[tjoff]

Because apps stealing user data is a real concern and the contact list as well as sms can have sensitive data.

There are, after all, many legitimate reasons for having access to the contact list and there are many legitimate reasons for not wanting to share it. In android, as a developer, you have to decide whether you want a fully featured app or an app that respects their users privacy. You can not have both in a single app.

There is nothing that says you can't have both and doing so would be very simple. Android doesn't do anything to help so that's why android needs some serious blame for this.

Now people are getting used to ignoring the permissions (if all apps require everything, why bother?) making them quite useless. If this continues they could just as well just remove them (since the typical user wouldn't care anyway).

[snupples]

Well it's not exactly "stealing" when the app is forced to tell you upfront what it's going to "Edit SMS or MMS, read SMS or MMS, receive SMS". How more explicit can you be?

[tjoff]

As much stealing as if the waiter borrowing your credit-card at a restaurant decided to clean your bank account instead of charging for your meal.

But anyway, that is besides the point. The point is that google forces me to trust the waiter when there is no reason for it.

[snupples]

In Facebook's case I absolutely do not trust the waiter. I'm glad Google tells me what the waiter has access to.