# [Solved] Signal (Flatpak) can access my files even Flatseal shows the opposite

**URL:** https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/solved-signal-flatpak-can-access-my-files-even-flatseal-shows-the-opposite/19145
**Category:** Questions
**Tags:** software
**Created:** 2024-06-27T17:54:20Z
**Posts:** 3

## Post 1 by @user12 — 2024-06-27T17:54:20Z

I use Signal (from Flathub) upon Fedora (latest stable).

I check Signal permissions from Flatseal. Every permission is default yet (I did not change anything yet).

Every permission under “filesystem” title is disabled. But I can attach any file from anywhere (real home folder, mounted ext4 partitions…).

Is there any bug or I miss something?

I want to install Chrome (in any case) but I want to block from Flatseal to access to all my files. So it will only able to get some information from my machine. But when I saw Signal I change my mind…

---

## Post 2 by @exaCORE — 2024-06-27T18:03:59Z

When you attach a file, what I presume happens is that the flatpak gets access to 1 particular file using xdg-desktop-portal: [GitHub - flatpak/xdg-desktop-portal: Desktop integration portal](https://github.com/flatpak/xdg-desktop-portal). This means that only you are able to choose the files it can access (the filesystem permission is a permission that means the app can access files in said directories without your consent). Unfortunately when you give an app access to a file through xdg desktop portal, there isn’t a way to specify one time access. The app gets access to that file or folder forever. It seems there are some open issues about this, such as this one: [Once a file is opened with FileChooser, the permissions remain permanently in flatpak · Issue #1349 · flatpak/xdg-desktop-portal · GitHub](https://github.com/flatpak/xdg-desktop-portal/issues/1349)

At least that’s my understanding, I am not an expert in this field, so I could be wrong

---

## Post 3 by @user12 — 2024-06-29T17:47:43Z

Thank you :heart: