# Foursquare is creepy **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 9, 2016, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foursquare-is-creepy/751645 "2016-04-09T13:08:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foursquare-is-creepy/751645/21 "2016-04-11T19:08:46Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Facebook has been creeping on me lately. > > Sometimes, I will get a call from a person who is NOT my friend on Facebook. A few minutes after I hang up with said person, I will get an alert from Facebook on my phone asking if I know said person! > Not sure I like Facebook monitoring my phone calls! Another good reason to not let them have my phone number. I’m already leery of that, since I don’t want someone thinking FB having that info constitutes enough of a relationship to override my DNC list registration. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foursquare-is-creepy/751645/22 "2016-04-11T21:48:37Z")
I have no idea what foursquare is, and assumed the OP didn’t mean the playground sport, [so all I could think of is the Pentecostal sect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Church_of_the_Foursquare_Gospel), in which case yes, I find them odd. Google (Maps?) does some stuff like this. They ask me if the place I was just at had wheelchair access and stuff like that. Just turn off location services if it bothers you. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foursquare-is-creepy/751645/23 "2016-04-11T22:37:28Z")
Here: [Four square (disambiguation) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foursquare) When I hear about some cool new app or website my first stop is wiki, not the site/app in question. That way I’m insulated from whatever evil they may do until I’ve learned enough about whether I want to risk messing with it. Everything I know about Facebook I’ve learned from wiki or here. Never been and not going there. Waay too evil. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foursquare-is-creepy/751645/24 "2016-04-11T22:54:32Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > Another good reason to not let them have my phone number. I’m already leery of that, since I don’t want someone thinking FB having that info constitutes enough of a relationship to override my DNC list registration. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Everything I know about Facebook I’ve learned from wiki or here. Never been and not going there. Waay too evil. The only way to signup for FB now is to give them a phone # that can receive texts (which means I can’t give 'em some random conference room at irk). OR send them a copy of a gov’t issued ID - not just no, but Fuck NO! I have a serviceless flip phone, I only ever carry it when I go trail running; if I sprain an ankle or something, it’ll call 911. Wonder if I should spend the $ to activate that to signup for FB? As for my smartphone, default is \. It only takes a few seconds to turn it on & get a location on the rare time that I need it. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foursquare-is-creepy/751645/25 "2016-04-11T23:37:15Z")
> [@WildBlueYonder](#): > > Can you use it to track your husband? :eek::dubious: The power source is problematic, but there is a pouch you could make it fit in. Just be careful that he doesn’t fit one in You as well. :eek: :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foursquare-is-creepy/751645/26 "2016-04-11T23:59:18Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Facebook has been creeping on me lately. > > Sometimes, I will get a call from a person who is NOT my friend on Facebook. A few minutes after I hang up with said person, I will get an alert from Facebook on my phone asking if I know said person! > Not sure I like Facebook monitoring my phone calls! You let FB have your phone number? I would not even consider that, no matter how much it pestered me. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foursquare-is-creepy/751645/27 "2016-04-12T01:55:30Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > You let FB have your phone number? I would not even consider that, no matter how much it pestered me. Well, if you have FB installed on your phone, they kind of have it by default. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foursquare-is-creepy/751645/28 "2016-04-12T03:29:25Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Well, if you have FB installed on your phone, they kind of have it by default. I don’t think they do, but I’d like to see otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foursquare-is-creepy/751645/29 "2016-04-12T04:07:25Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Well, if you have FB installed on your phone, they kind of have it by default. Yeah, see, those phones have browsers. You could d/l one of the numerous 3rd-party browsers and use it exclusively for facebook. It would probably take up far less space and not have the strong integration with the phone (which is apparently how it can snoop your CID). I have FB on a tablet, but they took out private messaging and put it in a different app, which pissed me off, so I use a browser for messaging. Both apps would take up over 200Mb of space, when the average browser is only a few score Mb at worst and much less intrusive. ---
**Author:** ![dizzee\_dee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@dizzee\_dee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dizzee_dee)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foursquare-is-creepy/751645/30 "2016-04-12T14:43:19Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Facebook has been creeping on me lately. > > Sometimes, I will get a call from a person who is NOT my friend on Facebook. A few minutes after I hang up with said person, I will get an alert from Facebook on my phone asking if I know said person! > Not sure I like Facebook monitoring my phone calls! There are a couple of guys that I had been texting from a dating site I was using. The only connection to either of us was via our phone. Yet here they were in my suggested friend list. So, yes. Facebook does access your phone. