Update on Contact Permission Request
Our new ShopSavvy Wallet feature that is new in Android and iOS asks for access to your contact information. Why you may ask? Simple, we want to make setting up your wallet as simple as possible. Whenever you set up your contact info we auto-complete your email address as you type it (we had to access your contact info to be able to do so) and we also allow you to select your billing and shipping information from your stored contact info.
You can be CERTAIN we don’t access your contact information without your involvement. If you don’t set up your wallet we won’t ever look at your contact info. The way Google describes the permission you might be a bit concerned. I think they say something like, “Malicious developers can use this permission to find your house and kill your dog.” Literally, they make it sound terrible. You can be sure the ONLY reason we are offering this feature is to make signing up for the wallet easy.
If you haven’t seen ShopSavvy Wallet here you go:
Whatever you are doing is flat-out stupid!
Android asks for to approve permissions in advance, when installing the app and the assurance you put here “oh we won’t even look at the contacts if you don’t use the wallet” aren’t worth tinker’s damn. You are asking people to trust you all their personal info because… some nitwit thought it’s cool to auto-complete email? Does not compute!
Android is VERY open. If we were accessing your contacts an interested DEV would be able to catch us in a minute and post their findings. It just isn’t true. It is ironic that we have had this feature on iOS for months without a single complaint. In fact, iOS users requested the feature – i.e. ‘I don’t want to have to fill out my shipping and billing, why don’t you guys let me pull it from my contacts?’
Anyway, if you don’t set up a wallet the app NEVER accesses your contacts so you are safe. Sorry you aren’t happy. Most of your comments are sort of similar – i.e. you aren’t happy about anything we do.
I was concerned after first reading about the change of permissions, although I was satisfied when I read the explanation here in the blog.
However, I have noticed that ShopSavvy already has tweaked the application to remove the use of the permission. Kudos for such quick response to feedback (even when those providing the feedback were less than courteous). …cheers!
Thanks for the comment, we didn’t get a single complaint from iOS users so we left the auto-fill feature on for the iPhone. But after 300 1-star reviews and comments on Android we threw in the towel and turned off the auto-fill feature. I am sure if we could explain what we were doing to each user they would have been cool with the feature, but it is impossible for us to have hundreds of conversations.
Why not ask for the information when setting up wallet??? It seems overkill to ask for permission to access ALL contacts when all you want is one. Plus, how many folks have their own information in their own contact list. I for one don’t call myself often.
We removed the feature for Android users (iOS users didn’t complain). We don’t access all your contacts, only your contact information, but Android doesn’t give us the ability to show you that we have limited the access to your own contact.
Count me as skeptical of needing contact information for the new Wallet feature.
To make generalizations, you need to be aware that iOS and Android users are typically different types of folks. iOS users are completely trusting of their apps because Apple keeps such a tight control over them. Android is completely open so Android users HAVE to be cautious about whatever they put on their phone.
And call me paranoid, but giving an app permission to see all my contact information (and remember this is information other people trust me with) so I can have auto-complete is a bad trade-off
We removed the feature the same week we added it, but I can assure you we never had access to your full contact list – just yours.