Just got a new Samsung sound bar. Can anyone explain why when I connect via Bluetooth (or maybe it was their smart things app) it wants access to my phone contacts and messages!?
Not sure about messages, but most Bluetooth speakers prompt if I want to give them access to my contacts - I've always assumed it's so they can display/say the caller ID for an incoming call.
Pretty sure it's the app. If the soundbar is a plain Bluetooth audio device it shouldn't even need any other software than what is already contained in the device you want to connect it to. They however could have replicated or moved some of its controls on the app so that you're encouraged (if not forced) to install it and surrender your personal data in the process.
I hate that practice; almost every device or service today wants to install an app because it brings their brand on the phone main screen and gives full access to users private data. Besides privacy concerns, it can't scale: 100 products or services done the traditional way were 100 addresses in a bookmarks file that used a few KBs combined and no CPU power at all except for the browser (that is, just one app), now they are 100 executables that waste orders of magnitude more storage and can slow a device like molasses even when not in use; all this in the name of sticking a logo on the main page of a phone and exfiltrating users personal data.
