this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2024
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[–] [email protected] 208 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (7 children)

From noplace's FAQs: *

do you collect my data?

we use your phone number as a way for you to sign up and log into the app. that's the only thing about you we collect.

we don't share your number or anything else about you with third parties like some other apps do. we want you to be able to securely log in and chat with ur friends, that's it.

Emphasis mine. Now their privacy policy: *

Types of Data Collected

Personal Data While using Our Service, We may ask You to provide Us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify You. Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to:

Phone number Usage Data Usage Data Usage Data is collected automatically when using the Service. Usage Data may include information such as Your Device's Internet Protocol address (e.g. IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of our Service that You visit, the time and date of Your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data. When You access the Service by or through a mobile device, We may collect certain information automatically, including, but not limited to, the type of mobile device You use, Your mobile device unique ID, the IP address of Your mobile device, Your mobile operating system, the type of mobile Internet browser You use, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data. We may also collect information that Your browser sends whenever You visit our Service or when You access the Service by or through a mobile device.

So, it looks like they're starting off with lies right at the top, like every other tech startup.

EDIT: To also address the "we don't share your number or anything else about you with third parties" part, the privacy policy also outlines exactly how they will share your data with third parties:

We may share Your personal information in the following situations: [...] With business partners: We may share Your information with Our business partners to offer You certain products, services or promotions.

Go fuck yourselves, noplace.

EDIT: Another issue I just found with their FAQs:

is this a crypto thing?

wut? no.

I thought it was weird that crypto would be a frequently-asked question for what appears to otherwise be a pretty generic-looking social network. Then I found that noplace's parent company, Islands XYZ, was originally launched to be an NFT platform of some sort, financially backed by our old friend Alexis Ohanian.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2021/11/30/web3-startup-islands-creators-nft-communities-launch/

So they're totally not a crypto thing. Definitely not crypto. 100% something other than crypto.

Guys, I swear they're not a crypto thing.

[–] [email protected] 74 points 4 months ago (5 children)
  • Your Device's Internet Protocol address (e.g. IP address), - absolutely necessary for anti-ddos techniques
  • browser type, browser version, - necessary for UX to build a functional website for the browsers that customers actually use
  • the pages of our Service that You visit, the time and date of Your visit, the time spent on those pages, - critical for determining what is popular and what isn't to improve how the interface is designed and what parts are pulled forward and what parts are hidden in menus
  • unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data. - useful for determining how often you switch devices and the performance and other experience metrics to drive making the app more user friendly

I work on web software professionally and this is a pretty minimal list that is completely justifiable for maintaining operations. If you can't answer basic questions like "what are users doing with the app?", you can't make intelligent decisions about how to improve it.

There's a lot of the same stuff here: https://legal.lemmy.world/privacy-policy/

I don't know anything about this app or company so I'm not going to defend them, but there aren't any real red flags here. If this amount of data collection bothers you, you really should stop using the internet in general.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Sorry, I kinda got lost in the sauce on my original comment, lol. My issue isn't so much with the data collection, itself. My problem is that their FAQs say things that appear to be outright lies. Not even just embellishing the truth or something, but complete falsehoods.

I don't care so much that they collect a bit of data. But if they're wiling to lie to a potential user about their data collection, I can't help but wonder what else they might be willing to be dishonest about. I already have doubts about their crypto claim in the FAQ based on their founder's history with NFTs, so I worry that this might also be something they're not being truthful about.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I think you’ve missed the point. It’s not the data they are collecting but the fact they say they don’t collect data.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago (1 children)

It's pedantic, but you are not your computer. They don't collect (according to them) PII other than phone numbers.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Not sure I agree entirely. The actions I take are definitely data about me.

Also, in many jurisdictions data that could be combined (even in the future) with other data to identify you or something about you, is considered personal data.

For example, Device ID is AstridWipenaugh’s device and they use the app in the morning.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 months ago

And just to piggyback on this comment, I'm an Android developer and we this information is critical for determining similarities for bug solving.

You would not believe how often there is a bug caused by a specific model of phone. That connection you can only know if you log that for every crash you get.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago (5 children)

Yeah as someone who has worked in web development for over 20 years everything in here is completely standard. Almost every major website in existence collects this kind of analytical data.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

It sounds to me like the usage data is talking about the fact that every major web browser sends identifying information about the browser, device, etc. when you visit any site.

For an app, they're likely getting data from Google Play or the App Store for crashes, installs, comments, whether they like it or not.

