> Not even if I had root on the device with the source code to the OS, firmware and applications.

Can't you debug code and control network access in that scenario?

Maybe if I have the debugging symbols and kernel headers. Even then there are circumstances where it won't help.

For example: Nearly all cell phones check in to their manufactures website from time to time. Nearly all of them look for a header that triggers a debug mode that turns on CarrierIQ. (It isn't called this any more, AT&T renamed it to an empty name to stop people from searching for it).

Trying to find obscure functions and understand how they interact with the servers they check into can be very difficult at best. It often leads to more questions than answers, at least based on my experience.