Is it possible to use WeChat (Weixin) more safely in recent versions of Android by using permissions?

Question

I assume that anything written or read on WeChat is read by the government of the People's Republic of China. I understand the risks of that.

However, I would like to understand the implications of using WeChat for other data on my device. With earlier versions of Android, you had to grant all an app's permission requests in order to use it, and WeChat demanded every possible permission. More recent versions of the OS allow users to grant or deny permissions in groups. Is there a combination of permissions which would allow WeChat to function as a chat/messenger app, but prevent it from reading other data on my device?

Answer 1

No, I don't think it is possible. I don't think that there is any way to guarantee (or even have some degree of certainty) that WeChat won't exfiltrate data off of your device through ways you don't intend it to or can't control. While I am personally not aware of the extent in which WeChat is exfilitrating other data off of devices or the evidence to support it, it remains well, well within the realm of possibility. I say this most obviously because the Android permissions system is far from infalliable.

I'm sure there are others who can speak to the facts more effectively, so I will leave it at that to try to avoid conjecture. I hope that this was at least somewhat helpful.