CellBroadcastReceiver permissions

Bullion

Just been looking and the app etc has access to my SMS and can read them and give my location. Could the police use this to see my messages and location undetected?

Onlyfun

Bullion where did you that? I'm curious if there is more to see. As to your question, positive, if you are correct and that app can share your location police is first in line for it.

fid02

Bullion The Wireless Emergency Alerts app? https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/7965-understanding-wireless-emergency-alerts-app/6

Bullion Could the police use this to see my messages and location undetected?

No, see above.

pxlkng

Bullion

The system is trusted, you don't need to look at system components and be worried about their permissions. It could literally have all permissions if it wanted to, as it is the system. Just leave it alone and don't worry.

That component likely needs those permissions for some benign feature and certainly wont allow the police to just access your messages or location, that would be nonsensical.

In case you are talking about Wireless Emergency Alerts - those are receive only anyways.

fid02

Bullion I think it would benefit the discussion if the complete name of the app was provided, so we know what we're discussing here. Unless the complete name is actually "emergency app"?

Onlyfun As to your question, positive, if you are correct and that app can share your location police is first in line for it.

We're not even clear on which app they're referring to, so this statement doesn't make any sense.

pxlkng

Onlyfun As to your question, positive, if you are correct and that app can share your location police is first in line for it.

Please don't spread misinformation/FUD.

Bullion

Onlyfun that app ran for 12 hours in the background, have permission for lots of things. Not sure is there away to remove it completely

Onlyfun

pxlkng Please don't spread misinformation/FUD

I didn't at least not intended to.

fid02 not even clear on which app they're referring to

Isn't the title of post clear enough? Emergency app? my p8 and tablet both have only one emergency app. I asked OP where can that be verified, for the second part. Emergency involves first responders who police obviously is.

My bad I just now realize how i could've put that reply in a different way. But same time would such case where police obtained lawfully or not suspect's correspondence and location track via suspect's phone?

other8026

It's common to see a list of permissions and assume the worst but the reality is the permissions are used for reasons that make total sense. Here are some examples (but not the complete list):

SMS permission to save messages to SMS store if desired.
Bluetooth permission to see what kind of devices are connected. Handle volume and alert correctly if headphones or speaker. Forward alert if it's a companion device, like a smart watch.
Phone settings or some permission like that to see if cellular network has changed and adjust settings accordingly.
Location to determine whether to show an alert.

Also, all of this stuff is open source so people who know what they're doing can check themselves.

other8026

Bullion Could the police use this to see my messages and location undetected?

If you are connected to a cellular network, the cellular network can already figure out your location. They can see SMS messages too.

If you want your messages to be private, use an app like Signal. If you want your location to be private from the cellular network, use airplane mode and connect to wifi. Here's a section of the website that may be of interest: https://grapheneos.org/faq#cellular-tracking

Bullion

Emergency alerts app. I was on about

fid02

Bullion that app ran for 12 hours in the background, have permission for lots of things.

An answer has already been provided: https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/21731-cellbroadcastreceiver-permissions/3

Clearly the app needs to run in the background in order to be able to receive wireless emergency alerts. It's not clear which questions are unanswered.

Bullion Not sure is there away to remove it completely

You can disable all wireless emergency alerts by going to Settings > Safety & emergency > Wireless Emergency Alerts

The app itself is harmless.

Bullion

Can view via the battery usage, it was running in the background

GrapheneOS

Bullion It's an open source part of GrapheneOS from AOSP which exists to receive emergency alerts. There is no reason to be concerned about it. It receives and shows you the alerts if you don't have them disabled. It does not send data anywhere. The alerts are broadcasts and do not involve sending anything back. It has the minimal permissions it needs properly filter out irrelevant alerts based on their scope and to show them both on the phone it's running on and if relevant a paired companion device like a smartwatch.

GrapheneOS

Bullion Absolutely not. It's a receive-only app for showing emergency alerts to the user on their phone and paired smartwatch. It doesn't send data anywhere.

Bullion

Sound lads. Thanks for the information