I sent the following support request. Let’s see what the answer is:
After updating the Phone to Android10 with the recent over-the-air upgrade.
A new system app called “Fairphone Activator” has been installed.
(com.farphone.activator)
This app has access to the Phones internals as well as it’s location and
sends data to activation.fairphone.com TCP port 10780 as well as fp.thingslot.com and other URLS…I do not want that. I am a quite sensitized to privacy threads on consumer devices. This is one of the main reasons why I bought a Fairphone in the first place, since I was under the impression that Fairphone - unlike many other phone manufacturers - would NOT spy on their users.
I was quite shocked that the phone would now do that without prior notification or consent.
I tried to disable the app, but this is not possible, since it is a system app.
It also was not possible to uninstall it.Then I tried to disable the apps access to the phone’s location and system internals
(in the app permissions) but the option to change the permission is greyed out with the notice “Device requires this permission to operate”.This is obviously not the case, since the Device operated fine without this app prior to the Android10 upgrade, and the device worked fine while the network access was being blocked.
In accordance with the EU GDPR directive I have the right to know what kind of data Fairphone collects about my phone usage and for which purpose. Data like IMEI and Phone location, which this app has access to is personal information capable of identifying and tracking individuals.
The phone should not transfer any data to Fairphone or any 3rd party without prior notification and permission of its user - unless the user explicitly requested this by performing an operation that implies this data transfer (such as performing a search, phone call, or accessing a webpage) No such permission or intent was given.
I expect you to provide detailed information to me, which I will share with the community in the appropriate forum threads:
- What does this app do, what is its purpose
- What data is being collected/send to fairphone.com
- How can this app can be disabled/uninstalled
- Why was this app shipped in the first place without informing users or asking for consent to its operation.
best regards,