Since the very beginning of Truecaller it has been clear to almost everyone with sense to connect dots that this is a dangerous app. But it is also useful, particularly in a country like India where no one gives a damn about anyone's privacy and personal numbers of people can be leaked from sources as innocuous as your mail delivery guy, who requires that you put in your phone number in a form before he gives you that latest Rs 50 discount voucher from your bank.
No one here has a sense of privacy. And hence widespread spamming. So Truecaller attempts to stop people from spamming you. But in doing so it actually makes spamming people easier, even if you may not realise it. Stopping spam calls is not really the core functionality of Truecaller. Not anymore. Finding someone's number, someone who might not be an acquaintance, and then cold calling him or her has become a more important functionality of the app. And that is a big problem, my fellow Indian smartphone users.
Indians love Truecaller. There are more than 130 million smartphone users in India who have Truecaller installed on their phones. This is almost half of the total user base that the app has in the world. "With happy heart, we rejoice over having accomplished a large feat in our Truecaller history. In a land far away from our headquarters in Sweden, but close to our hearts, India alone has now surpassed 100 million Truecaller users. The love of India is forever branded within the DNA of Truecaller," the company recently noted.
Update: A lot of people have commented saying that the app doesn't leak the numbers out in public. May be not in the proper "leak" sense. But it does put them up their in the Truecaller database for some degree of public use without seeking any permission from the people whose numbers it has. If you have a number, you can easily find out the name and address (at least city specific) of the person who uses that number from the Truecaller search. And if you have a name, even then you can search the database and get some details of that user, along with option to seek full number from the user. But the interesting bit is that the users, who is in the database of Truecaller, is not there because he or she wanted to be a part of it. These people are there because they trusted their inconsiderate friends with their numbers. That number was supposed to be for their eyes only but now it is up there in the Truecaller database, which by the way can be -- and has been -- hacked.
India as a DNA of Truecaller might be great for the Swedish company but it is bad for Indians. The problem with Truecaller is that it leaks phone numbers, brings them into public. It has become a phone directory for the 21st century
But India as a DNA of Truecaller might be great for the Swedish company but it is bad for Indians. The problem with Truecaller is that it leaks phone numbers, brings them into public. It has become a phone directory for the 21st century. But unlike the directories of the last century this one contains details of cell phone numbers, which are more personal and pervasive compared to landline numbers.
If I am so hung up on the privacy part of Truecaller, maybe I should not use it. Right? Problem solved? No. I don't use Truecaller, yet my number is out there in its database because someone, somewhere who has my number uses it. Given the fact that over 100 million people in India are using Truecaller, chances are that almost all the cellphone numbers are up there in the database of Truecaller. It doesn't matter how privacy-minded you are. With Truecaller installed on phones you are at the mercy of someone, somewhere who has your number.
The problem is with the default behaviour of Truecaller. It has built in some privacy checks -- you can delist your number, if you find it in the Truecaller database -- but these steps are after thoughts. By design, by default, Truecaller is a pervasive app. Its business model is all about collecting numbers. And it does so zealously. When you install the app, it takes a look at your whole contact book and siphon off that data -- numbers and names included -- to its servers. For my number to appear in Truecaller database, I don't have install the app. If my friend, who has my number, has done it, Truecaller will get my details too.
Here is how Truecaller, explains its stance on data collection in its privacy policies:
When you install and use the Truecaller Apps, Truecaller will collect, process and retain personal information from You and any devices You may use in Your interaction with our Services. This information may include the following: geo-location, Your IP address, device ID or unique identifier, device manufacturer and type, device and hardware settings, ID for advertising, ad data, operating system, operator, IMSI, connection information, screen resolution, usage statistics, device log and event information, incoming and outgoing calls and messages, times and date of calls, duration of calls, version of the Truecaller Apps You use and other information based on Your interaction with our Services.
Ouch!
This privacy problem with Truecaller is not unique to it. Almost all major apps -- Facebook, Gmail, Google search -- love collecting as much data about as many people as possible, and this includes a lot of your contact data. These apps then use this data ensure you get the "right"advertisements. But then don't put out that information in public, the way Truecaller does for phone numbers.
Given the fact that over 100 million people in India are using Truecaller, chances are that almost all cellphone numbers from India are up there in the database of Truecaller
In India, we are somehow, in some way, tuned to look after our comfort, even at the cost of others or at the cost of minor inconveniences. Spam calls is a big problem here in the country and hence we reach out to apps like Truecaller. They give us some respite from the "unknown numbers". But it has a cost that not only you pay, but also your friends who are there in your phone's contact book. For the sake of their privacy, please stop using Truecaller or at least tell your friends that you are sharing their phone numbers with a company based in Sweden, a company that will put those phone numbers in a searchable database.
