On Sun, Jun 12, 2011 at 3:10 PM, rich friedel <rich.frie...@gmail.com> wrote: > What security implications arise from allowing the device to take screenshots?
Allowing the user to take screenshots would not be a problem, in isolation. Allowing an SDK application to take screenshots of itself presumably would not be a problem, though I'm not sure how useful this is. After all, you can already get most of it -- only things outside your activity (e.g., status bar/system bar) aren't available. Allowing an SDK application to take screenshots *of other applications* is a big security problem. If you don't believe me, then you won't have a problem posting your bank account details in a reply to this list, the way malware could by taking a screenshot of your device while you are in your banking app. I suspect that part of the reason why user-level screenshot capability is not in the OS is to make damn sure that there's no way via reflection or other games that somebody could programmatically invoke it. That's just a guess, though. > I see that line of reasoning toss about a lot to describe why something > doesn't work automatically. Often times, that line of reasoning is tossed about due to legitimate security concerns. You are certainly welcome to disagree with those concerns, of course. > I don't understand why this couldn't be something that is normally > available... all it would require is a simple permission. Similarly, you are welcome to your opinion regarding the efficacy of the permission system for preventing users from malware. -- Mark Murphy (a Commons Guy) http://commonsware.com | http://github.com/commonsguy http://commonsware.com/blog | http://twitter.com/commonsguy Android Training in NYC: http://marakana.com/training/android/ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en