5 ms·

> your contacts, location. The whole buffet. It's not like an app is getting those without your knowledge, and many times it's useful for an app to have your c

> your contacts, location. The whole buffet. It's not like an app is getting those without your knowledge, and many times it's useful for an app to have your contacts or location...

duped 7mo ago
Almost never is it useful for an app to have my contacts or location. That said only on some platforms is it possible to stop a native app from getting them.
- quesera 7mo ago
  Android and iOS both require user permission for apps to access contacts or location. Are there other platforms that can't even manage this basic level of user protection?
  - grumbel 7mo ago
    As long as the application is made aware of the permissions and can prevent functioning when they get denied, that doesn't really help much. It's the choice between getting mugged or never leaving the house. The ability to deny permissions without the app noticing or filling it with fake data doesn't exist on either system.
  - duped 7mo ago
    Yes, Windows.
  - prmoustache 7mo ago
    Not a single platform require permission from each individual contact in your adress book to access them and that is the real problem.
    - velocity3230 7mo ago
      GrapheneOS allows for this. It's called Contacts Scope.
      - prmoustache 7mo ago
        Not really it asks the user of the device, not the individual contacts whose PII data could be treated by third parties tb hey never gave consent to.
ragnese 7mo ago
One of the most enraging things about life since 2005-ish is that no matter how private and careful I am, it doesn't even matter because every other inconsiderate fool I know and interact with will HAPPILY let some random company have access to THEIR contacts--which includes me--in order to play Farmville for a month until they get bored of that and offer up my private information to the next bullshit ad company that asks for their contacts. It used to frustrate me that people didn't care about their own privacy, because I genuinely didn't want evil people to hurt them. But, it's even more angering that people don't have the common decency to consider whether their friends and family would want them sharing their phone numbers, email addresses, photos of them, etc.
- RajT88 7mo ago
  Famously, that's how shadow profiles got created for Facebook and LinkedIn and many others.
- iib 7mo ago
  Or add your real name to photos of you stored in Google Photos.
w4rh4wk5 7mo ago
I'd argue it's absolutely ludicrous to give _other people's information_ up to an app (or website). Your contacts contain names, phone numbers, potentially photos and addresses of _other people_.
libria 7mo ago
Not without my knowledge or your knowledge sure. But I'd bet there's significant percentage of the population who is tired of thinking about permission popups and just hit yes yes YES to get the App started. Especially if it forces retries before going forward. I think they're counting on these popups wearing people out. After GDPR made these incessant annoying cookie popups mandatory, I just robotically click any button to dismiss it as fast as possible. Some website could probably write "Give root access" in that box and I'd probably click it without thinking.
- IIsi50MHz 6mo ago
  As has been said before, sites that don't use unnecessary cookies don't need to have a cookie banner. Having the banner is often just malicious compliance (or for a non-compliant one banner, maliciously non-compliant).
maccard 7mo ago
But most of the time it’s really, really not.
jeroenhd 7mo ago
The weather app I used sent location data from pretty much everyone who didn't manually go through the effort to opt out to some shady American data broker that got hacked. Most people using the app gave it location permissions because of its ability to warn for rain coming to your precise location with decent accuracy. Nobody wanted to share their location with these data brokers, but thanks to underfunded privacy watchdogs, you have no idea what happens to any app that you give any kind of permission.

> your contacts, location. The whole buffet. It's not like an app is getting those without your knowledge, and many times it's useful for an app to have your contacts or location...

duped 7mo ago

Almost never is it useful for an app to have my contacts or location. That said only on some platforms is it possible to stop a native app from getting them.

quesera 7mo ago
Android and iOS both require user permission for apps to access contacts or location. Are there other platforms that can't even manage this basic level of user protection?
- grumbel 7mo ago
  As long as the application is made aware of the permissions and can prevent functioning when they get denied, that doesn't really help much. It's the choice between getting mugged or never leaving the house. The ability to deny permissions without the app noticing or filling it with fake data doesn't exist on either system.
- duped 7mo ago
  Yes, Windows.
- prmoustache 7mo ago
  Not a single platform require permission from each individual contact in your adress book to access them and that is the real problem.
  - velocity3230 7mo ago
    GrapheneOS allows for this. It's called Contacts Scope.
    - prmoustache 7mo ago
      Not really it asks the user of the device, not the individual contacts whose PII data could be treated by third parties tb hey never gave consent to.

ragnese 7mo ago

One of the most enraging things about life since 2005-ish is that no matter how private and careful I am, it doesn't even matter because every other inconsiderate fool I know and interact with will HAPPILY let some random company have access to THEIR contacts--which includes me--in order to play Farmville for a month until they get bored of that and offer up my private information to the next bullshit ad company that asks for their contacts. It used to frustrate me that people didn't care about their own privacy, because I genuinely didn't want evil people to hurt them. But, it's even more angering that people don't have the common decency to consider whether their friends and family would want them sharing their phone numbers, email addresses, photos of them, etc.

RajT88 7mo ago
Famously, that's how shadow profiles got created for Facebook and LinkedIn and many others.
iib 7mo ago
Or add your real name to photos of you stored in Google Photos.

w4rh4wk5 7mo ago

I'd argue it's absolutely ludicrous to give _other people's information_ up to an app (or website). Your contacts contain names, phone numbers, potentially photos and addresses of _other people_.

libria 7mo ago

Not without my knowledge or your knowledge sure. But I'd bet there's significant percentage of the population who is tired of thinking about permission popups and just hit yes yes YES to get the App started. Especially if it forces retries before going forward. I think they're counting on these popups wearing people out. After GDPR made these incessant annoying cookie popups mandatory, I just robotically click any button to dismiss it as fast as possible. Some website could probably write "Give root access" in that box and I'd probably click it without thinking.

IIsi50MHz 6mo ago
As has been said before, sites that don't use unnecessary cookies don't need to have a cookie banner. Having the banner is often just malicious compliance (or for a non-compliant one banner, maliciously non-compliant).

maccard 7mo ago

But most of the time it’s really, really not.

jeroenhd 7mo ago

The weather app I used sent location data from pretty much everyone who didn't manually go through the effort to opt out to some shady American data broker that got hacked. Most people using the app gave it location permissions because of its ability to warn for rain coming to your precise location with decent accuracy. Nobody wanted to share their location with these data brokers, but thanks to underfunded privacy watchdogs, you have no idea what happens to any app that you give any kind of permission.