• Re: How many apps on your phone have contacts read permission?

    From Richmond@dnomhcir@gmx.com to comp.mobile.android on Sun Feb 15 14:10:07 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> writes:

    Richmond <dnomhcir@gmx.com> wrote:
    Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> writes:

    Yes, you do store the names and e-mail addresses of your contacts on a >> > public service, you just don't realize it. The public service you use is >> > as liable to leaking contact information as the Google service you don't >> > (want to) use. That's the inconsistency in your argument.

    That's not the way I read it. I read it as he doesn't use the contacts
    app, he puts his contacts somewhere else, presumably somewhere which is
    not stored or backed up to the cloud.

    I'm not commenting on what he says, but on what he does *not* say, but still *does*, without realizing it.


    OK, what is it he does without realising it, and how did you know about
    it if he didn't?
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Frank Slootweg@this@ddress.is.invalid to comp.mobile.android on Sun Feb 15 14:32:05 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Richmond <dnomhcir@gmx.com> wrote:
    Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> writes:

    Richmond <dnomhcir@gmx.com> wrote:
    Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> writes:

    Yes, you do store the names and e-mail addresses of your contacts on a >> > public service, you just don't realize it. The public service you use is >> > as liable to leaking contact information as the Google service you don't >> > (want to) use. That's the inconsistency in your argument.

    That's not the way I read it. I read it as he doesn't use the contacts
    app, he puts his contacts somewhere else, presumably somewhere which is
    not stored or backed up to the cloud.

    I'm not commenting on what he says, but on what he does *not* say, but still *does*, without realizing it.

    OK, what is it he does without realising it, and how did you know about
    it if he didn't?

    Sorry, but that's for him (and perhaps for you?) to find out. I'm not
    going to spoil it.

    In case you're not aware of who and what 'Maria' a.k.a. 'Arlen' is, I
    can understand that this looks a rather strange way of (not) discussing
    things. Be patient.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Maria Sophia@mariasophia@comprehension.com to comp.mobile.android on Sun Feb 15 13:13:45 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Frank Slootweg wrote:
    OK, what is it he does without realising it, and how did you know about
    it if he didn't?

    Sorry, but that's for him (and perhaps for you?) to find out. I'm not
    going to spoil it.

    Hi Richmond,

    Hi Richmond,

    What is happening here with Frank is not a technical discussion at all.
    It is a rhetorical game. Frank is deliberately withholding his supposed "gotcha" so he can posture as the clever one in the room.

    It's Frank's game, but that is not how reasonable people behave when they actually have a technical point they wish to discuss openly & honestly.

    Any reasonable participant would ask exactly what you asked:
    "OK, what is it he does without realising it,
    and how did you know about it if he did not?"

    And notice what happened next, he dodged the question again.
    Dodging is the tell.

    If he had honest motives on a technical argument, he would simply state it. But Frank is inherently a dishonest person to the core as we can see here.

    Instead of answering your repeated open and honest questions, Frank repeats
    the same vague accusation, refuses to explain it, and hides behind a
    childish "I will not spoil it" conspiracy-theme "only I know it" routine.

    That is not analysis, it is performance.

    This is his signature Usenet move:
    a. Imply he knows something secret
    b. Refuse to say what it is
    c. Hope the audience fills in the blanks
    d. Then pop back in later claiming victory because he gets to
    define the riddle any way that he feels like it, after the fact

    It is a waste of everyone's time.
    It's what trolls do.

    Meanwhile, the rest of us are openly discussing the actual technical
    details honestly. My setup has been explained clearly and repeatedly:

    a. The system contacts provider on my phone is empty by design.
    b. I use a sandboxed contacts app with its own private database.
    c. I do not sync contacts to Google or any cloud service.
    d. I invited him, repeatedly, to point out a specific technical
    inconsistency, and I expressed an open willingness to discuss it.

    I didn't respond to his ever-present incessant personal attacks.

    He responded with:
    a. No specifics
    b. No mechanism
    c. No evidence
    d. No technical content
    e. Just a smug "I know something you do not" posture

    That is not a debate. It is just trolling.

    And for the record, his veiled hint about "putting email addresses on the cloud" does not even land. I do not use a mail client on my phone at all.
    At my age, I simply cannot read email comfortably on a small screen. If I
    did, I would use a privacy respecting FOSS client like FairEmail, but that
    is irrelevant to this discussion.

    The same goes for me making & receiving phone calls using the privacy-aware contacts app through my federally & state-regulated carrier over the air.

    The bottom line is simple, he cannot point to any inconsistency because
    there is not one. So instead he is playing riddles to inflate his ego.
    --
    People who have no value love to play silly riddle games with others
    because they're desperate to artificially inflate their own value.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Frank Slootweg@this@ddress.is.invalid to comp.mobile.android on Sun Feb 15 19:17:38 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> wrote:
    [...]

    And for the record, his veiled hint about "putting email addresses on the cloud" does not even land. I do not use a mail client on my phone at all.

    And for the record, I did not say or imply that you did use a mail
    client on your phone.

    Your assumption that my comment was directly related to your use of
    phone numbers on your phone, only reconfirms my point that you're so
    caught up in *your* side of the matter, that you can not see beyond it.

    [...]

    The bottom line is simple, he cannot point to any inconsistency because
    there is not one.

    The inconsistency is there, but not where you (apparently) think it
    is. Try to open up your mind and use that "high intelligence" of yours.

    To Richmond: Sorry you got caught in the middle.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2