Android Market - safe & secure?

[Guest The Sorcerer]

I've got an Orange San Francisco that I tried Sebastian404's 23/Dec r8: de-orangeated ROM for ZTE Blade / Orange San Francisco [eclair] [OLED+TFT] ROM on but couldn't get it to work properly so, for now at least, I've gone back to the Stock ROM - the only "mod" on the phone is that I've unlocked it from Orange and am using an Asda PAYG sim in it.

I want to buy an app from the Android Market, an app called "Record It" for remote recording on my Sky+ box (the official Sky+ app, developed by Sky, isn't compatible with these handsets yet). However, being a complete noob at this, I'm wondering why I need to create and use a Google account for this? Firstly, I don't particularly want to give Google my credit card details - would much prefer to pay by PayPal or something and download the app to my computer, then transfer to the phone.

Secondly, having gone as far as creating a Google account (in case there's no other way) and getting to the point where the market wanted my credit card details, I didn't notice the httpS or padlock symbol. Does it not work like a browser on a computer? Is it safe to continue?

I know I'm paranoid but..... :unsure:

Cheers

[Guest b17vic]

As far as I'm aware the Android market is run by Google and if I'm correct Google once owned Android, but I may be wrong. As far as the credit card details go I think it's the easiest way for the people selling their apps to get there cash otherwise you would end up potentially giving your credit card details to multiple vendors who may be scamming. As far as PayPal goes not everyone is happy to use them for various reasons, there's plenty info on the net why you shouldn't use them if you care to check. I would guess that Google would have your credit card details encripted and I would also think that it carries the same risk as bying anything else over the internet with a credit card. I think you should check all my suggestions from different sources and not just take my word for it but I would imagine that Google have millions of peoples personal credit card details so really there security should be s*** hot as you would expect from such a global force. It's good to be cautious though because simple mistakes can cost people big time.

[Guest The Sorcerer]

Ah, right, thanks very much for that. I'd come to that conclusion after doing some more research myself but good to have it confirmed. I just hate the hold Google has on things and after the "wifi data grab" by google when doing their street mapping here in the UK, I became even more paranoid :D

Cheers