(Source: India Today)
No one here has a sense of privacy. And hence widespread spamming. So Truecaller attempts to stop people from spamming you. But in doing so it actually makes spamming people easier, even if you may not realise it. Stopping spam calls is not really the core functionality of Truecaller. Not anymore. Finding someone's number, someone who might not be an acquaintance, and then cold calling him or her has become a more important functionality of the app. And that is a big problem, my fellow Indian smartphone users.
Indians love Truecaller. There are more than 130 million smartphone users in India who have Truecaller installed on their phones. This is almost half of the total user base that the app has in the world. "With happy heart, we rejoice over having accomplished a large feat in our Truecaller history. In a land far away from our headquarters in Sweden, but close to our hearts, India alone has now surpassed 100 million Truecaller users. The love of India is forever branded within the DNA of Truecaller," the company recently noted.
Update: A lot of people have commented saying that the app doesn't leak the numbers out in public. May be not in the proper "leak" sense. But it does put them up their in the Truecaller database for some degree of public use without seeking any permission from the people whose numbers it has. If you have a number, you can easily find out the name and address (at least city specific) of the person who uses that number from the Truecaller search. And if you have a name, even then you can search the database and get some details of that user, along with option to seek full number from the user. But the interesting bit is that the users, who is in the database of Truecaller, is not there because he or she wanted to be a part of it. These people are there because they trusted their inconsiderate friends with their numbers. That number was supposed to be for their eyes only but now it is up there in the Truecaller database, which by the way can be -- and has been -- hacked.
India as a DNA of Truecaller might be great for the Swedish company but it is bad for Indians. The problem with Truecaller is that it leaks phone numbers, brings them into public. It has become a phone directory for the 21st century
But India as a DNA of Truecaller might be great for the Swedish company but it is bad for Indians. The problem with Truecaller is that it leaks phone numbers, brings them into public. It has become a phone directory for the 21st century. But unlike the directories of the last century this one contains details of cell phone numbers, which are more personal and pervasive compared to landline numbers.
If I am so hung up on the privacy part of Truecaller, maybe I should not use it. Right? Problem solved? No. I don't use Truecaller, yet my number is out there in its database because someone, somewhere who has my number uses it. Given the fact that over 100 million people in India are using Truecaller, chances are that almost all the cellphone numbers are up there in the database of Truecaller. It doesn't matter how privacy-minded you are. With Truecaller installed on phones you are at the mercy of someone, somewhere who has your number.
The problem is with the default behaviour of Truecaller. It has built in some privacy checks -- you can delist your number, if you find it in the Truecaller database -- but these steps are after thoughts. By design, by default, Truecaller is a pervasive app. Its business model is all about collecting numbers. And it does so zealously. When you install the app, it takes a look at your whole contact book and siphon off that data -- numbers and names included -- to its servers. For my number to appear in Truecaller database, I don't have install the app. If my friend, who has my number, has done it, Truecaller will get my details too.
Here is how Truecaller, explains its stance on data collection in its privacy policies:
When you install and use the Truecaller Apps, Truecaller will collect, process and retain personal information from You and any devices You may use in Your interaction with our Services. This information may include the following: geo-location, Your IP address, device ID or unique identifier, device manufacturer and type, device and hardware settings, ID for advertising, ad data, operating system, operator, IMSI, connection information, screen resolution, usage statistics, device log and event information, incoming and outgoing calls and messages, times and date of calls, duration of calls, version of the Truecaller Apps You use and other information based on Your interaction with our Services.
Ouch!
This privacy problem with Truecaller is not unique to it. Almost all major apps -- Facebook, Gmail, Google search -- love collecting as much data about as many people as possible, and this includes a lot of your contact data. These apps then use this data ensure you get the "right"advertisements. But then don't put out that information in public, the way Truecaller does for phone numbers.
Given the fact that over 100 million people in India are using Truecaller, chances are that almost all cellphone numbers from India are up there in the database of Truecaller
In India, we are somehow, in some way, tuned to look after our comfort, even at the cost of others or at the cost of minor inconveniences. Spam calls is a big problem here in the country and hence we reach out to apps like Truecaller. They give us some respite from the "unknown numbers". But it has a cost that not only you pay, but also your friends who are there in your phone's contact book. For the sake of their privacy, please stop using Truecaller or at least tell your friends that you are sharing their phone numbers with a company based in Sweden, a company that will put those phone numbers in a searchable database.
(Source: India Today)
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