[APP] [CM7] Increase Your Privacy with PDroid [alt CM9/CM10] - Defy Themes and Apps

Well, I’m sure that it isn’t a secret for anyone, CM7 has been and still is my favorite rom for my Defy(s). I’ve been using it since the day Quarx’s brought IP Tables support to it – hence allowing me to use Droidwall as an Android firewall. I could then selectively allow/deny internet access to any installed app [having internet access permission that is…]. This is a first and important security step, but like anything, this has limitations; apps that do ‘really’ need internet access are then free to send (and receive) whatever their Android permissions allow them to get a hand on. For that, CM7 has a neet feature called ‘permissions management’ that allows you to control each app’s permissions individually. This option works fine BUT the problem is that the apps that you control that way often lose functionalities, stop working altogether or even throw you an error message telling you that the app’s permissions have been altered and that you will not be able to use it unless you reset them.
So how to solve this potentially very critical security flaw without losing apps functionality? ==> PDroid.
Thanks to xda user measel, I’ve just recently discovered this wonderful piece of software and I don’t think that my Defy will ever live without it from now on. The app itself is not really a new one and I’ve decided to create this thread to spread to word around and in the hope that it will be helpful to other Defy owners conscious about their data privacy.
WHAT IT DOES:
• More than just blocking apps Android permissions, it lets you control each individual app’s access to private information (user + system);
• It allows you to block and, in some cases, let you either use random or custom private data;
• It will also (if desired) warn you on any root or privacy info access, all that with an easy to figure out and use user interface [see pics];
• And best of all, applications will not crash when their access to private data is blocked unlike with Permission Denied (using LBE Privacy or alike or with CM7).
Disclaimer: I’m only the messenger and I take no credit or responsibility for anything that you’ll do with your phone from here on.
HOW TO:
Original thread by the dev [go have a read and give your thanks to svyat]
Pre-requisites:
- Make sure that you did not use Titanium Backup to integrate sys Dalvik into the rom [if you don’t know what that means, chances are that you didn’t; ignore it];
- a PC running Windows;
- a CM7-jordan/Jordan-plus build;
- PDroid patcher v1.31 (v1.27 also work but the latest version (v1.32) from the link above doesn’t work for the Defy. So I’m attaching v1.31 here which I’ve found with a little digging through that thread;
- the PDroid.apk itself [Market link] or [Dropbox link from the dev];
=> If you don’t have access to a PC running Windows or just don’t want to go through the trouble of patching process described below, you can head over to measel’s CM7 nightlys | info collection thread and locate the build you are using; he was kind enough to provide us with patches for most of recent Jordan builds. So go and grab your applicable patches and give thanks to him.
=> If you’re running CM9 or CM10, this patcher will not work for you, but there are alternatives - namely: the ‘auto-patcher’ or even the PDroid v2 [I’ll give links to those later]. Just go read the last few pages of the original thread, there are quite a few mentions/redirections to those over there. [please don’t ask me about questions about those as I did not try them just yet]
Note: PDroid is an ongoing but currently ‘on hold’ project [because, like someone said before: devs sometimes have a life outside Android...] which works perfectly fine as it is if you follow the next few steps below.
Zero off: Make a nandroid backup of your current phone setup.
First off: Create the patch for your rom:
To work, PDroid first needs you to mod 3 framework files and push them onto your phone. To do so, all you need to do is to execute the PDroidPatcher.exe. file [extract it from the zip attached] and point it to the CM7 build you are using. Let it do its thing and it will create a CWM recovery flashable zip and an undo (RESTORE) one.
Second: Flash the patch:
Just boot into recovery, wipe cache and dalvik and install the patch and boot up.
Third: Install the apk
That’s it!, you’re now ready to go your list of installed apps and start controlling your privacy accesses.
Warning: again, go read the original thread for a how to on how to backup your PDroid settings and/or use TB to do so.
HOW TO USE:
Well, it’s all pretty obvious and with a bit of common sense, you will easily figure out how and what to set up. By default, nothing is blocked and apps are free to access data. So you’ll have to go through your list of installed apps and set up each individual data access and then try them out. For example, logic would tell us not to block the ‘GPS/Network Location’ data to maps related apps nor block ‘Accounts credentials’ to apps dealing with user IDs and passwords like Email or social apps.
I can’t give you detailed instructions here (it’s not the point of this thread anyway), but if like me you already use Droidwall, you can first leave alone all the apps that you’ve black listed for internet access [pic 2] since they won’t do anything with your private data if they can’t send it back home… There is also an option within the app to ‘hide all the safe apps’ [which do not have an internet permission]; check it to reduce the size of your list of apps to configure.
From experience, I’d also suggest you to keep an eye on the apps requiring a password to run since blocking Device or Subscriber ID might mean that you’ll have to always enter passwords each time you run the app that would otherwise be remembered by those apps. As a rule of thumb, I pretty much choose the ‘use random’ option whenever it is available (just to minimize problems with the app on blocking completely – I’m not even sure this is a valid argument here…) or block everything else when it’s not and finally, I leave ‘Network Info’ allowed since it basically only lets apps know if you connected to internet or not [who cares if they get your wifi’s SSID or not…].
But again, you’ll have to fine tune the whole thing for each and every app and run them to check for full functionalities – but at least they won’t crash on you… Finally, you can pinpoint potential problems/solutions by turning off the general PDroid notifications option and by turning on a specific app’s ones [pic 3].
Happy privacy enhancement!
/AL

