Earlier this week I published a post on how much privacy users give up for phone apps. In my case, I was downloading the TweetCaster app for Android.
After reviewing the company privacy statement I still wasn’t clear on whether location tracking could be turned off. So I emailed that question to OneLouder, the developers of the TweetCaster app.
Wednesday night I received a detailed reply:
Mr. Parente,Based on your inquiry, I had to check with our TweetCaster development team. It appears that you are correct – this option is no longer available. It was previously, but one of the newer ad SDKs is using carrier location, so right now, the only option to completely disable location is removal of the app.Our development team are sensitive to users who want to be able to fully disable location and they said that they should be able to create a toggle for this to turn location completely off. The only TweetCaster functionality this should affect theoretically is the “nearby” function, which wouldn’t work in this case. It would also disable location-based ads, but the app could still serve regular ads in the free version.We have updated the privacy policy at tweetcaster.com/privacy to reflect these changes. Thanks for making us aware of this.Please let me know if there are any other questions I can assist with.Thank you,—Eric Haar, Communications Support Manager
OneLouder
I think this is an effective reply, both as an end user and as a communications professional myself. Of course, it would have been preferable had the earlier version of the privacy policy been accurate, and it was possible to turn off the tracking function.
That said, this reply was prompt, it was clear and easy to understand and the company corrected their privacy statement. The TweetCaster app is excellent and it’s free, in exchange for some personal information. As a user, I’m satisfied I was given enough information to make an informed decision regarding the use of this app.
What’s your take? Do you know exactly what kind of information you have signed over for the phone apps you currently enjoy? Let me know via comment.