3 ms·

Contacts should never have been so easily available as a simple, single permission.

by merrvk 6y ago

Larrikin 6y ago
The idea behind allowing apps to see your contacts was sound, I'm on an app that works better when my contacts are connected to me. Whether its a social network, a game, a fitness app, etc there are many obviously good uses for the end user. Going further it was pretty awesome years ago when there were apps that would connect your contacts to your Facebook friends and they would sync things like birthdays and their profile pictures back to my contacts. The issue is that some asshole had the genius idea of trying to monetize and spam the contacts once they were given and other assholes followed suit. I would never give the 2 way sync permission to some random app anymore and I almost never give the contact permission to bigger apps as well. What I hope is that eventually there becomes some way to determine if my contacts also use an app without the app knowing they are my contacts nor giving up the information of contacts not on the app. That seems like a hard but not impossible task. Eventually I'd like there to be a safe way to return to the 2 way sync, but I'm not sure if that is even possible.
- ubercow13 6y ago
  Do people’s phone contacts generally align with who they want to be associated with in any apps? Why would I (an average social media user) want my boss, my driving instructor, other professional contacts, my ex wife, personal trainer, therapist, doctor, etc. to be automatically linked to and recommended my social media accounts? I find the whole concept strange.
  - Larrikin 6y ago
    You don't have to add every single person that is a contact, you'd just be able to see they are connectable. Maybe I would like to connect on FitBit with my personal trainer but not on Instagram or Pokemon Go. Anyone I consider a friend that I didn't meet online I will always have their phone number, even if that isn't my primary form of communication with them. A phone call will always go through without regards to any data limits and is less spotty in areas with bad service. I'd love it to be a standard so that social networks could also be connected together in a similar asymmetrical way but that would require even more cooperation from people proven to be bad actors.
- Johnny555 6y ago
  I'm on an app that works better when my contacts are connected to me. Whether its a social network, a game, a fitness app, etc there are many obviously good uses for the end user I'm very selective about who I connect with on social media, only close friends or relatives. But I have many contacts that I won't want any social media contact with at all. Former coworkers, ex girlfriends, professional contacts, etc.
- diebeforei485 6y ago
  The best solution would be at the OS level, preventing someone's entire contact list from reaching an app's server in the first place. In iOS 14, Apple (re)implemented a photo picker so apps don't need access to your entire photo library for you to upload a single photo. I'm hoping they could come up with something similar for contacts as well.

Contacts should never have been so easily available as a simple, single permission.

by merrvk 6y ago

Contacts should never have been so easily available as a simple, single permission.

The idea behind allowing apps to see your contacts was sound, I'm on an app that works better when my contacts are connected to me. Whether its a social network, a game, a fitness app, etc there are many obviously good uses for the end user. Going further it was pretty awesome years ago when there were apps that would connect your contacts to your Facebook friends and they would sync things like birthdays and their profile pictures back to my contacts. The issue is that some asshole had the genius idea of trying to monetize and spam the contacts once they were given and other assholes followed suit. I would never give the 2 way sync permission to some random app anymore and I almost never give the contact permission to bigger apps as well. What I hope is that eventually there becomes some way to determine if my contacts also use an app without the app knowing they are my contacts nor giving up the information of contacts not on the app. That seems like a hard but not impossible task. Eventually I'd like there to be a safe way to return to the 2 way sync, but I'm not sure if that is even possible.

ubercow13 6y ago
Do people’s phone contacts generally align with who they want to be associated with in any apps? Why would I (an average social media user) want my boss, my driving instructor, other professional contacts, my ex wife, personal trainer, therapist, doctor, etc. to be automatically linked to and recommended my social media accounts? I find the whole concept strange.
- Larrikin 6y ago
  You don't have to add every single person that is a contact, you'd just be able to see they are connectable. Maybe I would like to connect on FitBit with my personal trainer but not on Instagram or Pokemon Go. Anyone I consider a friend that I didn't meet online I will always have their phone number, even if that isn't my primary form of communication with them. A phone call will always go through without regards to any data limits and is less spotty in areas with bad service. I'd love it to be a standard so that social networks could also be connected together in a similar asymmetrical way but that would require even more cooperation from people proven to be bad actors.
Johnny555 6y ago
I'm on an app that works better when my contacts are connected to me. Whether its a social network, a game, a fitness app, etc there are many obviously good uses for the end user I'm very selective about who I connect with on social media, only close friends or relatives. But I have many contacts that I won't want any social media contact with at all. Former coworkers, ex girlfriends, professional contacts, etc.
diebeforei485 6y ago
The best solution would be at the OS level, preventing someone's entire contact list from reaching an app's server in the first place. In iOS 14, Apple (re)implemented a photo picker so apps don't need access to your entire photo library for you to upload a single photo. I'm hoping they could come up with something similar for contacts as well.