Saw this today and now I’m reconsidering if Boost is right for me. I’m really hoping this is shitty boiler plate that was accidentally copied and over looked because that is some bullshit to say “unless we decide we want to use your personal data for whatever we want”.
I know “legitimate interest” is a phrase from the cookies law but there is no legitimate interest justification for this. My data is my data and I decide who has a legitimate interest in it so advertisers can fuck off, as can Boost if this the direction it’s going.
Edit to say this blew up. I didn’t realise I was kicking as big a hornet’s nest and haven’t read all the comments yet.
To be clear, what I don’t like about this and other provisions in the terms is the language and implications around data use. I’ve no problem with ads being shown - I want developers to get paid for the work they do and that makes it possible for users to have “free” access to software if they can’t afford to purchase.
I also want to add the response from Boost’s dev below to make sure it’s visible. You’ll see that it is boilerplate but required by Google and was present in Boost for reddit. I just hadn’t seen it because I purchased it immediately based on a recommendation. It doesn’t make me happy about it but does remove some doubts I was having about the direction Boost is heading.
I will be purchasing the app to support the dev because I do like Boost but I understand not everyone can afford everything so you’ll see some other suggestions in the comments below that don’t have any ads if you’re not happy with the free version and ads with their associated loss of data privacy.
Dev here.
The dialog and its content is not created by me, it is a standard solution from Google to comply with GDPR and other laws. More info here: https://support.google.com/admob/answer/10114014?hl=en
The consent dialog is also required by Google AdMob to show ads, and it is shown when the ad network is initialized.
When the app launches, first it checks for the remove ads purchase, and if it is not present, it will initialize the ads sdk. The ad network is not initialized if the remove ads purchase is detected.
Boost for Reddit was using the very same ad networks and consent dialog.
While I absolutely respect your response, I don’t see the issue being addressed. You can easily include a caveat that mentions this, but more importantly be transparent with the data .
He’s not the one collecting the data, receiving the data, or even choosing what data is collected. How the fuck can he be “more transparent” with this data? It’s Google standard AdMob SDK used by the vast majority of Android-Apps showing ads. The SDK isn’t initialized in the paid version.
Literally, the only complaint I’m having here is that buying the Ad-Free version was a little too hard to find. A pop-up “hey, would you like ads or pay for this app” would have allowed me to pay for it faster.
“He’s not”, but the app is by initiating the AdMob. I understand we’re stating the data isn’t “in his hands”, but it could be more transparent and a selling point for the Ad-free version by stating the mechanics and why the legal terminology is in the agreement. This post has been very informative and could be a learning lesson for others.
Personally I’ve always wondered about companies that have “free versions” and “paid versions”. I understand the mantra of free versions being “You are the product”, so with paid versions am I still a product with my data or is that protected somehow? This conversation has cleared it up for me in regards to this app at least.