Pandora[‘s Box] ?
Ok, so I started going through my Apps, trying to be open minded and not accuse every single app of trying to steal my data. All was well and I didn’t think I was going to find anything too ‘off’ until I reach my second favorite internet radio app, Pandora. Now maybe this pertains to a feature that comes with a paid Pandora account, but i’m not sure. Apparently the app has permission to “add or modify calendar events and send email to guests without owners’ knowledge.” It’s also allowed to read my SD card and add or delete anything there, which was startling at first, but I dismissed it. I can’t think of any reason for why it would need to mess with my calendar or send emails to others “without [my] knowledge.” I do not feel that this is helpful to me in anyway. However I’m not sure how this would help them in any way either. Maybe, since they are allowed to modify calendar events, they can also scan my calendar events for key words like “vacation” or “wedding” and plan their playlist and ads around that? Some calendar events may contain a location, and so Pandora could collect the data of who’s listening to what and where are they when they listen to it.
However, even knowing this, I may not delete the app or stop using their service. I am slowly leaving them anyway now that i’ve discovered spotify. I may tell my friends the next time I hang out with them, but I wont be running to the local news with this latest story on corporate corruption. Call me lazy, call me indifferent. I’ve had my moment of surprise and betrayal, but honestly, I never would have found out that Pandora did this if it weren’t for this blog post assignment. This type of collection, which in my opinion is not hacking because I must have said yes to it somewhere along the line, does not compare to true corruption. If at the end of the day, Pandora is able to create better play lists for their listeners, I won’t be hooting and hollering, screaming for the head of the CEO of Pandora on a spike. Good for them for trying to make their service better for their listeners. What would get my blood boiling is if Pandora actively used the data they collected against their users. Which just doesn’t make business sense.
*Revised & Added 4/17/16*
I think that if I were in the position of a famous hacker, I would feel torn between doing what is right, and maintaining my current lifestyle. Snowden gave up everything to do what he felt was right, and while many question the heroics of his act, it has undeniably left it’s mark on our nations history. I think the indifference I feel in running to the mountain tops to expose Pandora’s treachery, would influence my decision to follow Snowden. The greater good would have to vastly outweigh my own good if I were to risk everything exposing the truth. I think for Snowden, the greater good did outweigh his own, and that he humbly knew that and accepted it as his duty to his country.
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I like a lot of the points that you brought up in this post, and felt many of the same sentiments. So what if they’re stealing data? I’m still going to use the services of all these apps. Also, I agree that they’re probably just doing a lot of things to make their services better, which is awesome. I guess the problem is that the same information that they find useful for making spot-on playlists, would also be useful for other companies. And it doesn’t seem too far-fetched for a company that already takes a,b, & c from a user for making customized playlists to also want to take d & e in order to sell more information. Regardless, I’ll still use the app.
I also wrote my blog post on Pandora and your findings surprised me even though I read the same terms and conditions. Maybe I was not thorough in my perusing of the document, but I did not see the “calendar data collection” or “emailing authorization”. I’m sure it exists though, and it does make me uneasy. I completely agree with your statement, “However, even knowing this, I may not delete the app or stop using their service….Call me lazy, call me indifferent.” And not to get philosophical or go off on an unrelated tangent but based on anecdotal evidence, it seems to me that the majority of our generation has the same attitude towards apps and technology. The risk is far outweighed by the reward of being able to use the service. I would like to believe that they only collect this information to better their business and create the most complete, tailored, listening experience, but maybe that’s just the optimist in me.
I think it’s interesting that we find these signals that tell us that our privacy is being interrupted. However we decide to dismiss them for the trade off that comes with using the application. But I wonder what it would be like it there was a way to opt out of these features and still have access to the content. For instance, do Pandora one users still have the same privacy restrictions as the free users. Does paying for the app constitute, paying for your privacy?
It’s interesting that Pandora can scan your calendar and email your contacts if it chooses to, but I can see why you would be a bit apathetic to this revelation. Logically it wouldn’t make sense for the app to use your data against you because they want to keep as many customers as possible. I would say the majority of their data gathering goes to advertising, but I genuinely don’t know.
I am curious, however, to know if Pandora possibly using your data against you gets your blood boiling, then how do you feel about data leaks like the Panama Papers, where people’s information was technically used against them in the sense that their (admittedly widely acknowledged as immoral) financial dealings were revealed suddenly, costing at least one official his job?