secure password containing no spaces.

It’s strongly recommended that you use letters, capital letters and numeric digits in the construction of your password to ensure it is as secure as possible.

utter! will analyse every text message you receive. If the text message starts with your password and continues to request a command, this text message will not appear in your inbox, neither will the Android System alert to the receipt of such a message.

To use the example commands below, please replace the word ‘password’ with your password and include the underscores.

password_utter_say I’m testing the remote speaking feature!

password_utter_do Set the sound profile to normal

password_utter_where_are_you

The ‘where are you’ command will reply with a GPS fix if it can get one, or the most recent location data available if not.

If your device is rooted, you can do the following:

password_utter_shell SHELL-COMMAND-HERE

The sender of this text message will receive the output of the root commands.

If you want a simple example of a root command to remotely execute:

password_utter_shell dumpsys battery

That will reply with some nicely formatted battery information for you.

If you want the response sent to an email address of your choice, rather than to the number the text was received from, end the text with email_name@domain.com. For example:

password_utter_shell dumpsys battery email_joebloggs@hotmail.com

In order for utter! to be able to send emails on your behalf (without user interaction), you will need to have configured an email account in the ‘Linked Applications’ tab.

In summary

If you do not completely understand the information you have read, or you are unclear on how this feature could and should be used, please do not enable it.

If you have any questions, please email me using ‘Send Feedback’ in the main application.