Is Rooting your device illegal?

godzillinois · Oct 6, 2015

Sorry if this question has been answered already, but I haven't found a recent (ie within a year) thread about this when I searched. I haven't rooted anything in years and I've just got a Galaxy Tab Pro and was looking into Rooting it. My friend who has an HTC One has also reached out to me asking me how to Root it.

When I started researching methods I kept running across articles that were stating that Rooting a device is now illegal? I've never heard of this before, is it true? Anyone have links to information that says otherwise?

RussianSolja · Oct 6, 2015

No it's not but In most cases it will void your warranty. also most of the time you could always unroot your device. I used KingRoot to root my phone it's an app it was quick and simple.

Sent from my BLU STUDIO 7.0 II using XDA Free mobile app

AnDrOiiiD_YT · Oct 6, 2015

It depends what you do with root. If you root it to "hack" or "snif" then you're doing a illegal thing. If you root it to costumise your Android then, you're not disturbing a privacy from another person or what else.

Hit the Thanks Button if I helped

alpine101 · Oct 6, 2015

You bought and own it. You can do what you like with it. Of course if it's a stolen phone and you're rooting it to mess with the IMEI, then that's another matter.

godzillinois · Oct 6, 2015

Does anyone have links to articles or information confirming this? Because all I can find are articles stating that it is illegal with the 2nd article below stating that "Tablets cannot be Rooted AT ALL" (*edit: apparently I can't post links yet)

borxnx · Oct 7, 2015

godzillinois said:
Does anyone have links to articles or information confirming this? Because all I can find are articles stating that it is illegal with the 2nd article below stating that "Tablets cannot be Rooted AT ALL" (*edit: apparently I can't post links yet)

I don't know what you have been reading, but it's wrong. Root is perfectly legal. My Nexus 7 and Nexus 9 are both rooted.

Where are you getting this information? That part of the internet should just go ahead and die.

godzillinois · Oct 7, 2015

well like I said, I can't post links yet because I'm still 'new' but if you just Google Root and Illegal a bunch of articles come up (some contradicting the others, which is why I was looking for a definitive answer from somewhere.)

HypoTurtle · Oct 7, 2015

godzillinois said:
well like I said, I can't post links yet because I'm still 'new' but if you just Google Root and Illegal a bunch of articles come up (some contradicting the others, which is why I was looking for a definitive answer from somewhere.)

I think you don't quite get how search engines (google) works: you can google illegal and pineapples, and get a bunch of articles.

The only issue with rooting would be that it breaks/voids warranty in most cases, and if your device was obtained on contract i.e. still technically the property of your provider, then rooting might be against the terms of service - the consequence of which varying depending on the provider.

godzillinois · Oct 7, 2015

HypoTurtle said:
I think you don't quite get how search engines (google) works: you can google illegal and pineapples, and get a bunch of articles.

The only issue with rooting would be that it breaks/voids warranty in most cases, and if your device was obtained on contract i.e. still technically the property of your provider, then rooting might be against the terms of service - the consequence of which varying depending on the provider.

I wasn't searching for it outright, I was actually searching for the pros and cons of rooting since my buddy was interested, and a couple of the articles I kept running into kept mentioning the illegality part. Since I can't post links I just suggested that one Google Root and Illegal since someone actually asked where I got my information. I figured it would be easier than explaining all this and then telling him to Google "Pros and Cons."

Obviously I know how a search engine works, no need for the passive aggressive comments - especially when you provide no other help than what was already said.

HypoTurtle · Oct 7, 2015

godzillinois said:
I wasn't searching for it outright, I was actually searching for the pros and cons of rooting since my buddy was interested, and a couple of the articles I kept running into kept mentioning the illegality part. Since I can't post links I just suggested that one Google Root and Illegal since someone actually asked where I got my information. I figured it would be easier than explaining all this and then telling him to Google "Pros and Cons."

Obviously I know how a search engine works, no need for the passive aggressive comments - especially when you provide no other help than what was already said.

Sorry, wasn't meaning to sound that way, but your question is rather vague as there isn't one universal global law system - although arguably there should be for digital matters.

To fully answer there are several parts to look at; primarily does it violate local laws - in some cases it can be argued that it breaks copyright law. Additionally you need to question on if the 'broken law' is inforcable - inmost cases it is not and the said laws were made in a pre-digital age and haven't been updated to account for the current world. As an example - setting the wrong age (or a fake profile) on FB is technically illegal as it's against the TOS which is a legal document; but the proseccution of these lawbreakers isn't feasible or inforcable.

Although as i stated previously - this can be slightly different if the device isn't wholely owned by the user i.e. the device cost was covered by the network provider and essentially loaned to the user until the contract is over.

godzillinois · Oct 7, 2015

Fair enough - sorry to jump on you, so I guess to be more specific I was looking into the legality of Rooting devices that are out of contract in the US/Illinois. My friend's phone is older than 2 years well past his contract, and I bought a refurbished Wifi-only Galaxy Tab Pro which seems is stuck on Kit Kat for now.

I'm mainly looking to Root to turn off my back button and gain write access to my external SD card (as well as remove bloat) but the Wifi-tether I was finding in articles seems intriguing. Although that seems like if anything that came from Rooting would be illegal that would be it (and bootlegging paid apps of course.)

borxnx · Oct 12, 2015

godzillinois said:
Fair enough - sorry to jump on you, so I guess to be more specific I was looking into the legality of Rooting devices that are out of contract in the US/Illinois. My friend's phone is older than 2 years well past his contract, and I bought a refurbished Wifi-only Galaxy Tab Pro which seems is stuck on Kit Kat for now.

I'm mainly looking to Root to turn off my back button and gain write access to my external SD card (as well as remove bloat) but the Wifi-tether I was finding in articles seems intriguing. Although that seems like if anything that came from Rooting would be illegal that would be it (and bootlegging paid apps of course.)

You can easily bootleg paid apps without root, so don't think that rooting is opening up the phone to the "dark side" of Android.

Rooting devices is not illegal anywhere in the US. It does, however, void your warranty and if you were to trade in the device for credit towards a new one they will likely not take it and force you to pay the difference.

But if you own the device outright (not on contract or paid full price), it is yours and you can do anything you like with it. You can root it, you can smash it with a hammer, or you can bake it into a cake. The possibilities are endless.

Even if you don't "own it" outright yet (i.e. are on a 2 year contract or pay monthly installments) you can still modify the device in any way as long as you finish your contract/agreement.

As long as you don't use root access to do illegal things, it's perfectly fine. Root itself is harmless.

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Is Rooting your device illegal?

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