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TrueCaller built a billion-dollar caller ID data empire in India

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Re: TrueCaller built a billion-dollar caller ID data empire in India

#81

Post by oh_sigh »

quxpar wrote: post #55

Americans have avoided this problem by making the overwhelming majority of phone calls spam, so any call not from an existing contact is ignored.

I would love if that were the case, but I don't see how workable it is because caller id is spoofable, and people commonly need to pick up calls from local unknown numbers like doctors offices, mechanic, etc whose number you may not have(or who may call from a whole bank of numbers).

The best bet is to try to get a phone number from across the country. If you live in NY, get a phone number from a city you have no relation to, say Seattle. Then, anyone calling from Seattle is almost certainly spam and you can still pick up 212 or 646 numbers.

Re: TrueCaller built a billion-dollar caller ID data empire in India

#82

Post by _jal »

jabroni_salad wrote: post #78
inglor wrote: post #10

Earlier 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 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.

And here's where how something is used makes all the difference.

I have zero issues with my neighbors having my phone number. If I lived in a smallish place, extending that would be fine.

I have huge issues with spammers and con artists having it.

A locally distributed physical book works great for the first and, at the very least, makes the second work for it.

Online databases are basically made to order for the second, and are far more extensive than needed for the first.

It is just another example where adding automation and cheap storage actively makes a situation worse.

Re: TrueCaller built a billion-dollar caller ID data empire in India

#83

Post by Melatonic »

superasn wrote: post #32

The best way to run truecaller is to install this app called 'Island'. This creates a new profile called work profile for you. Use a new google id for this work profile. Then install true caller inside island. I rarely use it but all I have to do is turn on the work profile, look up a number and then turn it back off. I keep all crap apps in the work profile since there is a shortcut in the android drawer to turn it…

Do you know if this works if I already have a legit work profile setup on my phone? Do you need to give Island administrator privileges on the device?

Re: TrueCaller built a billion-dollar caller ID data empire in India

#84

Post by withinboredom »

httgp wrote: post #35
mountainofdeath wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I consider it a fair trade. I hand over my contacts and you tell me with high-confidence who the other person on the other end is.

The issue here is that your contacts did not agree to you sharing their information with a third-party.

I don’t know. If you give me a soda, that soda becomes mine to do what I want. I can pour it on the ground, drink it, or give it to someone else. I feel the same way about ways to contact someone. With today’s technology, they can block people they don’t like but it’s not my job to be their gate-keeper.

Re: TrueCaller built a billion-dollar caller ID data empire in India

#85

Post by klyrs »

happylion0801 wrote: post #77
geodel wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I believe that the point the sarcasm meant to address was that poorer people cannot afford to push back and prioritize their privacy the way that folks with more privilege can.

Re: TrueCaller built a billion-dollar caller ID data empire in India

#86

Post by websap »

Pxtl wrote: post #79
websap wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I cannot speak about all other countries.

Re: TrueCaller built a billion-dollar caller ID data empire in India

#87

Post by ALittleLight »

happylion0801 wrote: post #24

Indias 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…

I really like the idea to share a fake list. I think creating separate contact list folders is a bit much for the user, but adding a general permission grant option like "As if empty" or "Use placeholder" might be easier. An app requests my contacts? I can "grant" permission to an empty contacts list.

I think this idea generalizes to other permissions too. Want to know my location? I hit the "placeholder" button and the app gets some generic location that never changes. Valid data flows through, so the app can work, but not my private information.

Re: TrueCaller built a billion-dollar caller ID data empire in India

#89

Post by pradn »

GekkePrutser wrote: post #60
nindalf wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PAN Card - Tax identification Aadhaar - “Universal” identifier. Needed for pretty much anything. Including, apparently, buying jewellery.

So if you're a tourist you can't buy anything? Weird. Spain has a similar thing for this, you have to give your NIE/DNIe number everywhere. Like when ordering something online. But not in brick and mortar shops. Still I find it a very poor practice in terms of privacy.

Buying stuff through QR codes is very common in India now. You can pay for everything from groceries to street food using QR codes. It runs off the government-sponsored UPI standard. However, AFAIK you need an Indian bank account to be able to participate. It's quite a pain coming from abroad, and I just used cash instead. That does mean I have am prone to paying foreign withdrawal fees, but alas. It does work pretty well for the people of India though.

Re: TrueCaller built a billion-dollar caller ID data empire in India

#90

Post by vishnugupta »

happylion0801 wrote: post #77
geodel wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That's not the point though. Govt can sure enact/enforce tough laws. But poor people just don't care; for a few bucks they will happily part with their IDs and PII info. When demonetisation happened most of the ill-gotten currency made its way to the banking system through poor people's bank account.

In other words, privacy is a luxury that poor people can ill afford. Do poor deserve privacy? Absolutely. But it doesn't take much to get them part with their private data. They are stuck at the lowest level of Maslow hierarchy where as privacy is at least two level above them. Can government do something to protect their privacy? Probably, but I just can't see how it'll be successful when the citizens themselves don't care much about privacy.

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