Slashdot Mirror
World's Creepiest iPhone App Pulled After Outcry
Hugh Pickens writes "Ben Grubb reports that an iPhone app that essentially allowed users to stalk women nearby using a location-based social networking service has been pulled from the iTunes app store by its developer after an outcry of criticism including a comment by Gizmodo labelling the 'Girls Around Me' app as the 'world's creepiest' app and a comment in The New York Times Bits blog, which said it 'definitely' won the prize for being 'too creepy'. The 'Girls Around Me' app utilized publicly available data to show a map with women who had checked-in to locations nearby using Foursquare and let users view Facebook information of those ladies if they had tied their Facebook account to their Foursquare account and if their Facebook account privacy settings were lax enough to allow any user to access it. The promotional website used for marketing the app states that the service 'helps you see where nearby girls are checking in, and shows you what they look like and how to get in touch, adding 'In the mood for love, or just after a one-night stand? Girls Around Me puts you in control! Reveal the hottest nightspots, who's in them, and how to reach them.' Foursquare yanked the Girls Around Me app's access to its data, which in turn led to the app's developer removing it from iTunes as it didn't work properly. In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, the company behind the app defended its creation: 'Since the app's launch till last Friday nobody ever raised a privacy concern because, again, it is clearly stated that Girls Around Me cannot show the user more data than [what Foursqure or Facebook] already does.'"
I bet it honestly never occured to the guys who did this thing that someone might use it for creepy stuff. Sometimes you can do something with innocent enough intentions only to realize later "Holy shit, someone could use this for some pretty bad purposes!" So it may be best to cut them some slack and assume that they honestly did just mean this as a way for willing/non-creepy people to meet up in meatspace. I bet there are a lot of similar apps out there being used for stuff that they were never designed for, particularly in an age where way too many young people think nothing of posting every detail of their life and personal musing online for the world to see.
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
Girls Around Me cannot show the user more data than [what Foursqure or Facebook] already does.
Seriously, if you're concerned about creepy bastards knowing where you are, don't tell the entire bloody internet
What do I know, I'm just an idiot, right?
Funny thing is, the "outcry" of the users affected should be either directed at FB/4square, or, more appropriately, at the users themselves. It's your own damn fault that you have made so much data publicly available that this is possible. Get your head out of your ass, you're the only one you have to blame...
weinersmith
Pulling the app is a classic case of denial. It's fairly easy to create an app like this, the information is all publicly available. If people are honestly concerned about their privacy they should either stop posting the details of their lives on-line or they should lobby the companies involved to provide better privacy controls. Pulling the app is a typical case of shooting the messenger.
If the app was billed as "Find out who's around you!" instead of "Find the girls around you!", it'd do exactly the same thing, and continue to be sold.
Of course, anyone could still write this app very easily because people are publicly publishing their location information. (Duh). The story should have been "Look what people can do when you tell literally everyone in the world where you are" instead of "person makes creepy app".
AccountKiller
A " girl " is like "your mom", but younger and not genetically related to you.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
It seems to me that, if it's showing you people around you, that's the opposite of stalking. You're not tracking any particular person, you're looking at the publicly available info of people near you. Traditional Twitter and Facebook usage is closer to stalking than this is, since they're used for following the activities of specific people.
No, not because I want to stalk women. But maybe it will eventually make people aware that their privacy is something that should be kept, well, private.
Yes, I'm aware of the implications. Then again, I have zero sympathy for stupid people.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
way too many young people think nothing of posting every detail of their life and personal musing online for the world to see.
Exactly, that is the problem. Not the app itself, it just makes it more convenient to browse the available information.
If those women find that their personal information is out there on the street, including where they are *right now*, and that people are using that to find dates or for whatever purpose - then they have only themselves to blame for putting it out on the street to begin with! But then maybe that's what they are actually after. You never know.
For my part i think we should thank that developer. He show to everyone how data protection laws are too lax or inexistant. He show how some people doesn't understand how a little bit of what seems to them innocuous data can bit them in the ass very hard. And perhaps when a certain number of problem will show up in the news and courtrooms due to the availability of these datas, perhaps then the legislator will do something about it under the pressure of the frightened populace.
Any bets on whether a "guy around me" app would have raised any inkling of similar outcry?
