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Remember when "just a flashlight" apps outright stole user data? That's why.
by izacus 2y ago
Remember when "just a flashlight" apps outright stole user data? That's why.
- netsharc 2y agoI had the chance to develop on BlackBerry in the early 00's, and they prompted their user if the app wants to access things like the user's calendar or address book. If the user denied it, an exception would be thrown and a good app would be able to deal with it... And then iPhone came along and Apple said "Trust us, our store review policy will save you.". And Android did the same. And Zuck said "Your data is safe, a Facebok app can't steal your data, because it'll get into trouble with us!". And then Cambridge Analytica data-mined FB users and used targetted ads on the gullible to deliver the election to Trump...
- SpaghettiCthulu 2y agoPart of the problem is that many users will be just click "Yes" without thinking. The other part of the problem is that the apps receive an exception or equivalent at all. IMO, they should receive fake access that returns either no items or garbage data as applicable.
- hakfoo 2y agoThis always seemed the right answer. Prompt the user "App Foo wants to use calendar/pictures/location" and then you have options like "Allow", "Deny", "Allow with filtered data" (i. e. select just a few photos out of the gallery), or "Allow with bogus data" (generated gibberish that goes away after use)