[gaius]

And now everybody is freaking about a fairly reasonable trade

OK let’s imagine that you have a close friend or family member with some confidential issue - maybe an illness, maybe debt, maybe they are in the closet. Occasionally they message you, on old -fashioned SMS or email mentioning something about it.

How many dollars is a reasonable trade to tell a data collection agency everything you know so they can add it to their file on your friend/relative?

[mruts]

Probably a lot more than $20/month. But it certainly has a price. What FB is doing is definitely scummy, but if individuals are disclosed of the risks and exactly what the app does, I think they should be able to make this trade if they want to.

I probably wouldn't, unless it was in excess of maybe >$1000/month. And even then I'd probably just get a new phone. But people should have the right to sign contracts, even if they seem exploitative, as long as they are aware of what they are agreeing too.

The main problem it seems here is that a lot of the people were underage.

[briandear]

Good point. Someone else essentially gets paid to compromise your privacy without your consent.

[mruts]

I mean, if you tell me something, I can legally decide to tell someone else. Unless we signed a contract or something.

[briandear]

Actually, in some states, to record conversations, two-party consent is necessary. 11 states, including California, require two-party consent. It’s a fair assumption that an app that is vacuuming up everything someone does on a phone is potentially gathering data that would fall under two-party consent laws. Also eavesdropping is also a potential crime under common law. It’s a murky legal area in this case, but one that certainly has some merit.

[gaius]

Sure, but maintenance of the confidence of a friend shouldn’t need a law.

[tasubotadas]

Well, I pity the fools that assume that their communications are private when they are using SMS, FB Messenger, or Hangouts. If you want your info to stay private, do not send it to untrustworthy parties via untrustworthy means.

Even if you stick with apps like Telegram or Wire (my choice), you have to have in mind that your phone might have a keylogger on (looking at Xiomi and Huawei).

[gaius]

If you want your info to stay private, do not send it to untrustworthy parties via untrustworthy means

Well there’s the rub isn’t it. I don’t think most people would consciously decide to rat out their friends secrets for $20 - or indeed for any price. But somehow, it’s happening.