As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, our personal information is no longer private. It is available and shared via social media platforms and various apps that we use daily. Recently, a social media user called out travel website Goibibo's practice of sending trip notifications to his phone's contact list. He accused the company of violating his privacy and spamming his contacts unnecessarily.
The user @deisgnerdada took to X on January 16 and posted a strong-worded tweet expressing his displeasure after Goibibo sent his recent trip notifications to some of his friends.
''Hello @goibibo @GoibiboSupport! How can you send an SMS about me completing a trip to my phone contacts? Are you out of your mind? I never gave you explicit consent to do this and I will never do this. This is spamming and breach of privacy!'' he wrote and reached out to customer support for clarification.
See the tweet here:
However, the company informed him that there was a disclaimer regarding syncing contacts to which he had given his consent.
''With reference to our discussion over call. Would like to inform you that you have opted for the SyncNcash option while booking. Sync up of your contact details is done post your consent only, There is a default 'NO' to this when you don't sync contacts, and when you sync you are giving your Yes' however if you wish to opt-out then you can unsync the same with the option available under Goibibo App settings,'' their response read.
Many internet users came in his support and slammed Goibibo for disrespecting users' privacy. Many shared that they experienced similar situations. One user wrote, ''No f way they did this! This is a privacy breach on multiple levels,''
Another asked, ''Why did you permit contacts to a travel app? Contact permission is one of the most sensitive permission and this is being misused widely even to blackmail people. Android is a wild forest you have to learn to save yourself.''
A third said, ''Damn this is scary!! Aren't there any cyber laws to protect consumers from this kind of data breach?''
A fourth added, ''This is the reason I avoid downloading apps. If possible directly book from web.''
