4 ms·

I'm glad to see this framing. Reading the provisions identified in the article, you could easily react by saying "well, that's normal." Of course a parking app

I'm glad to see this framing. Reading the provisions identified in the article, you could easily react by saying "well, that's normal." Of course a parking app would ask for your vehicle's make/model and for your credit card information. But it is a cost, and the unrestrained use of that information is a further cost. And that's before you get into "need[ing] to monitor people’s unrelated web browsing and links they click" ostensibly in order to "understand how customers are coming to Metropolis" (emphasis added).

secabeen 5y ago
Is there even an app at all here? If you look at their screenshots, it's all just a website. When you "sign up", they don't send you to the Google or Apple app stores, just to their app.metropolis.io site. When you look at the privacy policy, everything I see there is in line with a somewhat lawyerly description of what every web server receives. IP Address, Carrier (in the rDNS or WHOIS of the IP), HTTP referrers, HTTP User-Agent details, etc. Cross-device tracking is a side effect of logging into their website from multiple devices. Geo-location could be a bit intrusive, but again pretty useful to auto-identify the parking structure that you're in, and browsers allow you to deny the request for that data. They also collect "cellphone number, email address, license plate number and credit card information, as well as the make, model and year of your vehicle.", but that's needed to provide the service. The framing here is pretty alarmist, and all of it is based on a read of the privacy policy. A deeper dive would MITM the traffic and actually see if they were collecting data beyond the basics. Without that, the article just ends up on picking on one specific vendor/industry, without helping the reader understand how this vendor compares to other vendors and other apps.
- mixmastamyk 5y ago
  It sounds like you’re not aware of the news in the last decade or so. Very little chance there is no data monetization going on. Would not be profitable without it.
  - bicklet 5y ago
    People park and pay money. The business model is no secret. Why would data monetization be needed? And to assume that companies are profitable is even farther from the reality of the last decade (for better or worse).
    - mixmastamyk 5y ago
      The bulk of the fee goes to the landlord, not the service. FTA, states a ~$1 service fee and probably not much room to raise it. A huge money maker it is not, considering dev and infrastructure time. Unless they have a plan to sell folks' whereabouts and preferences too. One important thing to remember, just because management doesn't plan to do it this year, doesn't mean next year's team won't.
  - secabeen 5y ago
    I agree, there probably is data monetization. That doesn't change the fact that the site doesn't appear to be asking for, or getting, any additional data beyond that provided by default by all web browsers, or that necessary to provide the service. If additionally intrusive data gathering was happening, that would justify an article at this level of alarm. As it is, without additional research or evidence, this is within the scope of the data available to any website host.
    - mixmastamyk 5y ago
      "Necessary to provide a service…" - Yes, providing a service that isn't necessary! :-D - But you can't realistically shop here without, - Because we decided it's profitable to sell your whereabouts, cross-device phone, email, car data, and financial details to advertisers. So we're forcing you. I don't think it mentions in the article, but the system takes a photo of your car with you in it and does OCR on the license plates. That's how it identifies you. Convenience is a tossup, strictly worse for new users, and the cost is higher. Old system was a free/validated anonymous ticket that worked just fine. When a system is forced on people that is 98% to the advantage of a business and 2% to the customer, people are rightly going to get upset.
- Terretta 5y ago
  > Is there even an app at all here? There is an app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/metropolis-parking-mobility/id1556970037 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/metropolis-parking-mobility/id...

secabeen 5y ago

Is there even an app at all here? If you look at their screenshots, it's all just a website. When you "sign up", they don't send you to the Google or Apple app stores, just to their app.metropolis.io site. When you look at the privacy policy, everything I see there is in line with a somewhat lawyerly description of what every web server receives. IP Address, Carrier (in the rDNS or WHOIS of the IP), HTTP referrers, HTTP User-Agent details, etc. Cross-device tracking is a side effect of logging into their website from multiple devices. Geo-location could be a bit intrusive, but again pretty useful to auto-identify the parking structure that you're in, and browsers allow you to deny the request for that data. They also collect "cellphone number, email address, license plate number and credit card information, as well as the make, model and year of your vehicle.", but that's needed to provide the service. The framing here is pretty alarmist, and all of it is based on a read of the privacy policy. A deeper dive would MITM the traffic and actually see if they were collecting data beyond the basics. Without that, the article just ends up on picking on one specific vendor/industry, without helping the reader understand how this vendor compares to other vendors and other apps.

mixmastamyk 5y ago
It sounds like you’re not aware of the news in the last decade or so. Very little chance there is no data monetization going on. Would not be profitable without it.
- bicklet 5y ago
  People park and pay money. The business model is no secret. Why would data monetization be needed? And to assume that companies are profitable is even farther from the reality of the last decade (for better or worse).
  - mixmastamyk 5y ago
    The bulk of the fee goes to the landlord, not the service. FTA, states a ~$1 service fee and probably not much room to raise it. A huge money maker it is not, considering dev and infrastructure time. Unless they have a plan to sell folks' whereabouts and preferences too. One important thing to remember, just because management doesn't plan to do it this year, doesn't mean next year's team won't.
- secabeen 5y ago
  I agree, there probably is data monetization. That doesn't change the fact that the site doesn't appear to be asking for, or getting, any additional data beyond that provided by default by all web browsers, or that necessary to provide the service. If additionally intrusive data gathering was happening, that would justify an article at this level of alarm. As it is, without additional research or evidence, this is within the scope of the data available to any website host.
  - mixmastamyk 5y ago
    "Necessary to provide a service…" - Yes, providing a service that isn't necessary! :-D - But you can't realistically shop here without, - Because we decided it's profitable to sell your whereabouts, cross-device phone, email, car data, and financial details to advertisers. So we're forcing you. I don't think it mentions in the article, but the system takes a photo of your car with you in it and does OCR on the license plates. That's how it identifies you. Convenience is a tossup, strictly worse for new users, and the cost is higher. Old system was a free/validated anonymous ticket that worked just fine. When a system is forced on people that is 98% to the advantage of a business and 2% to the customer, people are rightly going to get upset.
Terretta 5y ago
> Is there even an app at all here? There is an app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/metropolis-parking-mobility/id1556970037 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/metropolis-parking-mobility/id...