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

#191

Post by EGreg » Tue, Mar 06, 2018, 1:28 PM UTC

013a wrote: post #81

AlexandrB wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 co…

I don't think the environment will stay like this for long. Investors in MoviePass will likely not make their money back. Or maybe they'll break even on a sale of assets to some major theater chain, if everyone involved is smart. Afterward, future investors in companies like this will use MoviePass as another example for the fact the times when you could form a business mostly based on collecting user data is over. T…

I met both the CEO and their investor recently at a conference where they presented. Both are very happy with the growth and the revenues.

They are currently breaking even, as their models predicted. Even paying full price for each ticket. Their innovation was getting Mastercard to issue and process their own card, so the movie theaters can't block them without violating Mastercard policy!

Now their next plans are to promote indie films and much more. I do not think they need all this tracking to make that happen. Also, Uber tracks you before and after the trip.

At Qbix we would never resort to this kind of thing, however the current movie theater model sucks and the prices just keep rising. And also the founder is the same guy who founded Netflix and Redbox! This would be the third time he is upending the movie industry.

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

#192

Post by peteretep » Tue, Mar 06, 2018, 2:02 PM UTC

DrScump wrote: post #127

whoisjuan wrote: post #28

Any app that asks for your location can and will track you. This is so lucrative that Foursquare pivoted the whole company around the concept of location data as a service ( https://enterprise.foursquare.com/ ). Fortunately, you just need to revoke the permission (or don't grant it in the first place) if you want to avoid being tracked. If you're concerned about this, I'd definitely suggest doing a quick check of the…

I will never understand why people leave Location Services on all the time. I don't even install apps that request location when it isn't necessary for my needs (active geolocation, like mapping if I'm lost, hikes, and such). For Moviepass, and for the rare cases where I am lost or really need active directions, I turn Location services on. Then, it gets immediately shut off. (Similarly, I keep Bluetooth and NFC off…

> I will never understand why people leave Location Services on all the time

Because I barely value my location privacy, and I get a bunch of useful features out of some of the apps I let have it?

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

#193

Post by peteretep » Tue, Mar 06, 2018, 2:05 PM UTC

passivepinetree wrote: post #4

The way TechCrunch presents this, it seems even shadier than Uber's "we'll track you for the 5 minutes after you get dropped off" tactic from last year. With no language addressing such tracking in the EULA, how is that legal?

> Uber's "we'll track you for the 5 minutes after you get dropped off"

Ah, is this how Uber knows my preferred pickup point near my condo? It's an excellent feature.

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

#194

Post by ForHackernews » Tue, Mar 06, 2018, 2:07 PM UTC

Jasper_ wrote: post #74

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How is this kind of "growth hack" not simply dumping[1]? "Dumping" is bad because it harms unsubsidized competitors. (It also pits foreign governments against private companies.) I fail to see who MoviePass hurt except its own investors. > 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 o…

> I fail to see who MoviePass hurt except its own investors. Games on the iOS App Store are generally free (or 99 cents). It is not profitable to recoup your costs by selling the product, because consumers will not pay for an app that costs more money than $1. In order to sustain this environment, the industry has moved to selling data, ads, and other sort of nonsense. Let's suggest that MoviePass successfully "disru…

> as such, movies to be substantially more unprofitable to make?

Then...there will be fewer and cheaper movies made, unless and until consumer demand makes it profitable to produce more again.

This is like market economics 101, people.

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

#195

Post by nkrisc » Tue, Mar 06, 2018, 2:40 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...

But as a consumer I don't care what MoviePass wants or needs, that's not my problem. I'd milk them for all the tickets they're worth and then when they shutter I'd just go back to buying tickets like I used to for decades past. They offer marginal convenience at best for something that really wasn't all the inconvenient to begin with.

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

#196

Post by 908087 » Tue, Mar 06, 2018, 2:48 PM UTC

ben_jones wrote: post #25

ibdf wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know why everyone is always so shocked. People want smart devices/services that understand them. Where do you think the data comes from? From you!

Moreover how can our government condemn commercial data mining while at the same time expanding domestic surveillance? "Don't share your data its harmful! Unless you share it with us!".

They won't, because commercial mass surveillance is an essential part of modern government mass surveillance.

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

#197

Post by CodeSheikh » Tue, Mar 06, 2018, 2:56 PM UTC

They can't be collecting data continuously if the location privacy setting is set to "While Using the App" on iOs. I remember Uber removed "While Using the App" option and provided only "Never" and "Always" options. And they got a lot of heat because of that.

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

#198

Post by AlwaysRock » Tue, Mar 06, 2018, 2:56 PM UTC

Their CS is very poor. The app, even the updated one, doesnt work very well and will sign you out randomly. You're allowed to check into sold out movies. They got rid of the largest supported AMC theaters. The company has so many downsides now. Before I was telling everyone to sign up now I'm talking about all this type of stuff.

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

#199

Post by z_open » Tue, Mar 06, 2018, 3:10 PM UTC

dannyw wrote: post #138

DrScump wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I will never understand why people leave Location Services on all the time. I don't even install apps that request location when it isn't necessary for my needs (active geolocation, like mapping if I'm lost, hikes, and such). For Moviepass, and for the rare cases where I am lost or really need active directions, I turn Location services on. Then, it gets immediately shut off. (Similarly, I keep Bluetooth and NFC off…

People have different valuations. I turn on Location Timeline and allow Google to record my location 24x7, because I find it useful to be able to know where I was any arbitrary day or time.

Is it also useful to be contributing to the apathy that our privacy, as a society, isn't worth protecting?

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

#200

Post by drusepth » Tue, Mar 06, 2018, 3:51 PM UTC

lumberingjack wrote: post #176

murukesh_s wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"lack of crowds at theaters" > I am also not a crowd lover, i too love it when visiting not so popular theaters where i could stretch myself in between the movie, but sad thing is it won't last long isn't it.. either the theatre closes down or the maintenance goes really low it starts to stink..

That is strange to me. For me there is no other feeling like enjoying a movie with hundreds of strangers. Everyone laughing at the same time, people choking back tears, the "class clown" that hoots and hollers at the appropriate time. When the local theater started serving dinner and beer my friends and I became regulars again. Maybe it's just a nostalgic Oregon Trail Generation thing?

Complimentary anecdote: I grew up playing Oregon Trail on the Macintosh, yet I also make a point to always wait at least a week before seeing any movie release so 1) the crowds die down, and specifically 2) so everyone there is there to see the movie and is unlikely to make any sort of noise (ESPECIALLY the class clown, who IMO ruins the movie-going experience)--ideally so I feel like I have the gigantic screen all to myself. If I _did_ have a theater-sized screen all to myself, I'd never go to the movies.

Maybe it's something like an introvert/extrovert thing, rather than a generational thing?