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Betrayed by an app she had never heard of

privacyinternational.org

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Re: Betrayed by an app she had never heard of

#31

Post by amarshall »

llamataboot wrote: post #27

I regularly get calls on my iphone now that say (maybe: Jane Doe) under the name, and they are usually correct. Often they are recruiters, or lawyers, or people that I imagine have their phone number publicized on the web. But I'm not sure I've read where apple is getting this info (or perhaps it is a carrier thing?)

It gets the information from other (Apple-only?) apps. From Apple Support[1]:

> iPhone automatically suggests new contacts from messages you receive in Mail and invitations in Calendar, and from other apps. To turn this feature off, go to Settings > Contacts > Siri & Search, then turn off Find Contacts in Other Apps.

[1] https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/add-and-use-contact-i...

Re: Betrayed by an app she had never heard of

#32

Post by RikNieu »

duxup wrote: post #25
RikNieu wrote: post #23

I find TrueCaller very usefull. I used to get sooo many sales and robo-calls a day that I seriously considered just getting rid of my phone. Now they get automatically blocked or I can just put them on a profile that they ring silently and hang up immediately. I get that this can be dangerous for journalists, but shouldn't they maybe investigate alternative ways of contacting sources privately? Mobile numbers are not…

Mobile numbers are also often the most secure (even if not secure) / only way to contact someone in parts of the world....

True, but for edgecases with no alternative means of contact, there could be other simple solutions. In the articles instance, Chloe could in the future register that sim, and then immediately tag it as Chloe Sullivan on TrueCaller(or whatever app they use in the country in question). Problem solved. Ta-da.

There are solutions other than proposing regulations or limitations on apps that benefit waay more people than it might inconvenience.

Re: Betrayed by an app she had never heard of

#34

Post by barefootcoder »

vorticalbox wrote: post #28
zucker42 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why I don't use WhatsApp despite the fact I know many people who use it. To use the app, you have to give access to your entire contacts list. Even if I'm okay with them having my information, I don't feel comfortable consenting for those in my contacts list who don't use WhatsApp.

That's how it know what contacts are using it and auto add to what's app if you it add a number that's using it. It's just convenience. People don't want add users names they just want it to work. I believe signal are/were working on a way to work out this information without actually sending to the server

The problem is that they don't even give you the option to add the names yourself. You can use it, very crippled, without giving them your entire contact list, but it's almost unusable.

Re: Betrayed by an app she had never heard of

#35

Post by mwambua »

zucker42 wrote: post #20
duxup wrote: post #2

This is one of my concerns ever since the first app asked for my contacts. You could be a mountain man and value your privacy.... but if you just know someone who uses tech you are exposed in any number of ways. In the US things like third-party doctrine have not aged well in the information age as just communicating with people can expose you in ways you can't ever control.

This is why I don't use WhatsApp despite the fact I know many people who use it. To use the app, you have to give access to your entire contacts list. Even if I'm okay with them having my information, I don't feel comfortable consenting for those in my contacts list who don't use WhatsApp.

You don't have to give the app access to your contacts... at least on iOS.

That's what I do. It would be impossible to communicate with friends and family otherwise. I just have to put a little more effort into figuring out who's texting or calling me. The app also still shows me people's (self assigned) nicknames in group-chats.

My only gripe is that I still have to give the app access to my photos. I wish there was a way I could give it sandboxed access to only the photos that it adds to the collection.

Re: Betrayed by an app she had never heard of

#36

Post by duxup »

RikNieu wrote: post #32
duxup wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mobile numbers are also often the most secure (even if not secure) / only way to contact someone in parts of the world....

True, but for edgecases with no alternative means of contact, there could be other simple solutions. In the articles instance, Chloe could in the future register that sim, and then immediately tag it as Chloe Sullivan on TrueCaller(or whatever app they use in the country in question). Problem solved. Ta-da. There are solutions other than proposing regulations or limitations on apps that benefit waay more people than…

I'm not convinced a single fake entery defeats the system here.

The app claims to stop unwanted robo callers...I'm sure those robo callers already have tried your method to look like something else.

Re: Betrayed by an app she had never heard of

#37

Post by baroffoos »

mwambua wrote: post #35
zucker42 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why I don't use WhatsApp despite the fact I know many people who use it. To use the app, you have to give access to your entire contacts list. Even if I'm okay with them having my information, I don't feel comfortable consenting for those in my contacts list who don't use WhatsApp.

You don't have to give the app access to your contacts... at least on iOS. That's what I do. It would be impossible to communicate with friends and family otherwise. I just have to put a little more effort into figuring out who's texting or calling me. The app also still shows me people's (self assigned) nicknames in group-chats. My only gripe is that I still have to give the app access to my photos. I wish there was…

Would be nice if mobile OSs had a permission that let apps save photos but to read photos it has to make an api request which opens the system photo picker and when you select a photo the app gets given access to only the photo you selected.

Re: Betrayed by an app she had never heard of

#38

Post by gcb0 »

duxup wrote: post #2

This is one of my concerns ever since the first app asked for my contacts. You could be a mountain man and value your privacy.... but if you just know someone who uses tech you are exposed in any number of ways. In the US things like third-party doctrine have not aged well in the information age as just communicating with people can expose you in ways you can't ever control.

Blackberry android phones have a feature where it notifies you when any app accessed some resource that requires OS level permissions, such as contacts, gps, etc.

Whatsapp and other facebook apps, access my contact list every 3 minutes.

Re: Betrayed by an app she had never heard of

#39

Post by Alterlife »

This article focuses on the problems that truecaller poses for 'non-users". As a non-user of truecaller in India myself, I find myself in the minority. It seems I get none of the benefits (improved spam filtering, the chance to see who is calling me), and in the 'prisoners dilemma' sense, it appears I would loose nothing by installing it, because they already have my contact information.

However, this is only half the picture.

If you install truecaller on Android, you're handing over ALL your personal information to them. The list of permissions they ask for is ridiculous. They ask for access to your sms messages, call log, contacts, file system, location, microphone, camera, everything. They also show you advertisements wherever possible.

Re: Betrayed by an app she had never heard of

#40

Post by LeoPanthera »

mdani wrote: post #13
yesforwhat wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The smart thing to do is to have a public number and a private number. What's the easiest way to do this?

Use Twilio Proxy https://www.twilio.com/proxy

That's only "easy" for the HN crowd.

Most people use second-line apps like Hushed, or the traditional method of getting a second line from your carrier.

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