In what world does a VPN need access to Camera and Bluetooth?

I am fully aware of what vpn services to use and not. I am not using Express VPN, I am simply doing research for a master thesis, when I came across these results from Express VPN. If you have any ideas or corrections, please let me know why a VPN provider would need to have access to these permissions.

Screenshot is from Exodus service, which let’s you view what exactly perimissions and trackers each app uses. You can check out the results and the tool for yourself here: reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/…/latest/

Link to Image

shekau,

My eyes… ouch

Nollij,

What kind of VPN would need those permissions?

The one that Edward Snowden (yes, that one) publicly and explicitly called out that people shouldn’t use. I won’t rehash it here, but it’s worth reading about.

Anticorp,

techradar.com/…/edward-snowden-warns-expressvpn-u…

Omega_Haxors,

If handfuls of youtube sponsor callout videos has been proof of, is that you should never use a service advertised on youtube.

fubarx,

There are Bluetooth FIDO security keys out there for 2FA, like: thetis.io/products/fido2-ble-security-key. Some implementations can also use a phone, running an app via BLE. Not sure if they use it, but that could be one reason it’s asking for that permission.

Camera permission may be needed for scanning QRCodes to set up 2FA.

ultratiem,
@ultratiem@lemmy.ca avatar

I don’t get why the entire world isn’t on Mullvad.

I don’t trust these guys at all. I trialed them and despite their full money back guarantee, they locked me into a support loop, always switching support staff with boiler plate responses and links that dealt with account issues or whatever. It wasn’t until I left a stern reply demanding the refund or I would escalate the matter with the proper regulatory bodies.

It took 4 support tickets. To me, they came across hella shady.

alsaaas,
@alsaaas@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

they closed off Port Forwarding

rwhitisissle,

Worst thing about mullvad is they only offer like 5 devices or so for your subscription. If they bumped it up to 7 or 8 I’d have no complaints.

somegeek,

For the price, 5 devices is really reasonable

winterayars,

Camera could be taking pictures of QR codes to make it easier to set up a VPN.

Bluetooth could be integration with things like Yubikeys for authentication.

Dunno if that’s what they’re actually for, though.

BuddyTheBeefalo,

Best practices would not require camera permissions to scan qr codes.

Scan barcodes

Android includes support for the Google Code Scanner API, powered by Google Play services, which allows you to decode barcodes without declaring any camera permissions. This API helps preserve user privacy and makes it less likely that you need to create a custom UI for your barcode-scanning use case.

The API scans the barcode and only returns the scan results to your app. Images are processed on-device, and Google doesn’t store any data or scan results.

…android.com/…/minimize-permission-requests

ultratiem,
@ultratiem@lemmy.ca avatar

I’m going to assume they didn’t implement this because money. Their app runs on everything, from iOS to Android to Windows. Cost savings they likely just flipped camera permissions and didn’t care about small edge cases like these.

With that said, Mullvad is a million times better, cheaper and doesn’t require even an email or account creation to use. They created a system that effectively anonymizes the user before they even subscribe.

Schmeckinger,

5$ per month isnt cheap for a vpn.

ekky43,

Expressvpn is about 10$ a month, so 5$ would definitely be an improvement.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • privacy@lemmy.ml
  • localhost
  • All magazines
    •
    Loading…
    Loading the web debug toolbar…
    Attempt #