What's the reason behind DigiCal required permissions?

DigiCal only asks for permissions that are necessary for its functionality.

We try to limit the the permissions we ask for, to the strict minimum. All six of the sensitive permissions listed below are required for DigiCal to function normally. We cannot remove any of them without impacting functionality. Here is a full list of all the sensitive permissions and the reason why we ask for them:

The new permission for Identity (manage accounts, read/write sync settings) is required for background syncing of calendar data.

YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

-READ CALENDAR EVENTS PLUS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

This permission is required to display any calendar related information

-ADD OR MODIFY CALENDAR EVENTS AND SEND EMAIL TO GUESTS WITHOUT OWNERS' KNOWLEDGE

This permission is required to add, modify or delete calendar events. The "send email to guests" part means that if you invite a guest to an event, Google Calendar (or Exchange) will send out an invitation on your behalf.  We only send emails to your guests when you add them in an event and with your permission.

 

YOUR SOCIAL INFORMATION

-READ YOUR CONTACTS

This permission is required for inviting guests. Without it, we cannot provide auto completion for email or guest names, nor display their profile images in events with invitations.

YOUR LOCATION

-APPROXIMATE LOCATION (NETWORK-BASED)

This permission is required for the location search in order to rank nearby search results higher. This information will only be used in the app to provide location aware functionality. We will not use, provide or sell this information to any other party. Note that we only ask for the approximate information, as we have no reason to use the more fine grained and sensitive GPS location.

 

NETWORK COMMUNICATION

-FULL NETWORK ACCESS

Network access is used for various purposes, like sending crash reports to help with fixing rare bugs and device specific issues, contacting various Google API's for location search and calendar data. In the free version of DigiCal, we use it to display advertisements so we can fund further development of new features in DigiCal.

 

 

STORAGE

 

-MODIFY OR DELETE THE CONTENTS OF YOUR USB STORAGE

 

This is required in preparation of saving and loading settings.

 

IDENTITY

 

-FIND ACCOUNTS ON THE DEVICE

-ADD OR REMOVE ACCOUNTS

 

These permissions are required for creating a "Sync Adapter" and creating an account type "DigiCal" in System Settings -> Accounts & Sync section, where you can manage synchronization settings. Unfortunately, these permissions are required by Android's API, even if we don't access any other accounts than the device's anonymous "DigiCal" account.

 

We use these to transfer data via Android's Sync Provider framework, to allow the system to schedule data refreshes to save battery. 

 

We never send your event data to any server other than the calendar storage and associated Google / Exchange accounts. The sync provider is currently only used to provide data for the "Interesting Calendars" section of the app.