It's not as if the app is accessing information that isn't already publicly available. Newsflash, ladies: if you're checking in to every shop you visit on foursquare, your stalker (the real one, not the guy in the office building across the street looking for a date) already knows. No app needed.
Creepy to me would be, say, an app that is secretly installed on your phone, cannot be removed or turned off, that transmits all sorts of private usage data to clandestine third-party servers without the user's permission.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
If I recall correctly (as this news isn't exactly new... it's a few days old), the app wasn't pulled because of the outcry. It was pulled because Foursquare revoked the app's access to their APIs because it violated their terms of service which dictated you aren't allowed to use the APIs to aggregate information.
I bet it honestly never occured to the guys who did this thing that someone might use it for creepy stuff.
Yeah, no, they knew exactly what it was. Just look at the loading screen:
http://www.cultofmac.com/157641/this-creepy-app-isnt-just-stalking-women-without-their-knowledge-its-a-wake-up-call-about-facebook-privacy/
I suppose next you're going to suggest that said women should also be responsible for the unwanted attention they get when they wear certain clothes and have only themselves to blame.
Yes. You don't want your boobs stared at, don't display them. We're men, get over it.
I'd be willing to file this under "creepy, but inevitable". Given the amount of data these people posted about themselves publicly, it'd only be a matter of time until an app like this was made, and it'll only be a matter of time until one is made again.
Rather than being creeped out about it, and removing it, someone should just take a lesson from judo, and use the weight of the users against them. Someone should just create a Firesheep-like app that identifies users of the system, and when they accessed your data. Call it "Doucher Alert". If the alert goes off, and five minutes later you get hit on by a guy who "was just passing by, baby", then you can safely cross them off your list. Let the morons self-identify. Don't take away their tools, but just make sure the toolbox contains a long enough length of rope.
UTF-8: There and Back Again
A while back I was chatting to a friend in a bar, who suddenly said, "wow, he's hot! I wonder if he's single?" and pulled out his phone to check.
I think the app on the phone was called Gaydar. It did essentially the same thing -- showed nearby men's pictures, and some basic profile information. However, the big difference is the men had all very clearly opted in to this service.
(The man was not on Gaydar, so my friend had to do things the old-fashioned way, and go and talk to him.)
I've been reading about this thing ever since the story broke and found plenty of apps that do more or less the same thing - it's only after Cult of Mac reported about it that it seems the outrage really took off... and even then still only for this app.
The most worrying story I read was that people (they mention girls/women. a lot. pulling at the ol' heartstrings, I suppose, as the app can list men just as well) should indeed be aware of what information they put out there when they go and sign up for facebook, foursquare, etc.
If you feel a "but" coming, here goes:
BUT, that doesn't mean that people should be allowed to just take that information and use it for their own purposes.
They likened it to the "with what she was wearing, she had it coming" adage. Which is a horrible thing, and a horrible comparison as it immediately conjures up images of sexual assault / rape. In reality, the comparison is more akin to "with what she was wearing, she shouldn't complain that somebody was looking". If somebody walks down the street dressed up as Batman, I'm going to look. If somebody walks down the street in shorts that are little more than panties made out of denim, I'm going to look (female or not), because who wouldn't? I'm not going to suggest that if you're wearing that, you want to get sexually assaulted, and perhaps you don't even want to get looked at - but in the latter case you really just have a poor grasp on reality.
So if somebody puts up information on foursquare about where they are, and I find that information, think the person looks cute, yes - I may just google them, and find their facebook, and then take a closer look. Is that creepy? Well if I look up your favorite movie, drink, etc., walk into the establishment, sit down close to you and order your favorite drink and start yapping away about that movie.. yes. But then I'm a creep - that doesn't make finding that information 'creepy'. It's just human curiosity. Millions of people don't find it one bit creepy when it's a story in the latest tabloid / Cosmo / etc.
And yet that is exactly the sort of thing that is being argued in these articles. That when you put something on facebook, you're actually only putting it up there for the purposes that you want it to be used for. Even if you've made it public for the world, that you get full control over how that information is used.
So you want to be found with foursquare because that's how you get your cheaper drink, but you don't want anybody -but- that establishment to know that. Of course the establishment has the exact opposing desire: they want as many people checked in there as possible. Neither of them are likely to 'want' apps like these to exist, but the latter two desires are completely opposite.
So what is the solution? Why, ban these apps, of course.
