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We have all agreed. We gave permission to any company that extends credit. They give our information to these credit reporting agencies on an on-going basis, pe
by cmurf 9y ago
We have all agreed. We gave permission to any company that extends credit. They give our information to these credit reporting agencies on an on-going basis, personal information, including what our payment behavior and history is.
All of this comes down to trust. We trust our banks and credit card companies. They trust Equifax. Equifax's customer is your bank or credit lending company, not us. It's actually very similar to Google, et al. We aren't the consumer. They collect our personal information, vastly more than credit agencies. And the real customer are the advertisers who pay Google. The difference is, we probably trust Google more than Equifax (even before all of this).
A month ago, my mom said she wanted to start using Uber on her phone. I explained how to install it, and when she did (as well as the Lyft app for that matter) it wanted access to her camera, photos, contacts, a list of information on her phone. And she said fuck no. And refused to give permission. So she still uses cabs and pays cash.
- koolba 9y agoSince when does Uber ask for use of your camera or access to photos? And for what?
- pkkim 9y agoYou can take a picture of your payment card instead of typing the digits in.
- seanp2k2 9y agoIt should ask for permission if you try to do that, not when you install the app.
- dunham 9y agoIt might be an android thing. In iOS you can ask when you need it, and still use the app if you say no. I've gotten the impression that Android asks everything up front at installation time and doesn't install if you say no, but I'm not an android user/dev so I don't know for sure.
- TulliusCicero 9y agoThat used to be true but the permissions model changed to just-in-time a couple versions ago.
- mikestew 9y agoIf an app wanted all that just to call a cab, I’d say “fuck no”, too. (Not an Uber/Lyft user, can’t confirm.) GPS, that’s all you need, and that’s all you’ll get. If you need more, ask me directly instead of digging through my shit.
- icebraining 9y agoAndroid, at least until very recently, had no way of asking at the point of use, despite being a feature in Symbian S60 since before the iPhone :|
- int_19h 9y agoWe don't trust them. We are forced to say we do, because the other option (to go without all the services gated on that answer) is so uncomfortable as to be non-viable for most.
- icebraining 9y agoIf she still wants to use Uber, you can add a link to https://m.uber.com https://m.uber.com to her homescreen, no app needed. It also avoids the tracking after leaving the car (assuming she closes the site).