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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

#41

Post by Nextgrid »

RubyRidgeRandy wrote: post #40
reaperducer wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you explain what it is that gives you the right to hand other people's personal information to another entity? Especially as part of a commercial transaction to a for-profit company? "Hey, Bob! I'm going to give some company your name, phone number, occupation, and whatever else I know about you stored in my contact list in exchange for a beer. Is that OK?"

Do you make someone sign a legal document when you give them your number detailing the uses and limitations of how they can share your number? No. You don't. Once you give your info away it is not "your" info anymore. It is info about you, but you do not own it. Is it rude? sure, but not illegal.

> Is it rude? sure, but not illegal.

Depends on the jurisdiction. Under the GDPR this might very well be illegal, though obviously enforcement of it is significantly lacking so it's unlikely to ever actually be tested in court.

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

#42

Post by Nextgrid »

wara23arish wrote: post #28
CyberShadow wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I give you my phone number, and you have True Caller installed and save my number to your contacts, I unknowingly and unconsensually also give my phone number to True Caller and essentially the entire world.

Aren’t yellow pages also adding everybody’s number without consent? I didn’t grow up with them so I might be wrong.

It's done by your phone company and they're supposed to let you know and allow you to opt-out.

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

#43

Post by nindalf »

redtriumph wrote: post #38
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…

In India, privacy is always secondary. I remember, last time I was at jewelry shop in Western MH, I had to provide PAN card or Aadhar card since purchase warranted this check. W/o even thinking, folks in my family forwarded those details on Whatsapp.

PAN Card - Tax identification

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

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

#44

Post by yashg »

I 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.

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

#45

Post by rajeshp1986 »

fareesh wrote: post #4

When 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…

Folks in India consider phone numbers as non-personal Info. They even write their phone no.s on social media profiles openly.

I started using TrueCaller some 8 years back and the biggest reason for me to use it was to prevent Robo callers/spams.

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

#47

Post by mcronce »

RubyRidgeRandy wrote: post #40
reaperducer wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you explain what it is that gives you the right to hand other people's personal information to another entity? Especially as part of a commercial transaction to a for-profit company? "Hey, Bob! I'm going to give some company your name, phone number, occupation, and whatever else I know about you stored in my contact list in exchange for a beer. Is that OK?"

Do you make someone sign a legal document when you give them your number detailing the uses and limitations of how they can share your number? No. You don't. Once you give your info away it is not "your" info anymore. It is info about you, but you do not own it. Is it rude? sure, but not illegal.

Lots of things are amoral but not illegal. I also don't think anybody above you claimed it was illegal.

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

#48

Post by lnxg33k1 »

I think this shows limit of GDPR which maybe could be improved by making companies your data is shared with, seek authorization to treat those data directly, maybe let's say you sign up on $ocial network which share your data with mark€ting company, then maybe mark€ting has to send you an email to be authorized? So that Truecalled can get numbers from contacts list, but can't use them if not authorized?

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

#49

Post by jabl »

happylion0801 wrote: post #26
Brajeshwar wrote: post #2

I believe, Truecaller is an auto opt-in and you have to manually opt out if you want your number not be listed. I had to "unlist" my number manually. Check if your number is already in and then unlist at https://www.truecaller.com/unlisting

There is no such thing as unlisting a number, atleast last time we tried multiple times but it still keeps showing up

IIRC when looking into this some time ago, if someone who has your number uses truecaller then your number will reappear. So depending on your level of paranoia you might want to regularly check that unlisting page.

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

#50

Post by websap »

inglor wrote: post #10
fareesh wrote: post #4

When 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…

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.

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