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As usual!
Quality guides from lovely []AL[]
I don't want a tapatalk sig!

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nogoodusername said:
As usual!
Quality guides for lovely []AL[]
Why not move to Android Apps forums?
I don't want a tapatalk sig!
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"lovely AL" wow! you surely are the first person to tell me anything like this here on xda.
..not sure if I should be flattered or run away by homophobia - hehehe! :laugh:
Well, I didn't mean to make it a guide when I started writing it, but like always I had things
to say and the post got longer and longer.. so I guess that we can call it a sort of guide...
But I truly like the app and believe that along with Droidwall, that should be installed on every phone.
In fact, Google should look at this and incorporate something similar into Android.
OK, I'll go reply to your PM now... cheers!
Edit for your question: because like I wrote in the OP, I'm just the messenger and not the dev of the app.
The app also works mostly for on phones running CM7 and even not all the phones support it either.
So I wouldn't publish this widely without at least asking permission to the dev. But here for Defy owners fellows,
I know it works fine and again, I think that it is pretty much an essential app to have.
9 downloads/1 thank;
Leeches, I see leeches everywhere!

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Shhhiiiiii- You got me excited! I thought I'd find a patch for the Quarx rom! So far auto-patcher can't patch Quarx's CM10 roms. Nor do I understand why that's so but that's why I'm not a dev.

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Excellent app
Arch Linux User ..

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KicknGuitar said:
Shhhiiiiii- You got me excited! I thought I'd find a patch for the Quarx rom! So far auto-patcher can't patch Quarx's CM10 roms. Nor do I understand why that's so but that's why I'm not a dev.
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Well... sorry to hear that; I had no clue that it doesn't work with Quarx CM10. It seems to work for some other JB builds/phones... But like I wrote on the OP, I haven't tried any of this on CM9/JB yet. So again, too bad that this thing is a no go for now. I hear that Quarx is very busy outside Android's world as of lately so it might not be a good time to ask him about this - might also be low on his priority...but who knows, someone might read this and find an answer for you.
ps: quite an avatar you got there :silly:
an thanks for the link to the auto-patcher thread; it might be useful to others and it'll save me the search when I update the OP with it and your comment eventually...
juan296 said:
Excellent app
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Well thanks but again, just I'm just a messenger here and not the dev... :highfive:

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Actually, I use DroidWall , so.. can uninstall this app? And right now, JUST USE pdroid! Right?
Arch Linux User ..

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juan296 said:
Actually, I use DroidWall , so.. can uninstall this app? And right now, JUST USE pdroid! Right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I still use both...they are quite different apps and don't do the same at all. Droidwall is a firewall that let you control if an app has access to internet or not; PDroid controls what private information each app can access.
Like I wrote on the OP, any app that is blocked by Droidwall doesn't need a PDroid setup, but apps that need internet connection could be free to get private information from your phone if you don't use PDroid...
Basically, PDroid has no way of blocking all internet access; it only blocks apps from reading private info (or scrambles it by returning info like random network location or sim ID#...)