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foursquare-is-creepy/751645/31 "2016-04-12T15:27:31Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Yeah, see, those phones have browsers. You could d/l one of the numerous 3rd-party browsers and use it exclusively for facebook. It would probably take up far less space and not have the strong integration with the phone (which is apparently how it can snoop your CID). I have FB on a tablet, but they took out private messaging and put it in a different app, which pissed me off, so I use a browser for messaging. Both apps would take up over 200Mb of space, when the average browser is only a few score Mb at worst and much less intrusive. Why do you think a browser wouldn’t have access to the phone’s ID info? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foursquare-is-creepy/751645/32 "2016-04-12T15:58:01Z")
OMG foax! Re-read _Fahrenheit 451_. We all know The State singles out the “odd duck” who doesn’t integrate with society. Go with the flow, install the apps, allow yourself to be tracked…and you will blend in. Fail to do so, or actively resist by uninstalling the tracking app, and you will stick out like a sore thumb. So unless you’re willing to fight The State, you may as well play along with it. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foursquare-is-creepy/751645/33 "2016-04-12T17:11:35Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Why do you think a browser wouldn’t have access to the phone’s ID info? FB is an app. As such, it registers background processes which do things like follow your locations and observe your phone activity (nevermind what they might be doing with the cameras). Load FB on a browser and it is operating as long as the browser is one that site and running. If you quit the browser (actually remove it from the list of running apps), there is no way the FB site could access your CID (unless the website itself is coded to surreptitiously root your phone and lay in a trojan). ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foursquare-is-creepy/751645/34 "2016-04-12T18:18:38Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > And people wonder why I don’t have a smart phone, Smart- anything and drive an ancient vehicle whose highest thought process is “intake air sensor dead”. > > IIRC, the first gen civilian GPS units were good for 15 or 25 FEET. > > When my phone knows the name of the place I just ate, the tech has GOT to go. > > I seem to recall hearing a high-level functional description of FourSquare - and did not like what I heard. > > It is incredibly cool that a new emergency location beacon can give position to within 5’. > > Not so cool that my every move is now tracked to within that same 5’. Don’t be afraid of new technology, but do question how it is applied. Even knowing your location within 15-25 feet is probably good enough in most cases to figure out what you might be doing when it’s cross-referenced with a map. Yes, I think Four Square is a terrible app, and so I’ve never used it, because it seems that it’s only real purpose is notifying advertisers where I frequent and generating social media messages about where I had lunch or that I saw a movie or whatever. That said, there’s plenty of good ways in which more accurate GPS is very useful. For instance, having that kind of precision can make giving driving directions better by giving lane guidance. My phone can tell if I’m in the express lanes, HOV lanes, or normal lanes and can adjust directions accordingly. Or if you lose or misplace your phone, there are apps that can help you locate it. I still generally recommend turning off your phone’s location services when you don’t need them, not only for privacy, but because it helps to save battery as well. When it comes to installing apps, I definitely do recommend always reviewing the permissions you grant it. Like with Facebook, for instance, it does have the ability to unify messages and make it easier to contact people between facebook, text, and other services. Depending on how many new people you meet and how involved you are in social media, I could see the idea of meeting someone new and only having a text from them be a neat feature for certain users. That said, I have location and phone integration permissions for facebook turned off because that’s not something I have interest in. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foursquare-is-creepy/751645/35 "2016-04-12T18:26:45Z")
@ **eschereal** : Agree completely that a background app can track locations and such. And “phone home” with whatever info it wants whenever it wants if you’ve approved the fairly innocuous sounding permissions at install time. But … while the browser is running a page from FB that page can contain script which can access any/all of the phone’s properties that the phone’s API exposes. So if your goal is to ensure FB never learns what your phone number is, you lost when you logged your browser into FB on the phone. That second point is the one I was trying to make. Sorry I wasn’t more explicit. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foursquare-is-creepy/751645/36 "2016-04-12T18:31:38Z")
The iOS API, for instance, does not allow apps to access the phone’s own number. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foursquare-is-creepy/751645/37 "2016-04-12T21:11:39Z")
Yes, but apparently it provides access to the incoming CID. Which might make some sense, if an app needs to receive a NSNotification of a phone call so that it can, theoretically, get out of the way. Or the owner might want an app to respond in a certain way when a call from a specific person comes in. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foursquare-is-creepy/751645/38 "2016-04-12T22:10:04Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Yes, but apparently it provides access to the incoming CID. Which might make some sense, if an app needs to receive a NSNotification of a phone call so that it can, theoretically, get out of the way. Or the owner might want an app to respond in a certain way when a call from a specific person comes in. Sorry, I was going on the comment that installing Facebook on your phone gives them your phone number by default. As far as I know, it does not. I’m also not sure that the iOS SDK, at least, lets you access caller ID info, either. According to [this short Stack Overflow](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/20119474/intercept-incoming-call-ios-sdk-non-jailbreak) exchange, it seems that it does not, but that is a two year old thread with links to many other threads that say the SDK does not allow this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foursquare-is-creepy/751645.md?page=1)