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Why Does Facebook Need To Read My Text Messages? 293
DavidGilbert99 writes "Facebook updates its Android app quite a lot, but the latest version asks for some rather odd permissions. Rolling out in the UK this week, some users have noticed that it now wants permission to read your text messages. While most suspected Facebook wanted to access the data to try and serve you more targeted ads, Facebook says it is only so it can facilitate two-factor authentication...apparently."
Obvious answer (Score:5, Insightful)
Why Does Facebook Need To Read My Text Messages?
Because shut up, that's why. If you ever want to hear from your "friends" again, you'll do exactly what we say without question. I'm certain you know that either you or your friends are too stupid or lazy to start and follow privately-hosted blogs, so sit down, shut up, and continue giving us data to mine. Idiot.
Re:Obvious answer (Score:5, Informative)
I believe Zuckerberg refers to users as 'dumb fucks' [businessinsider.com]
Actually one of my beefs (Score:5, Interesting)
Android needs to add two levels of permissions for much of this stuff. You basically have to ask for everything or nothing. I wanted to check network state in my current app, which requires asking for permission to change the user's networks. I don't want to change their networks. I just want to see if the network is up.
Re:Actually one of my beefs (Score:4, Interesting)
The problem is that such granular permissions are too complex for most users to understand. It's not such a good security model. Think about how endless permission messages on Vista lead to people blindly clicking "OK" all the time. Think about how parents were quickly trained by their kids to enter their PIN every time the iPad required it to play some game.
Permissions are a very hard problem to solve, but I think the Android way of presenting them all up front at a high level does at least make it easy and most importantly very low time/irritation cost for the user to check them. Most people seem to be cottoning on to the fact that flashlight apps don't need network or phone access. Maybe power users could have a box to tick for extended granular permissions, but of course such users can get them via an app because they already have root.
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Think about how endless permission messages on Vista lead to people blindly clicking "OK" all the time. Think about how parents were quickly trained by their kids to enter their PIN every time the iPad required it to play some game.
I'd say that's more of a user problem than an interface problem, really. If it throws up a popup in front of the user saying, "This site is attempting to steal your credit card info" and the popup is green with a giant smiley face, *that* would be an interface problem. Ignorant users is not a design problem. Making it hard for users to figure stuff out would be.
Security is not an Easy Button, for a number of reasons. Allowing all permissions in one chunk is the equivalent of signing your soul over in every
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What I'd like to see is something similar to the old LBE Privacy Guard (which doesn't have a version in English for recent Android releases.) That way, even though an app might ask for everything under the sun, one can turn on functionality that prompts if an app can do something, similar to how iOS and BlackberryOS do things.
For non-technical users, they can leave that off and either allow/deny apps on install. For more technical users, they can turn off a permission either explicitly (with an exception
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I'd say at least have the ability to set if the requested permissions are read only, or read/write.
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Out of interest, how many times do we need some app overreaching on permissions before people will finally accept that the all-or-nothing-big-old-list-of-permissions-with-no-context is actually a really crappy way of doing things that the majority of users blindly ignore because they
Re: (Score:2)
Oh, bullshit.
Have all presented permissions as a selection process and have them all selected by default. In other words, make in an opt-out process. Maybe give a warning about possible malfunctions when a permission is deselected and an option for advanced users to suppress the warning.
Users who know what they're doing and how to predict the effects of disabling certain permissions get more control over their data, everyone else will just accept the defaults as they always do anyway.
It's not a difficult
Re:Actually one of my beefs (Score:5, Informative)
Well Android does offer more way more granularity than iOS. I think iOS is nicer in the way it will prompt for a couple of the permissions. That said, iOS can't do many of the things android can, so it's not really an apples to apples comparison.
Facebook can't read your texts on iOS because it's not possible. My app doesn't require a permission to access network state on iOS because my app can't change it anyway.
It's easy to do security by simply stopping developers from being able to do things. Of course you just have to trust that Apple is doing all your security properly since there's no way to validate that fact.
Re: (Score:2)
Why would I ever let a third party app access my text messages? The only thing that I need an app to know about my network state is if I'm connected and if I'm on cellular or wifi.
Re:Actually one of my beefs (Score:4, Informative)
Because a third party text messaging app could be much better than the one built into your phone? Because a third party app could offer you mesh networking, tethering with multiple SIDs and VLAN isolation, etc.
