You are all familiar with TANSTAAFL (There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch) which I think originated with Robert Heinlein. Notice that my acronym ends with an “A” not a “L”. This stands for No Such Thing As a Free App.
What brings this to mind is an Archie comic that a student left laying around. On the back it says “Free Archie App”. Not really. You may not pay with your credit card but you will pay with your personal information. When you sign up for an app it asks you for permission to access information on the phone you are using. This could open up all kinds of areas you don’t want opened. It could reveal things that you would be outraged about if the NSA were mining your device. And you give it away free. And then they will sell it and the world knows all about you.
So, go ahead. Sign up for that App. Sometimes they don’t ask for all the access when you sign up. You might even check it out the first time but have you noticed how often they want you to update? Sooner or later they sneak it in when they think you are not looking. Either way, the price is too high for me to pay.
You can keep your free App, Archie.
homo unius libri
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Comments are welcome. Feel free to agree or disagree but keep it clean, courteous and short. I heard some shorthand on a podcast: TLDR, Too long, didn't read.