this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2023
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On iOS at least, a lot of these (location, contact info, health & fitness, etc), you can deny access to via a popup prompt when the app tries to access them.
It’s a Meta app though so at a bare minimum it’s absolutely going to track the heck out of how you use the app.
I don't know about this particular app, but if I remember right, for a while blocking these requests would actually cause the app to break completely. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the permissions being needed but primarily just to punish people who didn't give them access to their data.
Same thing on Android
My personal feeling is kinda like "ok, track specific clicks and views within the app." But only for those who download it/use it. Anything else should be explicitly off limits and (actually) enforced by law and not just fines but jail time and... Harsher penalties with repeated or egregious bad behaviors and the penalties would specifically target executive level officers (Zuck the Cuck basically) and marketing people who pushed it or signed off on it. Basically the masterminds moreso and less so the peons. Of course I still would avoid using any app that does that if I can, but for those who will not avoid it I think saying "just don't use it!" To end consumers is silliness and will absolutely never work. Stuff like this only changes with strong and (actually) enforced laws that make it painful and inconceivable for them to violate the laws. If the gov had any actual interest in protecting/serving the citizens, their first and most important job, which they absolutely obviously do not have an interest in doing (capital has bought them a long long time ago), they'd treat these corporations like "meta" (Facebook, I refuse to use that stupid new name), Google, Apple, etc. Like they did the Mafia back in the day and create new laws specifically to target and destroy this shit (not gonna go into RICO laws being abused obviously but they did effectively end the Mafia within a few decades)