Re: Actually one of my beefs (Score:2)
Android is by far the smartphone OS with the widest distribution. While it was at one time pointed more at geeks, Google has to take into account a much wider range of users including people who get stuck a phone only because the price is the same as feature phones (free on contract), especially when they're added to a family plan.
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If you're referring to the Play Services (the one piece of the OS that is completely out of user control), Ars Technica talked about this recently. That was changed so that it would be more helpful to users in that Google would no longer be at the mercy of wireless carriers to upgrade certain parts of the operating system. By integrating Play Services at the core of the OS, they can theoretically upgrade almost any part they want without having to provide completely new firmware. That improves security,
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iOS has solved the problem of security in text messaging apps? In apps that allow innovative network access methods?
Oh right. They haven't solved it, they just don't allow those apps.
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Lol, i was thinking the same thing. Want to listen to texts and perform an action? Or just replace the whole sub-system? Simply not possible on iOS. Side-stepping an issue is not solving it.
Re:Actually one of my beefs (Score:5, Insightful)
...while I agree, the next step is that applications start crashing when you revoke their permissions, or the authors simply refuse to let them run.
Anyone who writes a program that makes its money by spying on you (while presenting you a game of Hearts), will simply stop dealing the cards when it can't read your text messages. HOSTS blocking already kills ads on a lot of software, but it's an arms race.
The revenue model is the issue. We want 99 "free" apps.
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A good sandbox makes it hard or impossible to find the sides of the box.
The way things are implemented by Cyanogenmod's Privacy Guard, the application gets an empty data set and has no way to know if the permissions have been revoked. In the context of text messages, it might not even be able to tell the difference between having permissions revoked, being on a tablet without SMS
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which requires asking for permission to change the user's networks.
If all you want to do is query network state, you only need the ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE permission. Never heard of a "change the user's networks" permission but seems like it would only work with a rooted device anyway.
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Android needs to add two levels of permissions for much of this stuff. You basically have to ask for everything or nothing. I wanted to check network state in my current app, which requires asking for permission to change the user's networks. I don't want to change their networks. I just want to see if the network is up.
But they really do need to be able to read your messages to automatically verify blah blah blah. Not sure how to get around that. In the meantime, if you miss app ops and you have a rooted phone, xposed framework will let you have app ops xposed module to get it back.
Social Networking (Score:2, Insightful)
ALL - and I mean ALL - of these social networking sites and apps exist for one thing and on thing only - to extract your information.
They have the data and know that they can manipulate your buying habits. You will not agree with this. I know you wont. But you are manipulable.
We all are.
It's NOT 'You will eat at Joes!'
It's more like, 'Hmmm, I want to go out and eat, How about Joes?'
That's all it takes.
And with Big Data, they got us.
Re:Social Networking (Score:5, Insightful)
I resent the notion that product trend manipulation works on everyone. It does not, and it doesn't have to. It only has to work on enough people to make it worthwhile.
SubjectsInCommentsAreStupid (Score:5, Informative)
Got no messenger installed too.
Re:SubjectsInCommentsAreStupid (Score:5, Informative)
Re:SubjectsInCommentsAreStupid (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:SubjectsInCommentsAreStupid (Score:5, Interesting)
My battery life has improved a bit. Also recently uninstalled Google Talk (now called "Hangouts (Replaces Google Talk)") because it started asking for access to my text messages as well.
That shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, since Hangouts is the app for text messaging these days. I just upgraded to a new Nexus 5, for example, and there is no separate Messaging app. Hangouts handles that function by default.
Moving back on-topic, App Ops X is a good start, and I'm disappointed with Google for removing this function from the base system and making it increasingly difficult to install and use. Ideally I'd prefer for users to have complete control over permissions, in a way which is completely transparent to the app. The app doesn't need to know that network access is blocked; it just gets a "no signal" response, or "destination unreachable" when attempting to access particular domains. It doesn't need to know that you've restricted access to the contact list; it just gets its own, private contact list. It doesn't need to know you've restricted location access, it just sees "acquiring GPS signal...". And so on. If the app can see what you've restricted, then the app can be designed to refuse to function until you've removed the restriction, which defeats the whole point. The sandbox approach is the only reasonable way to have fine-grained permissions under the user's control.
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If you're doing that, might I suggest just using "Tinfoil for Facebook [google.com]", or use Orbot [google.com] + Orweb [google.com], and browse a bit more anonymously through Tor instead.
