

Pocket: The App That Irked Me Over Privacy Today - teaneedz
http://teaz.me/pocket-the-app-that-irked-me-over-privacy-today/

======
disposition2
If you are that worried about privacy on an app like Pocket, there is an open
source alternative ([https://www.wallabag.org/](https://www.wallabag.org/))
and it has an iOS app. I have yet to try it myself because I didn't really
expect privacy from an app like Pocket and therefore use Pocket but its
features look equal (if not better) to Pocket.

------
pandatigox
To be honest, I don't see the big deal here. Pocket has already been adding
'trending', 'best of' tags to my bookmarks. Where do you think they got that
data from huh? While this seems like another privacy red flag, it could be
possible that they just keep a database of links with a counter column, and
show recommendations based on that, or another algorithm.

~~~
teaneedz
I figured that the _Trending Now_ and _Best Of_ were just based on raw numbers
of shares and saves - nothing that required much algo intrusion. I suppose
that I was just looking for better clarity on what Recommendations is and
would be doing. Pocket responded in a tweet that the Recommendations feature
will not used to support ad targeting and our data (and metadata) will not be
used for that. So, I feel a bit better. They also mentioned that
_Recommendations_ will not be loaded unless we tap on the tab for it. With all
of the privacy intrusive practices being carried out today, I tend to question
_new features_ that aren't accompanied with a clear privacy statement.

~~~
pandatigox
Ah, I think I misunderstood your intentions. The nature of the article made me
think it was another "Privacy is dead" rant. Thanks for taking the time to
carefully research the new policies of Pocket.

~~~
teaneedz
I actually should have clarified my intent better and hope no real harm was
done along the way. I'll definitely work on this going forward.

------
robinduckett
TL;DR: AN APP I USE FOR FREE IS TRYING TO MAKE MONEY OFF MY DATA!!!!!! Oh
wait, they contracted me to say they weren't. HEY GUYS THEY WEREN'T, FALSE
ALARM!!!

~~~
teaneedz
Nothing wrong with an app making money. It's all in the method.

------
allencoin
Saved to Pocket.

