this post was submitted on 08 Nov 2023
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Privacy

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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: https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/reports/com.expressvpn.vpn/latest/

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[–] [email protected] 168 points 1 year ago (24 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Ah okay that might justify the camera permission, although personally wouldn't see the need to have that.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

You can often just deny permissions and it will work fine, just nag you sometimes

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