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Uninstalled the app, started using FB via browser. For my low intensity usage it's still perfect. Also links to click and youtube embeds work seamlessly now.
Got no messenger installed too.
A thousand times this. The line for me was when my recent camera pics popped up in the app with a caption "do you want to post these to Facebook"? Uhh, fuck no Facebook and stop rifling your grubby mitts through my pics without asking me TYVM (Dropbox, Twitter, Google+ all have similar functionality but have an explicit settings for this).
This is also a weakness in Android permissions IMO: many apps ask for USB access to store their own data but that means they can read everything under /sdcard including ph
The bigger issue... (Score:2)
The bigger issue is that Facebook is shovelware on most providers handsets.
I had to go get Facebook, since I live on this planet, and have friends who use it to coordinate, you know, life. ...but at least I had a choice.
Admittedly, people do have to sign into that big F icon. It doesn't just auto-authenticate.
Re:The bigger issue... (Score:4, Informative)
You don't need to use the Facebook app on your phone, you can use the mobile version of the website, or if you're using Android (as is the case with the OP's gripe), you can use Tinfoil for Facebook [google.com].
Remember to uninstall Facebook as an app and from ROM including the SNS service (not a typo), to completely rid your handset of that mess.
If you don't want to do that, use Orbot [google.com] and the mobile site over Tor using the Orweb Privacy Browser [google.com].
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Because of the shovelware issue, and mostly locked, un-rooted phones owned by people who can't root their phones by themselves [It's not easy for the general population], they don't have most of the options you suggest.
Their best bet is to never logon to the shovelware version (good luck, grandpa!), and download an app that they've never heard of.
I'd never heard of Tinfoil until today, but I'll check it out -- since, as I mentioned, Facebook is a necessary evil for me. I've got it set to the minimum number
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Because of the shovelware issue, and mostly locked, un-rooted phones owned by people who can't root their phones by themselves
It's not just can't root. If I root, I lose access to (at least) Netflix, if not others, so there's a tradeoff.
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Is that true?
I have two rooted tablets, one running CyanogenMod and the other running KATKiss (both on 4.4/KitKat), and there are sometimes problems running Netflix, but by and large I'd say it works. The problems I've had most often were that videos would start playing, then the audio would continue but the video would freeze frame.
I have a TV/BluRay player that does Netflix, so I don't really care. But last time I tried to watch a show on the tablet, it worked. (And I'm definitely still rooted.)
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Interesting, maybe the issue's been resolved (last tried it probably a year ago). Thanks!
SMS Integration (Score:4, Informative)
Put both your SMS and your Instant messaging in the same app (just pushing facebook chat over hangout chat).
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The last big update of Facebook Messenger for Android not long ago REMOVES the ability to send SMS messages. There is also no way to send SMS messages through the main Facebook app. Why would Facebook remove the ability to send SMS messages through their apps if their long-term goal was to be able to send SMS messages through their apps? IMO their goal is to have all messages routed through them directly instead of SMS, but they really screwed up by removing a feature that a lot of Android users used.
Coinci
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Hangouts doesn't send the SMS through data, but rather just becomes your phone's SMS client so that you receive SMS messages in Hangouts as well.
My guess is facebook removed the feature since it was little used and cost money (since they had to operate as an SMS gateway
... and so does twitter ... (Score:2)
... and many other apps. No idea why they really need those permissions just so users don't need to copy over a verification number. This is ridiculous... i wonder if they did research what more users would accept.. having their app require the permission to read *all* SMS .. or just requiring the user to occasionally type a one time password from the SMS app into the twitter/facebook/whatever app.
this is really something android has to solve.. something like optional permissions for the lazy users who real
So it can authenticate by sending a text (Score:2)
What Facebook wants to do is send a text message with a special code to your phone. Letting the app read your text messages allows the app to read the code automatically so you don't have to copy and paste from the messages app.
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What Facebook wants to do is send a text message with a special code to your phone. Letting the app read your text messages allows the app to read the code automatically so you don't have to copy and paste from the messages app.
But what else is the app reading in my text messages?
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Reading the codes for all your other two factor authentication accounts. Like your bank account, or your brokerage account.
There, didn't Facebook make life easy?
SMS to your phone isn't such a secure channel for two factor authentication if every other app has access to it.
