I am assuming it has plenty of cell spoofing tech in there too
TrueCaller built a billion-dollar caller ID data empire in India
71–80 of 137 posts
Re: TrueCaller built a billion-dollar caller ID data empire in India
#72When you install the app they steal your contact list and populate their database that way. Most people are unaware of this, or don't care since we are a third world country and privacy is seen as a first world problem. The vast majority of thinking here is not very sophisticated about these types of topics. Only a very tiny fraction of the total population is averse to sharing personal information like phone numbers…
My wife installed TrueCaller on her phone. She is technical but not a developer. I asked if she knows they steal your contact list and spy on you and her answer was “so? It’s just phone numbers and names and they need to get the data somewhere as they are providing the service for free” I live in a developed country and we have a high standard of living. Giving this anecdote to illustrate many people genuinely don’t…
I’ve gone a few steps further and answered the “So?”. My wife thinks I’m a conspiracy nut even though I’ve provided proof of things that have happened. She thinks if it was that wide spread it would have been stopped already.
Fortunately we’ve agreed on not sharing kids pics and information on places like FB insta etc.
Re: TrueCaller built a billion-dollar caller ID data empire in India
#73When you install the app they steal your contact list and populate their database that way. Most people are unaware of this, or don't care since we are a third world country and privacy is seen as a first world problem. The vast majority of thinking here is not very sophisticated about these types of topics. Only a very tiny fraction of the total population is averse to sharing personal information like phone numbers…
My wife installed TrueCaller on her phone. She is technical but not a developer. I asked if she knows they steal your contact list and spy on you and her answer was “so? It’s just phone numbers and names and they need to get the data somewhere as they are providing the service for free” I live in a developed country and we have a high standard of living. Giving this anecdote to illustrate many people genuinely don’t…
Not that someone cares, but in the EU she would be responsible for violating the GDPR. Many people don't know that they are responsible as private citizens.
Re: TrueCaller built a billion-dollar caller ID data empire in India
#74I am sure someone can build a truly privacy respecting service like true caller and billion plus phone users in India would just sign up for it for something like Rs 100 a month or would they? It is astounding that common person understands the tradeoff when using free service but these ignoramus critics do not.
Nobody really wants to pay for services, ever. We have trained them that everyone ought to be free. And the evil genius of truecaller is that you're not being asked to give up your own privacy, you are just giving up your friends'. And of course that comes right back around to you because if just one of your friends feels the same way, you're in the database too.
Re: TrueCaller built a billion-dollar caller ID data empire in India
#75Is true caller any different than an automated yellow pages?
For one, yellow pages was centrally managed by the phone company you were a customer of, and opt-in (you may be thinking of the white pages for residential customers, which was opt-out). Also, the information in the white/yellow pages is curated and just the name provided by the customer. TrueCaller gets every tidbit of information that your contacts decide to use to annotate your number. Many people use more in the description than just your name.
Re: TrueCaller built a billion-dollar caller ID data empire in India
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
My wife installed TrueCaller on her phone. She is technical but not a developer. I asked if she knows they steal your contact list and spy on you and her answer was “so? It’s just phone numbers and names and they need to get the data somewhere as they are providing the service for free” I live in a developed country and we have a high standard of living. Giving this anecdote to illustrate many people genuinely don’t…
I’ve gone a few steps further and answered the “So?”. My wife thinks I’m a conspiracy nut even though I’ve provided proof of things that have happened. She thinks if it was that wide spread it would have been stopped already. Fortunately we’ve agreed on not sharing kids pics and information on places like FB insta etc.
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Re: TrueCaller built a billion-dollar caller ID data empire in India
#77Indias privacy laws are truly lacking. I am surprised that the government hasn’t enacted any laws for this yet. I have a number of stories for this. Indians are so used to this that sometimes people are shocked when I say no to sharing information that they request. For example in a startup, the HR reached out on WhatsApp to all employees in a group and asked for certain documents and information etc. About Truecalle…
Yeah, I truly wonder when 80 percent of population surviving on less than 2-3 dollars a day why doesn't government just double down on privacy first leaving everything else aside.
Not sure why you are being sarcastic. Being poor doesn’t mean people don’t deserve privacy. In fact it can enable for more business opportunities.
Government doesn’t operate in series on an issue one by one. This is why you have so many ministries in the govt. Just because roads don’t exist doesn’t mean govt should stop building railways and only think of roads.
Re: TrueCaller built a billion-dollar caller ID data empire in India
#78When you install the app they steal your contact list and populate their database that way. Most people are unaware of this, or don't care since we are a third world country and privacy is seen as a first world problem. The vast majority of thinking here is not very sophisticated about these types of topics. Only a very tiny fraction of the total population is averse to sharing personal information like phone numbers…
My wife installed TrueCaller on her phone. She is technical but not a developer. I asked if she knows they steal your contact list and spy on you and her answer was “so? It’s just phone numbers and names and they need to get the data somewhere as they are providing the service for free” I live in a developed country and we have a high standard of living. Giving this anecdote to illustrate many people genuinely don’t…
I think a lot of that comes from the fact that phone numbers being private at all is not a universal consideration. My town still, every year, sends me a paper book full of every resident's address and landline telephone.
Re: TrueCaller built a billion-dollar caller ID data empire in India
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
My wife installed TrueCaller on her phone. She is technical but not a developer. I asked if she knows they steal your contact list and spy on you and her answer was “so? It’s just phone numbers and names and they need to get the data somewhere as they are providing the service for free” I live in a developed country and we have a high standard of living. Giving this anecdote to illustrate many people genuinely don’t…
India has a huge problem with spam / robo callers. Also its common for individuals to have more than 1 phone number, see how popular dual sim phones are. Also true caller adds security when you're from an under represented or a minority groups. I especially know women who use Truecaller to make sure they know who is calling / texting them from new numbers.
> India has a huge problem with spam / robo callers
That's everywhere, not just India.
Re: TrueCaller built a billion-dollar caller ID data empire in India
#80I find TrueCaller immensely useful. Especially to filter out and block spam callers. Spam calls and robocalls are a HUGE problem in India. TrueCaller flashes spam callers in red, you can reject the call and save a few precious minutes of your life. About half of the calls I receive a day are spam calls. If I were to answer them all and then reject it would be a waste of time and energy.
It's heartening to know that it isn't just Americans whose phones are overrun by Indian spam callers.