Why are some contacts censored from apps on android?

Question

If you try the Contact Manager that comes with Android 2.2 Froyo it will give you access to all contacts in the sqlite database via Contact ContentProvider. But if you write an app that is not com.android.contacts you only get access to the restricted table because of this code here:

http://www.google.com/codesearch/p?hl=en#cbQwy62oRIQ/res/values/unrestricted_packages.xml&q=unrestricted_packages&sa=N&cd=1&ct=rc

If you try any of the samples like ContactManager or any app on the market it will not have access to the full list of contacts only access to the restricted view.

The restricted table seems to only contain contacts with phone numbers and excludes some facebook contacts. I can't find any documentation on why a contact would be restricted anywhere in the developer docs?

Is there some way around this besides rooting and opening the the sqlite db manually or using a custom firmware?

Answer 1

Is there some way around this besides rooting and opening the the sqlite db manually or using a custom firmware?

No.

Answer 2

Security.

Would be too easy for a rogue app to do something malcious (such as send itself to all your contacts).

Answer 3

Did you specify android.permission.READ_CONTACTS in your manifest?

What leads you to believe this subset of Facebook contacts publish their phone number in their info?