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This is a perfect example of why is should be possible to give an app temporary permission to do something, or to selectively deny permissions. This type of authentication is something that only needs to be done once over the lifetime of the device. If I was using it, I would just copy/paste the code -- and someone who is less paranoid could allow the facebook app to read their text messages at setup time, and then deny that permission from that point on. Instead what we end up with is that after you've
Well there you go (Score:5, Funny)
No need to question it further. A completely benign reason with no ulterior motive. Just allow it and be happy. Facebook wouldn't do anything against your wishes...
facebook wants to know more about you.... (Score:5, Insightful)
.
facebook even collects the posts you start typing but decide not to send [geekosystem.com].
Removed app + hidden services from ROM long ago (Score:5, Interesting)
I couldn't be happier now that I've completely purged Facebook and its hidden (SNS, not a typo) services from my ROM and phone, and frozen/deleted all of the other assets in other apps that try to "phone home" to Facebook. Side benefit is that after removing Facebook from my phone, I gained seven solid HOURS of battery life back. I didn't realize how often the SNS service and Facebook itself were sending and receiving data, phoning home, etc.
The combination of Android Permission Manager [google.com], DroidWall [google.com] and LBE Security Master [lbesec.com] have made things much easier to block, delete, drop packets, deny and forbid services from trying to use unnecessary permissions.
I guarantee that no app is doing what it shouldn't, and those that should have permissions (Camera => Take Photos Permission) are prompted every time they attempt to do so, never allowed by default. If I'm not using the Camera for example, and I get a popup that it tried to take a photo, I permanently deny it and remove/uninstall the app. I don't tolerate any of that out-of-band behavior on my phone.
You should investigate the same. Yes, we all know about the L4 kernel, but this at least will help remove the abuse from the application level.
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Out of curiosity. Have you actually gotten a popup about an app trying to use the camera like that or was it a "for instance"? If so, what was it? This is a serious question. I'm working on a project looking at rogue behavior like that.
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Yes, there are quite a few apps that ask for access/permission to things they clearly should not have permissions for. I've taken quite a few screenshots of the abuse, posted on my Twitpic feed. Look closely at the dates some of these were posted:
http://twitpic.com/dfg0wn [twitpic.com]
http://twitpic.com/d7sepd [twitpic.com]
http://twitpic.com/ckgra5 [twitpic.com]
http://twitpic.com/ckgr11 [twitpic.com]
I found the issue with Brightest Flashlight almost a full year ago, now it's just recently hit the news. Sigh.
http://twitpic.com/cjlfvr [twitpic.com]
http://twitpic.com/cjl3r1 [twitpic.com]
http: [twitpic.com]
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The combination of Android Permission Manager [google.com], DroidWall [google.com] and LBE Security Master [lbesec.com] have made things much easier to block, delete, drop packets, deny and forbid services from trying to use unnecessary permissions.
Dear members, please remember that installing closed source software as root will automatically voids your paranoid member card.
Permission Manager and LBE Security Master are both closed source, and need root to run. Not acceptable.
Bonus points, LBE's home page is in chinese, no offense intended, just paranoid.
On the other hand, Xprivacy does the same job and is GPL'd.
By the way, Droidwall is severely outdated, you might consider trying its (open source) successor / fork, AFWall +
Being paranoid is a full ti
Another simple solution (Score:5, Informative)
2) Press "Deactivate you account"
3) Get an effin' life.
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1) Go to "Account Settings"
2) Press "Deactivate you account"
3) Get an effin' life.
4) ???
5) Profit!
FTFY. You must be new here ;-)
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
ITS MADE OF PEOPLE! (Score:2)
SoylentBook apparently...
That's why my chosen mode of communication is Morse code using one time pads only. It works perfectly should I ever find someone else willing to communicate that way.
Wish there were a Cyanogenmod for my phone (Score:3)
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Blackberry (Score:5, Insightful)
Simple: Android permissions are not fine enough (Score:3)
Simple. They want to be able to get a status from SMS text and the only way to get that is to get permission to the SMS Messages. There is no finer permission level in Android to just give them what they need without access to the rest.
I just block that access since I don't want to use their messaging anyway. Blocked with Root, Xposed Framework, XPrivacy to control which permissions I want to allow them to have.
Im not updating (Score:2)
Stuff like this... (Score:2)
...is why I have never installed the app in the first place. Using the browser works perfectly fine, and doesn't let Fuckerberg mine my phone.
They target ads via datamining (Score:5, Informative)
I don’t know why this is so hard for people to understand. Facebook’s primary source of revenue is ads. Just like Google. They increases the probability that you’ll click on one by examining every last bit of your data that goes through their system. That’s the whole thing in a nutshell.
