ITV player streams onto Android ITV player is now available on Android, giving gadget-bound tellyheads unlimited access to the past seven days of content from all four of the network's channels. Catch up on all your favourite tosh from Corrie to the ironically named Britain's Got Talent. In order to use the app, a phone must be running Android 2.2 or higher …
I have the root app "LBE Privacy Guard" installed on my Android phone. After I installed the ITV Player app, LBE Privacy told me that the ITV app wanted access to the following three things:
Access Location
Access IMEI
Access Network
There's no need for the app to know the IMEI of my phone (a unique identifier), so I told it to block requests for that info. I also told LBE Privacy Guard to prompt me if the app tried to access my location. I allowed the app network access as obviously it needs it to work.
When I started up the app, it immediately tried to obtain my location so I rejected that request, and it continued to work anyway. It then requested my email address and post code, with the following explanations:
"To use this service, please enter your email address. By doing so, you agree to receive news and offers from ITV. We also need your postcode so that we can provide you with the right content for your region. Postcodes are not stored."
I entered a fake email address. There is no email confirmation of any sort. I wanted the correct content for my region so I just entered the postcode for my local council headquarters.
"and be connected to Wi-Fi"
The self imposed restriction of the media is very bad form. It is totally without merit and beyond scope. If the telecoms companies do not like users accessing media THEY should block it.
It's just like Cinemas turning away customers who come in brown shoes. its stupid! you should not turn customers away however they come. Now if the network has a problem THEY should sort it out.
Why do media companies do this? is it because of the backhanders the telecoms companies sling over so they can continue to sell "Unlimited" packages??
I just looked up a postcode in England and made the mistake of entering a real email address.
The acknowledgment came back and had a link to unsubscribe.
Great I thought.
But no. The web page you get sent to simply asks for more personal details and had NO option to unsubscribe or to delete my record. Surely illegal for ITV to do this? Data protection law is quite clean on this point.
So nice one ITV.... :(
Still in the 20th century mindset aren't you?
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