Re: [android-developers] Re: Want to capture screenshot of current screen from phone

On Sun, Jun 12, 2011 at 3:10 PM, rich friedel <rich.friedel@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/

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