It amazes me that people are surprised by this.
Don’t put anything on the internet that you don’t want Facebook, Google, the NSA, and every one else looking at. If you store something encrypted on the internet, there’s a chance someone will hack it and get your data anyway. NOTHING IS PRIVATE ON THE INTERNET. Yes, I have a Facebook account, which I use rarely to connect with friends and family. I don’t talk about anything sensitive, and I don’t publish any information that isn’t the sort of thing I would be embarrassed to appear on my LinkedIn profile, which is something I WANT people to see.
The key here isn’t to to complain about Facebook’s policies. That isn’t going to change because 99% of people just accept them anyway. The key is to avoid those services if you object to them. There are many other things in life that make you become publically visible, not limited by any means fo Facebook. Perhaps you want to avoid those too. Good. If ultimately the majority of people decide they don’t like being probed like this, perhaps Facebook will chance. But probably not because they’ll still have a billion users.
Some really stupid picture of you getting drunk from 5 years ago is still on the Internet somewhere, and employers WILL find it. I think this is awesome. In this economic environment, I’m very glad to have more ways that people remove themselves from competition with me when I’m looking for a job. Some people just don’t do really stupid things, while others are forward-looking enough to keep them from getting published. Either way, those are the sorts of people I want to hire in preference to jackasses who think it’s funny to show everyone how stupid they are.
Re: (Score:3)
Re:They target ads via datamining (Score:4, Funny)
>>>Don't put anything on the internet that you don't want Facebook, Google, the NSA, and every one else looking at.
This is a very good advice that I followed to the letter when I killed my sister and buried her body in my backyard so I could collect insurance money.
-Bill from KY, Carlisle County
Why does Facebook need to do anything? (Score:2)
Is Facebook still a thing? After all we've seen, is it a legitimate product, or just an ad machine operating on top of an information gathering tool?
this is what broke my camels back (Score:3)
I did not really think to much about privacy until this update.
Now I am slowly deleting and detoxing from facebook
while I did not give a hoot before, now I can only wonder why I did not do this sooner.
One reason why I'm giving up on Android (Score:3)
When I was deciding on a tablet, I was waffling on what to get but the issue of privacy ended up being the thing that decided me.
With Android, you have no choice but to accept the permissions that an app insists on. Either that, or don't use the app. Combine that with Google stating outright that they plan on *reducing* privacy protections, I wasn't happy.
Then I researched the privacy protections in iOS. You have the ability to selectively deny or allow what an application is allowed to see, and can change your choice later on if you change your mind. Say what you will about Apple, but at least they're making a decent effort in this regard.
This was the last drop. (Score:3)
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This is the dumbest line of reasoning for new corporate abuses. "Think about what those 0.1% of private citizens might do if they had similar access!"
Rather than, "Your ours now, since you've ever used our service." I'm not entirely sure the facebook bloatware that comes on cell phones won't provide this data back for even non-users like me. You just can't prove it, since the walled-garden prevents you from installing your own security measures.
The big corporations feel entitled to our private lives, and
Re:Think of the children (Score:5, Informative)
We can't?
Facebook didn't get any kind of information from me. Take a wild guess how I accomplished this feat.
Hint: They can't exist without us. We can exist just fine without them.
Re:Think of the children (Score:4, Interesting)
And if bloatware on your phone is eating your private messages and sending them off to a company you never signed up for an account with, would you know?
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Re:Think of the children (Score:5, Insightful)
Because I don't want a phone. I want a PDA.
I also want to phone people every once in a blue moon and have always-on access to various IM clients. I don't want to carry two devices.
Now you don't want this and it is great that you can get a device that meets your needs. I can get a device that meets my needs but alas now they all come with shit installed.
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There is snoopwall and others that stanch the flow of bad stuff. But honestly, Facebook ought to heavily fined for their boorish invasion of privacy. The data hogs need to be taught a lesson of the value of ecosystems, which is that if your customers revolt, your business model is dead.
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We can't?
Facebook didn't get any kind of information from me. Take a wild guess how I accomplished this feat.
Hint: They can't exist without us. We can exist just fine without them.
You disable all sorts of stuff and you also don't install their app?