People don't often accuse me of being an optimist.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

Oh for sure, I don't doubt that. The issue that I take is that their FAQ - which I imagine is rarely actually read by users, but is definitely read more often than the ToS - is directly contradicted by their ToS. While they say they only collect one data point in the FAQ, the ToS outlines several other data points they collect. While they say they don't share your collected data with third parties, the ToS states that they may share your collected data with third parties for advertising purposes. The FAQ denies being connected to crypto schemes, despite their founder (Tiffany Zhong) and parent company being heavily involved in crypto.

While these are all standard practices for just about every web platform, it's the lies in the FAQs that should be concerning to users. If they would have just said exactly what they do with your data or what their background is in, or even just not included it in the FAQs at all, I wouldn't have any problem with it. But they're willing to openly lie to their users, and I don't think they should be trusted.

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[–] [email protected] 170 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (4 children)

Instead of algorithms, noplace leverages AI technology to drive suggestions and curation.

Instead of algorithms, noplace leverages algorithms to drive suggestions and curation

[–] [email protected] 44 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Most bullshit take I have ever seen. You can't replace a recommendation algorithm with AI, since its basically the same.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 months ago

Not basically, most (current) recommendation systems are AI/ML based. Any big platform is using AI/ML recommendation algorithms.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 months ago

thanks i hate it here

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 months ago

So disruptive!

[–] Gsus4 5 points 4 months ago (2 children)

It's potentially worse, because before you may have had an algorithm that a human could fine tune or whistleblow on. Now if it is trained on large datasets, the resulting algorithm is usually a blackbox weight matrix, they probably have no idea what pattern it is optimizing :S

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[–] [email protected] 87 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Perhaps I'm just old, but picking the color of your profile is all zoomers wanted?

I mean shit, I'm not going to be happy until I can have auto-playing music on my profile.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Haven't you seen how so many are crazy with discord paying options that is basically custom flashy avatar profile pages?

The kids nowadays would have their brains exploded if they saw any hi5 page with custom css.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 4 months ago (3 children)

I had to go look this up since I don't use Discord, and I think I just had my first old person moment. $10 for a freaking frame around your avatar? What in the hell?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

And MySpace died for this.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

And it blinks. And has anime effects :D

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 months ago

And glitter bomb unicorn gifs

[–] [email protected] 68 points 4 months ago (2 children)

noplace had already gone viral ahead of its public launch because of its feature that allows users to express themselves by customizing the colors of their profile.

Reads like a book about the future

[–] [email protected] 17 points 4 months ago

Wow this really is idiocracy

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Wait until these people hear about geocities.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 56 points 4 months ago (3 children)

IOS only of course. Pack it up, nothing to see here. This is another clubhouse.

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[–] [email protected] 54 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Something's weird with this; I have heard absolutely nothing about this. Surely this is botted? Social media platforms don't take off like this. Regardless of if its legit or not; who is funding this? No social media platform ever makes a profit.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 months ago

Pretty sure they ran a shitload of ads on tiktok using vc money before the app even released.

[–] [email protected] 45 points 4 months ago (3 children)

launching something on ios only? in this day and age? y'all know places outside the us exist, right?

[–] [email protected] 22 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Gen z bullies themselves to only use iPhone, or so I've heard. Comply or be left out of every group chat

[–] [email protected] 18 points 4 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

Good to hear!

[–] [email protected] 17 points 4 months ago

Not in Europe. Everyone just uses WhatsApp, even with an iPhone.

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

You don’t need to share everything about you all the time. There is nuance in privacy and intimacy between close friends and family.

Until we realize that, we will continue to learn this lesson over and over until it sinks in.

These are the steps we must climb.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 4 months ago (1 children)

You can have social media and still have a private life? Just don’t share everything on social media.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

we? i am fairly sure most people know how to use social media without being consumed by it.

Not everyone that uses social media is making a mistake.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 4 months ago
[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 months ago

Gotta love how all the images in this article are straight from the noplace media kit (link to google docs in footer).

[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I presume this is botted but this is another thing that makes me want a more modern federated MySpace.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago (3 children)

I think that's what Diaspora is trying to be. I've not heard much from that project recently, though, so I have no clue if there's any activity on that platform anymore.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

I hope someday we can have Friendster 2.0
Daaang....i really miss that place

[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Or deadjournal? If livejournal was too mainstream, but you still had to get your emo thoughts on the internet

[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 months ago

Deadjournal was (is?) such an excellent niche corner of the internet. I remember being young and having trouble connecting the site, totally my fault, but I sent them an email and the admins Cryo and SCSi personally helped me get it figured out. In hindsight I couldn't imagine another platform taking the time.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

It may not be super active, but Insanejournal is still a thing.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago

Noplace in my life..👎🏼

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

the App Store description and screenshots have a very heavy fellow kids vibe.

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