Never mind that the information can still be looked up manually (or by means of other apps), as long as the threat that's on the radar has been eliminated.
One suggestion that I did find interesting was getting a notification when somebody uses your information. Unfortunately, that would be technically a horrible mess, and with things like foursquare, how quickly would you turn those notifications off when you get dozens per day from random passers-by / people doing web queries / etc?
There was a great opportunity here to teach people about their privacy settings, but it has gotten completely undermined by simply labeling the app as 'creepy', 'stalker app', etc. and the defense that just because you're telling the world where you are, that doesn't mean the world should actually be listening.
This includes Cult of Mac, whose latter stories have focused more on the app than on the privacy issues with foursquare/facebook.
Though I wouldn't expect much different, seeing as Cult of Mac uses a comment syndication service (Vanilla) which, in part, accepts facebook logins. Which in turn yields your facebook profile image. Which in turn yields your facebook profile, no matter what you make your user name in the comment appear to be.
Doctor, heal thyself.
This is the first thing that came to mind.
Guys, really? Stop being so anti-social and awkward. Its a safe bet to assume there are women in a bar/library/Starbucks. A line you can come up with on the spot such as 'I like those shoes/hairdo/etc' will get you a lot further than saying you were also at locations X, Y, and Z as she was. From someone you've never met, that comes off of creepy, regardless if he/she posts it on myspace/fb/G+.
Since when does being a Socialist mean 'someone who has a different opinion than me'?
"look at what she was wearing, she was asking for it"
That depends what "it" is. If "it" is physical violence, you're absolutely right, it's horrible. What you're wearing never justifies physical violence. If "it" is being stared at, it's perfectly reasonable.
It's App to find people who want to be found. It's like posting your address in the White Pages, but not realizing that everyone can see it. I guess some people are just that stupid!
Well, a step beyond that - it's taking your white pages information, then looking up any references to you in the local papers, then pulling your phone records (if they were publicly available), and compiling a dossier on you.
The "creepy" factor is that we as a society are still getting used to the fact that it's now trivial to compile that dossier. We still think it's the 50s, where the police (or a private investigator) could build that file of where you go, what you do, who you hang out with, where you were and are, but that it was really time-intensive and a bit expensive. So unless you had a reason to think someone would want to go through that effort, so assumed it wasn't done (and were mostly right).
Remember, this app was compiling data from multiple sources - GPS for where you are, FourSquare (and it's brethren) for location information on other people, Facebook for the public profiles, etc. It's nothing that a person couldn't do right now. (Google+ will show you "nearby" posts today). It's just a bit time-consuming to do by hand (and so we assume people don't bother). What we forget is that it's trivial to get the computer to do all that research for us, and display it in easy-to-use formats. It's now inexpensive, both in time and money to build those dossiers - which means we need to change our assumptions to "everyone knows everything I put online".
No. No one EVER deserves to be raped.
I bet it honestly never occured to the guys who did this thing that someone might use it for creepy stuff.
I bet it honestly never occurred to all the narcissists posting their current fucking location to a publicly accessible social networking site that maybe, just maybe, someone with less honorable intentions than their BFF-of-the-week might end up seeing that information.
Wake up call, folks - This app came down because the dev needed to obey Apple's policies (ie, use a semi-legitimate means of getting to Foursquare and Facebook rather than just scraping them without permission). Some less legitimate dev could quietly recreate this exact app outside the Apple food-chain, and no one would even know about it.
No we get constant bombardment of guilt. You looked at a 17 year old and felt funny in your pants? pervert. You admired a child's smile too long, pedophile. Took a picture of a child you dont know in the park? pedophile. Dared to stare at a woman's heaving and mostly exposed chest, pervert.
Good-bye
You're the one who brought up rape, GP never mentioned it
By "getting what she deserves" and "taught a lesson," I parsed that as being treated like a sex toy/arm candy and tossed out when she gets boring, not treated with respect, etc. And why not?
You want to act like Snookie, you've got no business bitching about being treated like Snookie.
We are just barely entering the erra when male abuse victims are taken seriously by police.... stalking? we are still a while off there both legally and socially.
A while back I had a female stalker, mostly I got laughed at or got outright nasty looks. A lot of guys picture stalking as this wonderful thing they would love to have happen and see other guys who are not enjoying the experience as not being grateful.
