[nmglug] Fwd: Google Contacts (from Re: Will curiosity kill my cat? What is this?)

[Akkana Peck]

Tom Ashcraft writes:
> Though I've tried, I've yet figure out how to actually get the
> local-contacts-only thing to work.  Perhaps you have something specific in
> mind that due to lack of skill or experience I've yet to discover.

It's not easy to find. I did it when I first got the phone, but it
took a lot of tapping around just now to figure out what I did.

On Marshmallow (of course every Android version's prefs are completely
different, sigh):
    Settings -> Accounts -> Google
That gives you a bunch of checkboxes where you can turn off syncing.
I have them all turned off. Then I use the normal Contacts app on
the phone, and my contacts all stay on the phone and aren't synced
with Google (I just logged into Google from Linux and verified that
they say I have no contacts defined).

> My concerns with Google Contacts are:
> 
> 1) that everything that I could find and try from Google PlayStore,
> including apps  returned when I placed 'F-Droid' in the search fields, all
> linked back to requiring permissions to access Google Contacts

Most of the apps I use don't require Contacts access. If one does,
and shouldn't, I do without that app.

There are a few exceptions. For instance, the only way I've found to
set wallpaper/lockscreen on my Galaxy S5 to a custom image involves 
running Samsung's Gallery app, which insists on all sorts of
permissions it shouldn't need. So when I want to change wallpaper,
I grudgingly give it access, change the wallpaper, then go to Apps
Settings and revoke the permissions. It's a pain in the tuchas.

> 2) that other people who place my phone number in their own Google Contacts
> (most people who use Android phones) are already building a map of all my
> personal associations for Google without my knowledge or permission.

Yep. That's a problem and there's nothing we can do about it.

> So far, no functional app or strategy I can find *anywhere* (other than
> memorizing phone numbers) provides a dialer that will work without a
> Google-associated contacts list.

I use the default dialer on the S5, which uses my local non-synced
contacts.

Of course Samsung or Google may be collecting my data without
asking; I can't do anything about that. Some day I hope to find a
phone that can run some open-source OS, work with Verizon, and not
cost an arm and a leg. So far most of the open-source phone OSes are
based in Europe and don't have to worry about people who live in the
boonies where Verizon is the only option.

        ...Akkana