

Android Play Store Privacy - EricButler
http://codebutler.com/2013/02/13/play-store-privacy/

======
warrenmiller
Same thing happens if I sell something in a real or internet shop. Why is this
so surprising?

~~~
ajross
Exactly. Twenty years ago, the idea that someone from whom you purchased a
product might (gasp) _know who you are_ would have been obvious. Even once the
web arrived we all dutifully typed our credit card and contact info into every
online purchase, and no one cared. Now all of a sudden it's "revealed" that
Android app vendors have the same info (broadly -- they don't get credit card
numbers) and it's a "privacy" concern?

That said... maybe there's something to this. Apple has shown that a different
model can work, that isolates the buyer from the seller. Is that a good or bad
thing? I think there's an interesting discussion to be had here, but this
"privacy" nonsense has to stop.

~~~
amartya916
I am surprised to hear you refer to this as "privacy nonsense"; things like a
name and address are obviously identity related information. As such, any
identity related information has to have privacy concerns.

In some ways, I see this as a breach of trust; I can trust Google with some of
my data but I dont think every app developer is worthy of even a certain
percentage of that trust.

~~~
ajross
This doesn't seem responsive to what I said. Every _other_ financial
transaction you engage in carries some kind of disclosure of identity. Your
credit card has your name on it and discloses it when it's swiped. You can't
order anything at all online without giving them a shipping address. You can't
even buy a coffee for cash without your picture being taken by security
cameras.

Holding this particular kind of transaction up as (no joke: your words) a
"breach of trust" is just ridiculous on its face. So much so that frankly I
suspect this is just yet another "Apple vs. Google" flame war in clever
disguise.

Again, I agree there's an interesting discussion to be had about this stuff.
But only if you give up the absurd absolutist flaming.

~~~
amartya916
Let me assure you that there was no insinuation of any Apple vs Google flame
war in my comment. While breach of trust might see over the top to you, the
interpretation was supposed to be quite simple, let me explain:

Most financial transactions do involve exchange of identifiable information;
that remains true for online as as well as real world transactions; you are
absolutely right about that. However, in all those transaction, you 'choose'
to share some amount of information. One of the reasons services like Paypal
became popular was the implicit lack of trust in an online transaction; people
were more willing to trust an intermediary to keep their credit card
information secure, than using it with any and all online merchants.
Similarly, I trust Google as a company more than most other companies with my
data and that's a 'choice' I made; however, them sharing certain parts of my
identity with a multitude of app developers does seem to be something I didn't
'choose' to do. That seems to be a decision that Google took on my behalf and
therein lies the "breach of trust" that you seem to have taken an exception
to.

There is no flaming involved; I just think Google can do better.

------
damian2000
Another point which backs up something I read once ... _Google is run by
engineers, Apple is run by designers, Microsoft is run by MBAs._

~~~
Evbn
Google isn't run by engineers anymore.

------
picklefish
Having a developer calculate tax seems odd. Does this mean every single
developer who puts a paid app on android store needs to figure out the
intricacies of digital download tax for every single state / country? Sure big
companies can hire someone to do it but that seems excessive for an individual
developer.

~~~
trotsky
At least in the US you're not responsible for collecting sales tax for a
location you don't do business in, and i'm pretty sure there are minimum
thresholds or exceptions to prevent people from having to collect sales tax on
yard sales or fruit stands, for example.

~~~
saurik
However, if you do business internationally, this is not as clear: you do not
have any a priori right to take money from citizens of other countries for
your products or services; as a specific example, if you have customers in the
EU (and you meet the various thresholds in any of the member countries) you
must register for VAT (probably through the VAT on e-Services program designed
for streamlined registration of overseas companies selling digital products).
Every quarter, for example, I have to remit collected VAT for every EU country
through HMRC (in pounds sterling, which is really quite irritating).

(Even domestically, the rules regarding whether you are doing business in a
state are dependent on the state. If you travel at all, have any contractors,
work with any other companies, or even simply ship goods around, it can be
very confusing to determine in what jurisdictions you suddenly are liable for
collecting either sales or seller's use tax. I ran into this personally while
trying to figure out "am I doing business in Michigan, a state that imposes a
6% tax that includes digital goods?": the Michigan Treasury didn't want to
commit to an answer, so I was going back/forth with accountants and lawyers
for quite a while.)

------
tszming
As a developer, I can confirm this.

There are some records with only the zip/country & fake email
(xxx@checkout.google.com)

But there are definitely some records with full name, full address, phone,

    
    
        e.g. (format only)
    
        John Doe 
        101/A, 2-14, Queen Road , Hong Kong . 
        HONG KONG ISLAND 
        HONG KONG 
        1234 5678
        johndoe@example.com

------
spot
I don't see the address or phone number. I do see zip code and email.

------
yanw
It's as it should be: [http://marketingland.com/why-im-glad-google-play-gives-
devel...](http://marketingland.com/why-im-glad-google-play-gives-developers-
customer-data-33431)

~~~
kgarten
"We can better service them by being able to refund them, look up order status
issues, and potentially contact them with issues they may have." Order status
issues for apps?

Giving developers the option of contacting users regarding issues is alright
... giving every developer of every app I installed my private phone number is
NOT (in my personal opinion).

~~~
jc4p
>Giving developers the option of contacting users regarding issues is alright
... giving every developer of every app I installed my private phone number is
NOT (in my personal opinion).

That's... that's not what it is. It's every app you've PAID for. I would argue
that giving people you've given money to direct access to be able to fix
issues for you if they come up is a benefit.

~~~
Evbn
It isn't giving, it is taking. That is the difference.

