[Breaking] Newest Version of My Verizon Mobile App Looks for Rooted Devices

[dgstorm]

It probably shouldn't come as any surprise now, as this is "par for the course" for Big Red, but we thought it worth sharing that the new My Verizon Mobile app does something a bit sneaky. It actually tries to determine if your device is rooted and reports it back to Verizon. The first time you run the app in the background after the new update it does what you see in the screenshot above.

The new version of the app just hit the Google Play Store a few minutes ago, so if you do not want to be discovered rooting, then you might want to skip it. Just FYI!

Thanks to our anonymous tipster for this great intel!

 

[dezymond]

Hmmm, I just downloaded the update and that didn't show up.

 

[dgstorm]

Perhaps it hasn't run in the background yet, or perhaps you already gave it those permissions in the past...

 

[johnomaz]

Maybe its only if you open the tethering screen.

 

[kodiak799]

Haven't had this app on my phone in forever - no need with unlimited data.

But if we're subscribing to conspiracy theories, I suspect VZW is less concerned with knowing if you're rooted then potentially recording if unlimited users are tethering in violation of the TOS. Could also be an effort to discover who has voluntarily voided their hardware warranties.

And it could also be entirely benign. It wants root access to deep-dive and report back on how people are using their phones, all in the name of tailoring plans and service/quality to better align with how people actually use their phones. Keep in mind that even outside unlimited plans, there's a nontrivial number of people running custom roms that VZW knows almost nothing about other than very basic usage data. Great intel from technically advanced users for features VZW might like to bring to the masses.

 

[dgstorm]

kodiak makes some great points... I had a feeling this would be worth sharing.

 

[jamjr74]

Its stuff like this that made me leave Verizon!!!

 

[mattman5000]

Its stuff like this that made me leave Verizon!!!

I've always had a Verizon and Moto Droid combo. Now I'm planning to get an M8. Only reason I have done it yet it because I'm trying to decide if I should stick with Verizon or go with AT&T. It's stuff like this that is pushing me to AT&T, which seems to be much more root friendly.

 

[RyanPm40]

kodiak makes some great points... I had a feeling this would be worth sharing.

Haha very good points that I hope are true, but I sure as Hell won't be installing that update to be safe

 

[djspy]

What about those of us that are stock, not rooted but still tether through FoxFi? Will it detect that?

 

[LoudRam]

It also has a new permission that allows it to take pics or videos at any time. Why does it need to do that?

Sent from my Moto X using Droid Forums

 

[LoudRam]

Here's the screenshot of the permission details.



Sent from my Moto X using Droid Forums

 

[jspradling7]

Mine did it when I touched the Verizon Cloud app. I didn't think much about it at the time. I have it on an account that allows tethering and I wouldn't try to return a phone I rooted so no big deal.

 

[comk4ver]

Thanks for the heads up... I've disabled the app

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

 

[Dalvik_Cache]

What about those of us that are stock, not rooted but still tether through FoxFi? Will it detect that?

No.

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk