Hey everyone, I’m planning a trip to China and considering installing some apps like Alipay and WeChat. I’ve seen countless warnings in tech and travel communities against installing WeChat on your primary phone, with people advising to use a secondary device instead. However, I’m curious about the actual risks if I disable all permissions through app settings on Android. From what I understand, Android apps are supposed to be sandboxed, limiting their access to system resources unless explicitly granted. So, if I disable all permissions, what kind of access does the app still have? Are there potential vulnerabilities that allow apps to bypass these restrictions or gather sensitive info regardless of permissions? I mean, in case I dont give it contact, calendar, media-file permissions, there's not much the app could potentially leak to chinese servers, or is there!? I’d appreciate any insights on whether Android’s sandboxing can be fully trusted in these cases or if there’s a risk of apps getting more access than we intend. Thanks!
Some apps snoop on nearby Wifi and bloutooth devices aka scanning. They also have access to advertising ID. Biggest concern is that app will refuse to function without getting some permissions, no matters if justification is legit or not
