MoviePass CEO says the app tracks your location before and after movies • Hacker News Board

Re: MoviePass CEO says the app tracks your location before and after movies

#51

Post by wlesieutre » Mon, Mar 05, 2018, 10:45 PM UTC

comboy wrote: post #26

lghh wrote: post #15

I'm really over trying to fight companies on this on an app-by-app basis. If we want this to stop, it has to be through legislation. Either we allow companies to do it and stop acting shocked when it happens, or we legislate the possibility away.

I prefer non-legislative way. Mobile OSes are already doing something towards this. Notification warning like "app X is using your GPS" - even though it's closed or even though your screen is off. Or only allowing GPS usage while the app is on your screen. I don't think many people care though. And even if you disagree on that, I think it should be their right to sell their privacy for convenience if they want to.

iOS (as of version 11) gives you an option to force "Only while using the app" access for location services.

The change was probably triggered by Uber's creepy "we're going to track you for several minutes after you get out of the car" thing last year. Generated a lot of media attention and Uber has since stopped doing it.

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/06/07/ios-11-restrict-locatio...

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/08/29/547113818...

Re: MoviePass CEO says the app tracks your location before and after movies

#52

Post by chiefalchemist » Mon, Mar 05, 2018, 10:47 PM UTC

A monthly subscription cost for "unlimited" movies priced lower than the price of a single movie?

Mind you, my mum wouldn't understand that at that point she's the product. However, the ol' "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" is something everyone should know.

I don't agree with MoviePass' approach - which is the reason I haven't subscribed - but unless it's blatantly illegal I think it's safe to presume they'll do anything to make a buck.

MoviePass is too good to be true. Let's not be naive. Let's cut back on the fake outrage.

Re: MoviePass CEO says the app tracks your location before and after movies

#53

Post by AlexandrB » Mon, Mar 05, 2018, 10:49 PM UTC

slg wrote: post #22

MoviePass announced their their new, improved, and unrestricted plans in August. We all knew the $10 a month plan was not going to be profitably by itself. In the last week they have started blocking out specific movies, requiring some users to provide photographic proof of their ticket purchases, and bragged about collecting data outside what is described in their TOS. This is after already locking out customers fro…

> We all knew the $10 a month plan was not going to be profitably by itself.

How is this kind of "growth hack" not simply dumping[1]? The only new development here is that dumping is no longer limited to large companies with large war chests thanks to the availability of venture capital.

The more interesting question is can healthy, truly profitable technology companies develop in an environment where they have to compete with startups that are ready and willing to undercut them by losing tons of investor money. I don't think the current status quo is good for the long term health of the valley.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumping_(pricing_policy)

Re: MoviePass CEO says the app tracks your location before and after movies

#54

Post by chiefalchemist » Mon, Mar 05, 2018, 10:49 PM UTC

asdsa5325 wrote: post #48

lghh wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't need MoviePass to understand me. I want MoviePass to take my money and give me movie tickets.

Which isn't profitable. If you want MoviePass to exist, they need another source of revenue...

Agreed. Seems like an app for common sense would make a couple gazillion and then some.

Re: MoviePass CEO says the app tracks your location before and after movies

#55

Post by craftyguy » Mon, Mar 05, 2018, 10:49 PM UTC

EggsOnToast wrote: post #44

JustAnotherPat wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

still worth it

This was my feeling too. I don't want to live in a world where everyone is expected to freely give away their data, but if I can do it voluntarily to get get a deal as good as MoviePass then that's a win/win to me. It's $15 for just -one- ticket in my area. MoviePass has been a game changer for me.

> but if I can do it voluntarily

The catch here is that no customers of theirs were given a chance to do so voluntarily. They purposefully misled customers so even though it's nice you don't care, others who do fell into the trap. That's fucked up.

Re: MoviePass CEO says the app tracks your location before and after movies

#56

Post by findjashua » Mon, Mar 05, 2018, 10:50 PM UTC

not sure about Android, but on iOS you can customize which apps have access to location data all the time (eg google maps) and which ones have it only while using (eg moviepass).

So if you open the app only to check-in in the theater, they shouldn't be able to access your whereabouts before/after that.

Re: MoviePass CEO says the app tracks your location before and after movies

#57

Post by slg » Mon, Mar 05, 2018, 10:51 PM UTC

dawnerd wrote: post #41

slg wrote: post #22

MoviePass announced their their new, improved, and unrestricted plans in August. We all knew the $10 a month plan was not going to be profitably by itself. In the last week they have started blocking out specific movies, requiring some users to provide photographic proof of their ticket purchases, and bragged about collecting data outside what is described in their TOS. This is after already locking out customers fro…

> they have started blocking out specific movies This was always part of the terms from day one. Shouldn't surprise anyone. Also while not specifically noted in the terms, it should be assumed they'd track your location since it spells out that you can only miss/walk out of a movie (if I remember correctly) once a month.

There was a notice buried in the TOS that they could restrict movies but the marketing material and press they did when they switched to $10 plans was that any regularly priced 2D movie at participating theaters was allowed. This week they started actively blocking certain new movies like Red Sparrow and Death Wish in order to try to direct users to other movies or specific theaters.

It is clear that this weekend was a proof of concept for MoviePass to see if they can alter the bottom line for specific movies and theaters. If they got positive results from this weekend's test, you can bet the data will be forwarded to every theater and studio in the industry to show how much of an impact MoviePass has and then it becomes an extortion racket.

This was all expected from the start, but it doesn't make it any less disappointing that MoviePass is now making that pivot from a company that sells a service to the general public to a company that sells the general public to other businesses as a service.

Re: MoviePass CEO says the app tracks your location before and after movies

#58

Post by kc10 » Mon, Mar 05, 2018, 10:52 PM UTC

I was a MoviePass subscriber for about 4 months. But I noticed that international movies and few theaters are blocked, can't reserve tickets ahead of time as per TOS. With all these restrictions I didn't even watch any movies for a couple of months. So I just cancelled and subscribed to Sinemia (I am in no way related to this service).

Re: MoviePass CEO says the app tracks your location before and after movies

#59

Post by EggsOnToast » Mon, Mar 05, 2018, 10:52 PM UTC

craftyguy wrote: post #55

EggsOnToast wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was my feeling too. I don't want to live in a world where everyone is expected to freely give away their data, but if I can do it voluntarily to get get a deal as good as MoviePass then that's a win/win to me. It's $15 for just -one- ticket in my area. MoviePass has been a game changer for me.

> but if I can do it voluntarily The catch here is that no customers of theirs were given a chance to do so voluntarily. They purposefully misled customers so even though it's nice you don't care, others who do fell into the trap. That's fucked up.

Do you have a link on that or are you talking about the current article? I believe you but I wasn't one of the early adopters of MoviePass so by the time I joined I skimmed the contract, nodded, and thought "Got it, you spy on me and I get cheap stuff."

Re: MoviePass CEO says the app tracks your location before and after movies

#60

Post by chiefalchemist » Mon, Mar 05, 2018, 10:52 PM UTC

sp332 wrote: post #6

mon22 wrote: post #3

Without setting location access to "always", this shouldn't be possible, right? He might only be talking about the customers who have it enabled. So yeah, will wait for the clarification.

My guess is that they don't collect the data themselves, but buy the location data from some other company. Then they can combine the location data with the movie data they collect themselves. Then they could either use that for advertising, or sell the bundled data along to advertisers for more money.

By they do you mean the NSA or the CIA? ;)