alt Hacker NewsYeah, Android's sandbox deals with low-level file access and socket APIs and stuff. But Android also, intentionally, allows apps to expose their data and functionality to other apps via the higher-level "intent" system.
Apps get to choose what permissions are needed to access their intents, so under Android's security model, really it's Chrome's fault (or whatever browser the user has installed) for exposing an intent that allows apps that don't have the INTERNET permission to exfoltrate data.
Similarly, apps are also allowed to collude to share data with each other if they want; that's how stuff like Google Play Services works.
> Apps get to choose what permissions are needed to access their intents, so under Android's security model, really it's Chrome's fault (or whatever browser the user has installed) for exposing an intent that allows apps that don't have the INTERNET permission to exfoltrate data.
You might as well blame the phone for not being encased in concrete and thrown into a well. You might not want your text message application to have the internet permission, but you'd certainly want to be able to open links from it.