I got one of these texts from a friend of mine. Path didn't ring a bell so I figured he'd gotten hacked and ignored the text message.
Path texts my entire phonebook at 6 AM
61–70 of 430 posts
Re: Path texts my entire phonebook at 6 AM
#62"Growth hacking"
Re: Path texts my entire phonebook at 6 AM
#63Wow, they just paid $800K to FTC for being shady. They are betting that they become so big that these shenanigans don't matter later on.
They're also being threatened with a class action lawsuit for doing what the OP described:
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/197248/path-su...
I'm not sure the shenanigans won't come back to haunt them. Less trendy apps have been booted from Apple's App Store for a lot less.
Re: Path texts my entire phonebook at 6 AM
#64I'm sure this will be downvoted to hell and back, but still: http://jesuschristsiliconvalley.tumblr.com/post/46539276780/...
Re: Path texts my entire phonebook at 6 AM
#65I haven't even finished the article when I checked if had uninstalled the Path app!
Re: Path texts my entire phonebook at 6 AM
#66On iOS, Apple made it so the app has to get permission to access the phone book. (Interestingly, Google Image search turned up this for a query of "ios address book permission": http://i.stack.imgur.com/MHF0p.jpg ) Did OP give this permission? I'm not defending Path (at all!), just trying to get full details. I've in fact accidentally given address book permission to apps by tapping too fast. Update: OP is using Andr…
OP is using Android where you either have to accept all the permissions the app requests as part of installing it, or not install it at all.
Re: Path texts my entire phonebook at 6 AM
#67Path must really like thos FTC fines. Here's to hoping the next fine will exceed their cash reserves and we can put an end to this madness. The post is proof positive that path still uploads phonebooks from the app to their servers right after installing it.
This comment is a great example of how people are so quick to rush to judgement with emotional reactions. Let's look at the facts:
1. Path was fined, not for anything involving address books, but for allowing 12 year olds to sign up for the service.
2. Yes... it is proof that Path uploads your phone book. Of course, they ask you. The OS won't even give you access to the phone book without prompting the user. So somewhere along the way, the user knowingly gave Path access to their contacts.
It would be rather trivial for a real reporter to do some research here. Does Path actually say "We're going to invite all your friends via SMS", even in fine print? It might be sleazy, but it would certainly change a lot. But instead, we're just going to sit here and speculate about things and irrationally talk about a fine that didn't have anything to do with this.
Re: Path texts my entire phonebook at 6 AM
#68Remember when a while back they downloaded far too much information from each phone (for the convenience of connecting you to people)? Everyone was surprised (some outraged) and then they pushed an update to stop that "feature" and when the CEO/Boss man posted a blog entry apologizing, everyone forgave the company, people were holding hands singing Kumbaya. Edit: Here's when they flubbed a year ago. http://news.cnet.…
I just noticed, in that apology letter, the line: "... Your trust matters to us and we want you to feel completely in control of your information on Path. ..." So they want you to feel in control.
Haha, yes! It's very important to feel you're in control, just like you want to feel like you're making a wise decision when you reach for the conveniently placed junk in the supermarket isles.
I get the feeling that either those in charge are hopelessly detached from society to see how privacy is perceived by the rest of us (like Zuckerberg) or there's little to no vetting when it comes to implementation decisions.
Re: Path texts my entire phonebook at 6 AM
#69How about another detail -- the fact that the message said the user had photos to share, when he didn't? There's annoying spam, and then there's straight-out-lying spam -- the "x has sent you a message, you need to create an account to view it" type. Just curious, is there a way to sue/fine a company like this for false advertising, essentially?
Classmates.com was sued in 2008 for sending emails claiming former classmates were searching for you. Similar, but Classmates.com was actually requiring a paid subscription before telling you there wasn't actually anyone on the other end. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2010/03/classmatescom-set...
Simple math is all it takes to understand why this is pervasive. In the classmates.com example, they collected upwards of $75 million in revenue from this scheme, and only had to dish out $2.75 million for the settlement several years later. So for any newcomers, this type of bait is an attractive business proposition; the potential lawsuit years down the line can simply be attributed to cost of revenue. And you'll obviously only get sued if there's money to be won, which means the scheme was a success, so in other words, you want to get sued. The real problem is the judgments/settlements are an order of magnitude lower than they should be.
Re: Path texts my entire phonebook at 6 AM
#70Probably best not to just jump to conclusions until there is a response from Path or more evidence from users. I've been using Path since it launched with nothing like this ever happening. This sounds to me like some sort of unrelated scam. I didn't notice him say int he article but do the texts include a URL? If so where does that go? This seems like something that would be noticed by more than one or two guys if it was something Path was doing.