And the girls just had this 'but you are guy, it is different' dismissive attitude. Even worse some took her side with the idea that it was wrong of me to reject her, that it just was not acceptable for guys to not accept a girl's advances.
Well, that's one opinion. Do you think this would be somehow different than knocking on a strangers door to ask if she'd like to go out with you? Sounds a little creepy to me. And a lot pathetic.
I sure as hell wouldn't respond to a text message from some random person who thought we could be friends. I'd probably tell them to fuck off or not even reply.
Maybe nobody ever told you that, but it's creepy nonetheless. It sounds like the years of "a/s/l" which everyone got bombarded with on chat rooms -- bunch of lonely pathetic guys thinking they'd put their swerve on and assume and try to hit on every suspected female in the vicinity.
If you want match.com, go there. I don't give FB enough information to try to infer people I might like to know. I sure as hell don't want random internet losers to think we should be friends.
I'm sorry, but as a guy even I can see how some random guy going "mmmm .... girl ... will you be my friend" would be somewhat creepy.
Most especially since this app is mining through other services to get this information. If the women had signed up for a "introduce me to random guys" kind of thing, sure. But they're most likely wondering who the hell you are and WTF you're texting them for.
This is kind of like standing at the door of the mall and asking every pretty girl who walks in if she'd like to go out with you. In real life, that would likely lead to security or the police having a little chat with you.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Well, that's one opinion. Do you think this would be somehow different than knocking on a strangers door to ask if she'd like to go out with you? Sounds a little creepy to me. And a lot pathetic.
No, it's not a lot different from knocking on a stranger's door and introducing yourself. The reason why datavirtue may think it acceptable is that before he knocked he was invited by the girl onto her porch so he could read her diary which she left there with the intent that strangers read it. People tend to forget what their open privacy policies on FB really mean; either that or they truly don't understand the implications. All this app does is bridge that gap from a virtual front porch to the actual one, and only for people openly publishing where that IRL front porch is. Creeped out? Stop sharing your location with strangers.
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
The issue with a lot of people isnt that their info is unknowingly public, its that someone is has sought you out and knows some things about you and you're wondering from where and what else does this person know.
Why is that an issue? Here are the answers - they got the information from Facebook, and they know whatever else you say about your daily life or post in your profile.
Here's an example - I'm friends with a girl on Facebook that I haven't seen in about 15 years, and I know her middle name, birthday, son's name, school history, current work situation, relationship status, where she ate last week, etc. Not because I actively seek it out, but because she posts an update when she does goddamn anything. If she's creeped out that I know all those things then she's probably pretty stupid. It would be pretty funny to run into her on the street and start spouting off all these facts about her life though, I would like to see the look on her face. If narcissistic people like that are surprised that other people know all the stuff that they constantly post about themselves then they have no one to blame but themselves.
I also don't really see anything creepy about my behavior there. I think it's a little creepy and suspect that she feels compelled to tell the world that she ate at Firehouse Subs last weekend, not the fact that I remember odd bits of information.
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
True, there is that varient. Perhaps I should have been more specific.. females stalking males who are currently capable (as in not already attached) of returning their interest. Females trying to break up another relationship which they feel entitled too... though even then, outside extreme cases, I encounter the attitude that he must have done something insensitive to her like ditching her (under the idea that women are fragile emotional beings not responsible for their own lives, thus if she is that upset he MUST have done something to injure her). So bullshit all around ^_^
Why is it creepy to have all the same information you'd have if you asked a friend of hers?
The "creepy" math is simple: woman finds man attractive, then all advances are "romantic"; woman finds man unattractive, then all advances are "creepy". There's no deeper meaning.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
Speaking as a male and a avid Slashdot poster. I've never really had the problem of women stalking me before and wonder why it hasn't happened yet?
it's making sweeping (and frequently incorrect) remarks about 50% of the population
Also frequently correct. When you really look at sexual attraction, what motivates it is often unflattering. Being attracted to "confidence" is just socially acceptable code for power or dominance. This is often related to wealth, another thing to which you're not supposed to admit to being attracted. Men have a simpler drive, but we're usually told to be ashamed to look at a woman's body - this is objectification, etc.
On the one hand, it's easy to see why stigmas like these exist: looking no further than a woman's body is an easy path to misery, men who are the most dominant are often also the most abusive. Our biology is what it is, however, and it does us no good to just deny it. These sorts of comments are just people venting their frustration, don't make too much out of it.