Fake_contacts: Android app to create fake phone contacts, to do data-poisoning • Hacker News Board

Re: Fake_contacts: Android app to create fake phone contacts, to do data-poisoning

#361

Post by stjohnswarts » Thu, Mar 04, 2021, 3:57 PM UTC

csommers wrote: post #168

jtsiskin wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How are they breaking the rules? It seems like they are using it for the same purpose they prompt permissions for.

They create ghost profiles for those contacts, just in case that user ever signs up. That’s fucking garbage and they should be ashamed of doing that, let alone immediately removed from the App Store.

Really? Goddamn that's some dirty tactics. Guess I won't even look up what they actually do. FB already got its hooks in me when I was young and stupid, never again.

Re: Fake_contacts: Android app to create fake phone contacts, to do data-poisoning

#362

Post by jimkleiber » Sat, Mar 06, 2021, 11:46 PM UTC

srockets wrote: post #356

jimkleiber wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they had a wave of people join from Germany either earlier this month or last month, so I imagine there are already plenty of Europeans on the app. Plus, doesn't GDPR apply even if there's just one user who resides in the EU?

Having European data subjects is enough ground to ask them to abide by the GDPR. But assume they won't, then you'll have to go to a European court, which could rule whatever, but it can't do much to a company that has no money or persons in the EU to collect from.

Yup, I've been wondering just how inept national and local government seem to be in regulating a global internet. Seems that if we want to have global internet, we eventually might have to come up with a more coherent form of global governance.

Re: Fake_contacts: Android app to create fake phone contacts, to do data-poisoning

#363

Post by collaborative » Fri, Mar 12, 2021, 11:58 PM UTC

Scaless wrote: post #281

collaborative wrote: post #259

Phone numbers are too public. The reason why they're used by messaging apps is that they are a goldmine to have. They actually make it harder to chat (ever tried using Whatsapp/Signal on a PC? Yes, you'll need to have it installed on your phone first (and have given over your contacts)) That's why I chose to set (masked) emails as the primary id on groupsapp.online and even these can't be seen publicly unless you sha…

At that point why even show the masked emails at all? All you're doing is leaking people who use their own custom domains (e.g. XXXX@myname.com), and XXXX@gmail.com isn't going to help me know who that person is either.

Touche. I shall also hide the domain then, thx for the tip