4 ms·

This paradigm of apps demanding access to your entire contacts list must end. I should be able to choose individual contacts to add to any given app.

Larrikin 7y ago
I rarely give out access to my contact list anymore but I do wonder is there any safe way to actually do what the original feature intended. I'm new to a game. I'd like to play with my friends without having to individually contact every single one of them and ask them if they also play the game.
- saagarjha 7y ago
  I wonder if Game Center has (had?) something that would work here.
cmroanirgo 7y ago
I think it's high time the host os takes responsibility for the privacy of sensitive things, such as contact lists and personal data. One way could be to not return any identifiable information about others at all, but just a hash of each contact. (Kudos points if the host os returns a different hash for the same contact in different apps.) If that contact is known to the app, (because they've also installed it) then the app has all the information it needs to set up contact between two parties. The host os will probably need to provide a way to render a contact list for the app. I'd be much happier with this arrangement. This way my personal data isn't uploaded to third parties simply because an acquaintance of mine wants to install some rubbish app. It's only if I install the same (rubbish) app will that third party finally get my personal info. Host OS should also give me the power to determine what personal info it's given to any app. For instance, why did WhatsApp ever need my personal phone number while creating an account? It doesn't, and as such, should be regarded as an antitrust requirement.
- WrtCdEvrydy 7y ago
  You mean like Blackberry 10? The Android module would return privacy data to the apps back in 2013... I guess it wasn't that important, because noone bought it.
- Despegar 7y ago
  The only actual solution to this is legal, not technical.
  - qrbLPHiKpiux 7y ago
    Or mass education so the public knows who to deal with and who not to. Let the evil doers starve.
  - stazz1 7y ago
    If only all my lawmakers weren't busy in flamewars with bots on twitter, we could maybe get this done!
flafla2 7y ago
I would hesitate to call it a feature. Realistically, nobody that I know would consider "analyzing my contacts to automatically suggest potential connections" an important or even productive feature. Certainly, nobody is switching to ToTok because of it. It is only a feature from the perspective of the platform holders; for a company like Facebook it is used to increase engagement (and thus ad revenue), and for ToTok it (allegedly) is used for surveillance.
- RandallBrown 7y ago
  The feature is more "See which of my contacts already have this app installed" which makes it much more useful to consumers.
- bonzini 7y ago
  The reason why WhatsApp became popular was exactly because it piggybacked on the phone contacts to build a network (using the user's phone number as account id) which made it as easy to use as SMS. The only requirement was to install the app. Of course the same does not apply for example to LinkedIn or Facebook.
MrPatan 7y ago
As well as access to the whole internet. I'd like to grant access to one domain, that I can match with the company that mkaes the app, and that's it!
- SalimoS 7y ago
  This is an underrated comment And it will fix all the ads/analytics/private information leaked by the app to all other SDK it use
fierarul 7y ago
At least on iOS Apple has an easy solution: just allow users to configure user groups per app! Then the user can create a WhatsApp group in contacts which may be empty or just a few entries. But oddly enough Apple does not consider full-blown access to the contacts list as needing any kind of privacy settings. Just as it doesn't consider per-app internet access as needing any privacy settings. I know for sure the flashlight-level app would need an 'always offline' toggle.
- webmobdev 7y ago
  > At least on iOS Apple has an easy solution: just allow users to configure user groups per app! That's such a simple solution and innovative solution - just allow groups in Contacts, and let apps access only specific groups we allow.
Jon_Lowtek 7y ago
In Europe any app that just reads your contact list and sends it to a remote server is in violation of GDPR. Companies write in their privacy policies "you guarantee that all of your contacts have agreed that you send their personal data to us" which is completely bonkus.
- Chris_Chambers 7y ago
  This is why the British accent is retarded. You heard someone say “bonkers” for the first time and now you assume it’s spelled “bonkus”.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
webninja 7y ago
Same with accessing all photos just to save or retrieve one photo.

Larrikin 7y ago

I rarely give out access to my contact list anymore but I do wonder is there any safe way to actually do what the original feature intended. I'm new to a game. I'd like to play with my friends without having to individually contact every single one of them and ask them if they also play the game.

saagarjha 7y ago
I wonder if Game Center has (had?) something that would work here.

cmroanirgo 7y ago

I think it's high time the host os takes responsibility for the privacy of sensitive things, such as contact lists and personal data. One way could be to not return any identifiable information about others at all, but just a hash of each contact. (Kudos points if the host os returns a different hash for the same contact in different apps.) If that contact is known to the app, (because they've also installed it) then the app has all the information it needs to set up contact between two parties. The host os will probably need to provide a way to render a contact list for the app. I'd be much happier with this arrangement. This way my personal data isn't uploaded to third parties simply because an acquaintance of mine wants to install some rubbish app. It's only if I install the same (rubbish) app will that third party finally get my personal info. Host OS should also give me the power to determine what personal info it's given to any app. For instance, why did WhatsApp ever need my personal phone number while creating an account? It doesn't, and as such, should be regarded as an antitrust requirement.

WrtCdEvrydy 7y ago
You mean like Blackberry 10? The Android module would return privacy data to the apps back in 2013... I guess it wasn't that important, because noone bought it.
Despegar 7y ago
The only actual solution to this is legal, not technical.
- qrbLPHiKpiux 7y ago
  Or mass education so the public knows who to deal with and who not to. Let the evil doers starve.
- stazz1 7y ago
  If only all my lawmakers weren't busy in flamewars with bots on twitter, we could maybe get this done!

flafla2 7y ago

I would hesitate to call it a feature. Realistically, nobody that I know would consider "analyzing my contacts to automatically suggest potential connections" an important or even productive feature. Certainly, nobody is switching to ToTok because of it. It is only a feature from the perspective of the platform holders; for a company like Facebook it is used to increase engagement (and thus ad revenue), and for ToTok it (allegedly) is used for surveillance.

RandallBrown 7y ago
The feature is more "See which of my contacts already have this app installed" which makes it much more useful to consumers.
bonzini 7y ago
The reason why WhatsApp became popular was exactly because it piggybacked on the phone contacts to build a network (using the user's phone number as account id) which made it as easy to use as SMS. The only requirement was to install the app. Of course the same does not apply for example to LinkedIn or Facebook.

MrPatan 7y ago

As well as access to the whole internet. I'd like to grant access to one domain, that I can match with the company that mkaes the app, and that's it!

SalimoS 7y ago
This is an underrated comment And it will fix all the ads/analytics/private information leaked by the app to all other SDK it use

fierarul 7y ago

At least on iOS Apple has an easy solution: just allow users to configure user groups per app! Then the user can create a WhatsApp group in contacts which may be empty or just a few entries. But oddly enough Apple does not consider full-blown access to the contacts list as needing any kind of privacy settings. Just as it doesn't consider per-app internet access as needing any privacy settings. I know for sure the flashlight-level app would need an 'always offline' toggle.

webmobdev 7y ago
> At least on iOS Apple has an easy solution: just allow users to configure user groups per app! That's such a simple solution and innovative solution - just allow groups in Contacts, and let apps access only specific groups we allow.

Jon_Lowtek 7y ago

In Europe any app that just reads your contact list and sends it to a remote server is in violation of GDPR. Companies write in their privacy policies "you guarantee that all of your contacts have agreed that you send their personal data to us" which is completely bonkus.

Chris_Chambers 7y ago
This is why the British accent is retarded. You heard someone say “bonkers” for the first time and now you assume it’s spelled “bonkus”.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

webninja 7y ago

Same with accessing all photos just to save or retrieve one photo.