I've only installed 2 apps since I purchased my Samsung Galaxy S4, 8 months ago. I disable all manner of things, and as if that's not mean enough by me, I turn the power off for extended periods of time to save my battery (which admittedly is a very good battery, but I don't feel like charging it all the time when I'm not using it.) So I'm pretty useless to anyone trying to spy on me. (Not that spying on me is going to tell anyone much "
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Rooting and flashing a new ROM is the best thing you can do for your privacy.
Facebook gets *some* info from me... (Score:2)
Yes they do (Score:2)
Duh, wait for it, wait for it... ... you were going to say "I'm not on Facebook".
But what you really mean is, you don't have a Facebook account.
But you ARE on Facebook!
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
We can't?
Facebook didn't get any kind of information from me. Take a wild guess how I accomplished this feat.
Hint: They can't exist without us. We can exist just fine without them.
So you've never texted anybody who uses facebook?
You can close your mouth now.
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Yes, I have never texted anyone who uses facebook. I can say that with some sort of credibility due to never texting. I'm one of those odd people who prefer to, ya know, make PHONE calls with a PHONE.
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What is this "Walled Garden" on Android of which you speak?
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What is this "Walled Garden" on Android of which you speak?
The one that won't let you uninstall any app that was shipped with the phone.
Yes, you can install other apps and sideload apps (in most cases at least). "Walled Garden" generally refers to the being restricted to one app store, but I'd agree that it loosely applies here as well.
You may be able to root the device and/or install cyanogen or some other OS. In most cases, that does not override the fact that there is a walled garden... it just means the walls are not perfect.
For an example, how do you remove "S
Re: Think of the children (Score:2)
Re:Think of the children (Score:5, Funny)
That's the sound goatse makes when he farts
Re: (Score:2)
It's the sound Zuckerberg's products make as they cancel their accounts.
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Are you fucking serious? So give up your privacy, and let corporations monitor your actions because it will make pedophiles think twice before molesting your kids?!
Just what kind of fucked up life do you have?!
simple fix on android (Score:2)
install xposed framework
install AppOpsXposed
remove permission to almost everything
i checked mine and noted that the new permission had been added but never used
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Why use their app? (Score:5, Funny)
I have tintoil installed and I don't even own any electronics.
I installed alien sheild goodness. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Why use their app? (Score:4, Informative)
Also, you can do what I did, which was just create a shortcut to the mobile facebook website and place it on your homescreen. You get a nice looking icon that says "Facebook" under it, as if it were an actual app.
Yeah, the app was "better," but at least I don't have to worry about what it's leaching from my phone (and consequently, hurting battery life/usng data)
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I am more interested in why Google Play Services transmits my fine location, wifi-scan, cell scan, and GPS data 24/7.... Although FB has perms for lots of stuff, the logs on my phone report that is SMS has never been accessed. If you are rooted install AppOpsXposed and see for yourself.
Re: Why use their app? (Score:2)
Re:Why use their app? (Score:4, Interesting)
So that Google can provide geolocation for devices without GPS by fingerprinting the signal strength patterns and access point names you see. They also use it for road traffic reports - where do you think Google Maps gets its traffic data from?
Re:Why use their app? (Score:4, Interesting)
So that Google can provide geolocation for devices without GPS by fingerprinting the signal strength patterns and access point names you see. They also use it for road traffic reports - where do you think Google Maps gets its traffic data from?
Exactly. When I activated a new Nexus tablet it explained in plain language about the Google Location Reporting (how they get data for the wifi geolocation you mention) and ask whether or not one wishes to activate it or not.
You can disable it in Settings --> Location --> Google Location Reporting. Turning GLR off does not interfere with other location-related things (for example, you can turn off GLR but still use the geolocation functions in Google Maps or other apps).
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The real security for blackberry apps is in that they made it such a PITA to develop for Blackberry that nobody bothers.
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You can make Android pretty decent by starting off with a device with an unlockable bootloader and using CM or another decent ROM. I've always added a firewall (root needed) so if an app doesn't need to communicate out, it won't get out, no matter if it has that permission or not.
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Yahoo also reads all yahoo emails.
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I'd recommend reading the EULA of any "free" E-mail provider. All of them reserve the right (in some wording or another) to go looking through the mailbox as they see fit to sell to advertisers.
Want E-mail privacy? One has to do like they did before the advent of Hotmail, and either pay for a custom domain +hosting or pay for a private ISP for mail hosting. I personally use SaaSHost.net [1], but there are many others that are good.
I prefer a provider that only does paid subscriptions, no ad revenue. Tha
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