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Grindr Shares Personal Information With Third-Parties

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Re: Grindr Shares Personal Information With Third-Parties

#201

Post by geofft »

yodon wrote: post #111
mtgx wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Microsoft implemented proper security policies, I imagine that guy didn't have access to all of Microsoft's user data. So that would be the main difference. Virtually all of a company's employees shouldn't have access to user data at all, and those that do would only have access to parts of it.

>If Microsoft implemented proper security policies, I imagine that guy didn't have access to all of Microsoft's user data. This is precisely the sort of thing Microsoft takes incredibly seriously internally. Tim Cook may be a more vocal spokesman for treating user data with care but Microsoft is fanatical about it internally. They recognize the risk they face in the event of compromise and have made just enough mista…

This might be a naive view, but I think companies that are good at this sort of segmentation will also be good at picking trustworthy third parties and limiting (both technically and legally) what they can do, and conversely, that companies that just send a bunch of sensitive data to third parties out of laziness have no meaningful internal controls either.

"Avoid third parties" is an occasional effect of conscientious care of data, not a cause of it.

Re: Grindr Shares Personal Information With Third-Parties

#202

Post by GVIrish »

Analemma_ wrote: post #196
GVIrish wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like it's only a matter of time before we see some devastating compromise(s) of security using the OPM hack and/or hacks of private data sources. When you look at some of the common methods intelligence adversaries use to ensnare assets (extortion, money, exploiting sympathies, stroking egos, revenge, etc.) the information in these hacks are a treasure trove the likes of which may never have been seen before.…

> I feel like it's only a matter of time before we see some devastating compromise(s) of security using the OPM hack and/or hacks of private data sources. I'm willing to bet that the devastating compromises thanks to the OPM hack have already happened, and that they're either classified, or, even scarier, the USG doesn't even know about them yet (e.g. people blackmailed into being spies who haven't yet been caught).

Yeah it is really frightening to think about. Cautious moles were hard to catch even before some of these breaches. There could be an exponential increase of compromised people in cleared environments and like you said, we might not even be aware yet.

And even then, our counter-espionage resources in all likelihood are not enough to address a massive increase in the threat.

Re: Grindr Shares Personal Information With Third-Parties

#203

Post by esilverberg2 »

werber wrote: post #2

Does anyone have any information on how Scruff handles that information? Also, does HIPAA say anything about technology companies outside of the medical field's data that may voluntarily collect HIV status?

CEO of SCRUFF here, and daily reader of HN. We have not, do not, and would not share this information with third parties.

The data that we share with our third-party ad providers is:

- Your location (so you can get those local car dealer ads)

- Your gender

- Your age

- The targeting keyword "gay"

We currently use AdMob and MoPub to provide our network advertising.

More broadly, this kind of information is never something we would share. We know the sensitivity of HIV status, and know that it has been used to discriminate against our community in the past. When we do take money from direct advertisers (full-screen ads shown at launch), we make sure that they are promoting relevant and beneficial products for our community, and the ads they place are serviced 100% in-app and come with no extra data nor api calls.

Ultimately, our business model is based on subscriptions, which means we are successful when we make software that people love to use. We don't spend our days trying to squeeze a marginal penny out of some remainder-bin ad unit by trading personal data of our users. Instead, we spend our time focused on how to make an excellent product, that works reliably, is free of spambots and harassment, and connects gay guys with each other and the global gay community.

Re: Grindr Shares Personal Information With Third-Parties

#204

Post by thaumasiotes »

ovao wrote: post #126
lumberjack wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People will hate this suggestion on ideological grounds but a mandatory tax to fund an NGO is the way to go. Something like a $1/person/year tax is already plenty of money if you are just trying to maintain bare bones social networking platforms, without all the added surveillance and advertising machinery.

NGO?

"Non-governmental organization", kind of an odd term to apply to an organization defined by the government and funded through taxes.

Re: Grindr Shares Personal Information With Third-Parties

#205

Post by esilverberg2 »

sigmar wrote: post #27
werber wrote: post #2

Does anyone have any information on how Scruff handles that information? Also, does HIPAA say anything about technology companies outside of the medical field's data that may voluntarily collect HIV status?

From Scruff's privacy policy: "For example, we share your device identifier and demographic information with our advertising display and analytics partners." The whole thing seems pretty bad (privacy-wise) https://www.scruff.com/privacy/

Hi -- See my reply above for a list of what we share. HIV status is not part of this data, and indeed is not something we directly collect.

Re: Grindr Shares Personal Information With Third-Parties

#206

Post by dschuetz »

iamatworknow wrote: post #197
dschuetz wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, that's usually how it works with Netflix, Spotify and similar single-purpose services. But social media? If you take social network as a single-purpose service then there is no need for several or dozens of different similar services, because it wouldn't make sense as a social network, if you cannot interconnect them. Suppose you pay a subscription for one social network, you'll need to pay also for the other on…

I don't understand your point here. Just like people pay separate subscription fees for Netflix and Hulu, which essentially provide the same service with different content, why wouldn't people pay separate subscription fees for Twitter and Facebook, if it were an option to avoid ads?

Because, in the end it would cost a fortune? Imagine that, most people only pay for one content provider.

A social network is not a content provider, just a different kind of social network. If you cannot afford a subscription of some social network, you miss out. And that's not acceptable in terms of social life of a human being. Rich folks would be able to roam all networks, poor people wouldn't. So, if you only can afford some "cheap" networks, the whole thing ceases to make sense, as soon as you are barred from accessing other networks. Exclusiveness in social media is an oxymoron. See where this is going?

Re: Grindr Shares Personal Information With Third-Parties

#208

Post by Redoubts »

udli3 wrote: post #207
Redoubts wrote: post #199

They also scrape your clipboard aggressively...

Source?

At least on iOS, proof by demonstration. Install the app, turn on clipboard sharing, copy something on your mac, then open the iOS app. You'll see the "Pasting from your Mac" dialog pop up pretty frequently.

Re: Grindr Shares Personal Information With Third-Parties

#209

Post by fortythirteen »

ordinaryradical wrote: post #5

We need a new business model for social media, one which actually serves the customer instead of trying to lure them into productizing themselves.

I would argue that the selling of data is the second most destructive byproduct of social media, the first being dehumanization becoming part and parcel with online communication - and its bleeding into offline.

I believe the reason that extreme ideologies on both sides of the spectrum have gained a foothold in recent years is because their ideas lend themselves to the hyperbolic, binary patterns of online discussion.

We should put "social media" to pasture and try to come up with something better.

Re: Grindr Shares Personal Information With Third-Parties

#210

Post by ben_jones »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #21

Even within its confines, Grindr's data are rich for blackmail. (Consider: images and messages sent and received within 100 feet of Capitol Hill.) It was recently acquired by an offshore billionaire [1]. [1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-12/china-tec...

Reminds me of the old KGB tactic where they would have agents seduce politicians and business men into compromising (recorded) sexual situations then use it for blackmail. I find it inevitable that many acting politicians on both sides of the aisle are being manipulated in this way.
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