Ever wonder why your smart phone mysteriously starts, say, your ‘Map app’, or your ‘Camera app’ or ‘Google app’ on its own? I did too. That is, until I realized that many of the permissions we give to the apps we download, allow companies, (and Individuals), permissions to gather significant amounts of information, like finding out what a user does, where they are, or what their likes and dislikes are using browser data, telephone call lists and the likes.
Just check out this article from the Wall street Journal, "Your Apps are watching you " by Scott Thurm and Yukari Iwatani Kane. (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704368004576027751867039730.html )
Just check out this article from the Wall street Journal, "Your Apps are watching you " by Scott Thurm and Yukari Iwatani Kane. (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704368004576027751867039730.html )
Armed with data of this nature, users can be targeted for advertising and other trending information. In fact, several apps receive permission to access a users mail list, telephone contact and call lists. Imagine what someone can do with that information! Some apps are even allowed to send e-mails using your smart phone and it’s e-mail contact list.
I decided to define a means to combat this and allow Smart Phone users a means to take back control of their devices. I hooked up with my partner "JG "and explained the idea to him and we went to work. 90 days later the result was the Birth of "Task Identifier" , or TI as we call it.
With TI, our Mission is to provide a tool for users to take back control of their Smart phone by being alerted when conditions as noted above and in the WSJ article are started so that users can decide whether or not they want to allow it.Task Identifier aims to become the number one data protection and control tool available. Once configured, TI will notify the user when an app starts with a Green, Yellow or Red alert. Additionally, Task Identifier offers an ‘Auto-Kill’ function, which allows the user to immediately “Kill” an offending application.
We think you'll find TI to be a robust tool that users control. That said, once the app is installed on your phone, you’ll need to set it up. To do so, go to the “Help and About” section for a quick rundown of how things work.
We've introduced two versions of the product, the Task Identifier Lite and the Task Identifier Full version. As you can guess, the Lite version has limited functionality and the Full version, well, it got all the 'Bells and Whistles'. TI is currently for use on Android's OS version 2.2 and higher. We plan on porting to the iPhone in the future.
Check both Apps at www.market.android.com www.appbrain.com or www.market.android.com I'd love to hear your comments, suggestions, and thoughts.
You can also learn a bit more about what the app is and what it does by visiting JG's and my Blog at :
http://taskidentifier.blogspot.com/
I look forward to hearing from you!
R2
We've introduced two versions of the product, the Task Identifier Lite and the Task Identifier Full version. As you can guess, the Lite version has limited functionality and the Full version, well, it got all the 'Bells and Whistles'. TI is currently for use on Android's OS version 2.2 and higher. We plan on porting to the iPhone in the future.
Check both Apps at www.market.android.com www.appbrain.com or www.market.android.com I'd love to hear your comments, suggestions, and thoughts.
You can also learn a bit more about what the app is and what it does by visiting JG's and my Blog at :
http://taskidentifier.blogspot.com/
I look forward to hearing from you!
R2
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