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I am fully aware of what vpn services to use and not. I am not using Express VPN, I am simply doing research for a master thesis, when I came across these results from Express VPN. If you have any ideas or corrections, please let me know why a VPN provider would need to have access to these permissions.
Screenshot is from Exodus service, which let's you view what exactly perimissions and trackers each app uses. You can check out the results and the tool for yourself here: https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/reports/com.expressvpn.vpn/latest/
In the mobile space, there are Chinese calculators apps on Androids by manufacturers that require internet access...
To be fair, the calculator on my phone has a built in currency converter and would need network access to get the exchange rates
That's legit and justifiable though I rather my apps to perform just one core duty and don't unnecessarily append unnecessary functions to justify internet access.
And the calculator apps I'm referring to doesn't have currency function. I only found out when I use root and XPrivacyLUA to monitor apps permissions some years back for context.