Would you trust PrivacyStar?

[JeffreyDeutsch]

Hello,

I'm looking for a good app which can actually block unwanted calls -- not just send them to voicemail. Having seen PrivacyStar's great review, I decided to check them out.

I asked PrivacyStar about their permissions, and they’ve been very helpful (unlike Mr. Number, which has never responded to my multiple messages).

Just one thing. PrivacyStar's required permissions include both Read Sensitive Log Data and Read Call Log. The latter I completely understand. For the former, all they will say is that it is "related to the way the app monitors [my] phone app as well as the call log and text messages." Beyond that, they won’t say anything because they fear it would give away their proprietary technology.

What do you think?

Thank you very much in advance!

Jeff Deutsch

 

[Droid Firefighter]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Look at their reviews and see how people rate them. Like you said, they did reply back and answered almost all questions stopping only to protect their intellectual property. Seems reasonable to me. Personally I use Call Control to block text messages, phone calls, and email text messages. I've had zero problems with this app. The nice thing is that it keeps a log of blocked calls or messages to review later if you want.

 

[rudywilliams]

I had Call Control on my S3 and it caused my contacts to disappear, as had Skype (until I found you could turn off Syncing Contacts with Skype). I wound up with Current Caller ID and it works great and even gets locations for most callers if their address is listed.

 

[JeffreyDeutsch]

Thanks Droid Firefighter for your suggestions and rudywilliams for your heads-up.

Droid Firefighter, I'm a wee bit confused. I checked Call Control in Google Play and I don't see a special capability for blocking "email text messages" as distinct from text messages. Perhaps you mean text messages sent by email...and if so, aren't they normally treated as ordinary text messages anyway?

Also, I don't see Call Control Pro in Google Play (the free version only enables you to block three numbers or area codes), so I assume it's an in-app purchase. Do you know how much it costs?

In any case, PrivacyStar's ratings seem pretty decent to me, otherwise I wouldn't have contacted them. My parameters -- not set in stone but the exceptions I allow are few and far between -- are:

• Average rating ≥ 4.00 (I'm sure ≥ 4.0 is just fine, but being a math lover if I see 4.0 I'll whip out the calculator)
  
• Five-star ratings a majority of total ratings
  
• Five-star ratings + four-star ratings ≥ 75% of total ratings

Also, I get suspicious of a very small number of ratings...small enough that the developer could have "sock puppets" skew the stats.

Finally, a small number of downloads and/or a long time since the last update will cause me to think twice.

Rudywilliams, I'm sorry that Call Control erased your contacts. Thanks for the suggestion about Current Caller ID. My impression is that their focus is on identifying and gathering data about calls and texts (especially given who made and maintains this one!), and blocking unwanted calls and texts is an afterthought...what do you think? (Also, does it block calls and texts, or just send them to voicemail and "spam folder" respectively?)

Thanks again!

Jeff Deutsch

 

[rudywilliams]

Jeff:

Current Caller ID allows you to block and hang up OR block and send to VM. You can block texts as well. I have them hang up.

I haven't had any suspicious calls or texts. I have set up a couple of wildcard blocks, no hits there so far.

I use Phone Tray with a Hiro voice modem on the land line and have hundreds of blocked numbers, sending a disconnect message. Don't allow the MS driver to install. Hiro has drivers for various Windows versions. About 90% of land calls are garbage, best not to reg. on; DNC;-)

 

[JeffreyDeutsch]

Thanks rudywilliams!

I've decided to go with PrivacyStar and see how well it works for me.

Thank you very much again to everyone who helped!

Jeff Deutsch