14 DAY TRIAL // Canonical’s Ubuntu Touch is becoming a very powerful operating system for smartphones, and soon it will also work without any problems on tablets. This means that the developers now have to be concerned more about privacy issues and less about the inner workings of the OS.
If Canonical wants to beat the other players on the market, especially Android, they will have to do a lot of things better, and one of those things is about the users’ privacy.
Ubuntu developer Marc Deslauriers has explained in detail why Ubuntu's way of dealing with the thorny problem of security will actually be a lot better than anything done so far.
It seems that security issues, especially regarding new applications made available for download through a Software Center, are one of the biggest problems that need to be solved. Developers have to be able to quickly get updates for their applications to the users, but this means that it’s impossible to properly vet every application.
“How do we trust software that can be made available to users in minutes? Simple: we confine it, and prevent it from accessing the user’s private data,” said Marc Deslauriers in his explanation.
Basically, Ubuntu will allow users to see details about the requirements of the application. As the developer explained, if a flashlight application requires access to the Contacts, you will be able to see why it makes such a request.
If you remember correctly, Android just informs the user that certain parts of your phone will be accessed and leave people with no choice if they don’t agree.
Ubuntu Touch will handle things a little bit differently and it will be able to provide users with access to an app and still deny some of the requirements of an application if it doesn’t impede its main functions.
If this plan works, Ubuntu Touch will be able to teach Android a lesson in app security and it will set a new standard that everyone will have to follow.