Personally I think that the only thing Blizzard should be explaining is why they are using this app in the first place for this years Blizzcon, after that it is up to the app company to explain why they need access to the various things the app needs access too.
I agree. That AXS “privacy” policy is appalling. But I regard this as regular, everyday levels of outrage rather than hyperventilate-until-you-pass-out levels of outrage. YMMV.
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They did though, they explicitly said for security reasons and to prevent dupes and frauds.
However they didn’t say anything about gathering your information which is why people are worried.
While I’m on the other side of the argument " what are they gonna know!? " I do understand where the others are coming from.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to know what happens to your data, how it is shared and were does it go.
To put it simply ( How I understood it ) , these " Data Apps " feel like you made a deal with a contractor for say building your house, but he’s now stalking you and sending information about which shops you go, where you work, what do you buy from groceries etc etc, some people don’t care, others feel unsafe and wants that to stop, others have x reaction etc etc.
I find it pretty cool that others are genuinely concerned especially not about themselves but other people too, but at the same time I think they are too paranoid, but it is well within their right to be so, Blizzard does owe us a detailed explanation on this app.
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what i find hillarius and that those who are concerned are those who dont even plan to fo there.
notice how in this thread nobody said “i would go to blizzcon but after buying ticket i resigned and returned it”
you dont see it because people who go there dont care.
those who do fake outcry are those who wouldnt go there in first place.
unless you are one of those people who bought ticket blizzard dont owe you anything. and for those who do they released explanation already.
You have absolutely no idea if anyone here has been planning to go there or not. Only first round of ticket sales is done and not everyone who wanted a ticket got one on that one. Another one is coming soon.
I would also like to point out that same people who are complaining or asking questions about privacy issues about that app are very likely same people who don’t post around their holiday plans in open internet forums anyway. That is why i do not say anything about going/not going there on this thread and not going to say it on future posts either.
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I have nothing to hide except my credit card number. Guess I’m not trustworthy 
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But from what I understand Blizzard isn’t gathering your information it is AXS which are doing this and they are the ticket service providers.
The way it comes across to me is that Blizzard have said, right we need to increase security and prevent dupes/frauds what companies out there can provide sufficiently secure tickets for us? Oh look AXS does secure ticketing lets use them.
Or to put it another way it would be like me going to see a Rock concert who’s tickets are provided through a, arguable, reputable ticket agency and expecting the band to be able to provide me with the full details of how said ticket agency runs.
Normal ppl then is the argument?
Normal people do normal things. Like phone sex, exchanging nudes, buying drugs, watching adult movies with toilet paper at hand etc etc
How many do you think would consent to getting their really private lives (the life that noone sees-you have it too) pried into by some analyst somewhere because some algorhythm flagged the whole house as “needs to be checked out” based on their internet use history?
This thread is so full of misinformation, I am not even sure where to begin with it.
Firstly, while we should have a healthy skepticism of what permissions apps have, this list was pulled from the web version of the play store and does not accurately reflect what the app’s real permissions actually are.
Let me share a screenshot from the App Permissions page on the installed version on my Google Pixel 2. iPhone permissions may be similar:
So to list them out, the app has permission to do the following things:
- read your contacts
- access precise and approximate location (precise location is only available if you have LTE or WiFi enabled, else it defers to approximate location)
- access network state (i.e. is this app connected to the internet)
- view network connections (in support of the above feature)
- bluetooth access
- keeping the phone awake
- receive data from the internet
- Play referer information (Google says this allows the app to retrieve its installer referer information, this is a permission present on many apps by default)
The fun fact about this is that the vast majority of these permissions are permissions that are typical to over 90% of the Android apps you will end up installing on your phone.
There seems to be controversy over it having access to your contacts. This is likely to assist with the ticket transfer process. This permission can be disabled and the app will continue to work as intended.
Also, the GPS location permission is there in order to support the app’s “find events near you” feature. This is literally a feature of the app that requires it to, you know, know where you are approximately.
Secondly, and this is true for both Android and iOS, permissions that cause an app to gain access to personal information (such as location or contacts) are never granted automatically by the OS. The user must explicit grant these permissions, usually through a dialog box that appears. The first two permissions in the list above require user approval since they may contain personal information.
If you want an app to compare this to, try reading the exhaustive list of permissions you need to give to WhatsApp or Facebook, which is are apps most of you are most likely using on your phone, and are run by a company you can almost certainly not trust with these permissions. Yet you use them anyway.
All in all, it seems that these permissions on the AXS are relatively conservative, and only ones that require the app to function appear to be present.
EDIT: I will add, this app has not even asked me yet to give permission to access my contacts. Hence, it is currently disabled.
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So, if I wanted to attend Blizzcon I have to own a mobile phone?
Well, thats me out then. Not only do I not own a mobile, I dont have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snap Chat or the vast quantities of cash it would cost me to fly to where-ever Blizzcon is (assuming its Americaland).
Read most of this but my simple way of looking at anything that is like this is this.
Do not put anything on your phone you do not want to be potentially at risk from such an app. I mean really how hard is that kind of thing to follow there are numerous things I do not put on social media and or my phone for that very reason if I do they do not stay on the device very long after being done.
People talk about privacy being invaded and so on but really it’s just plain lack of common sense about what you keep to yourself in confidence and what you put out there in your social data for anyone you know or do not know to see.
I really can not understand why anyone would put something on a phone and or tablet that could compromise them in the first place just do not do it then you do not have to worry about what an app like this is doing or what it is even looking at or who is even looking at it either.
I mean seriously how hard is it to use some restraint on how and what way you use such devices?
Or maybe it’s just me.
Hello, fellow human being. I must admit that I do have a mobile phone though(Nokia 3310)
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Such device is unsuitable for upcoming Warcraft and Starcraft Immortal® prepare to be exterminated.
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Actually no, its not cause i dont install spyware on my devices thank you verymuch.
The level of data that is gathered here is beyond insane. You might as well ask attendees to give a dna test and fingerprints while you are at it cause outside of that, they already have everything else from your name, address down to your credit card number.
Hell why the s not, im sure there are hundreds of research institutes who would pay blizzard in the BILLIONS for a data package that includes dna profiles.
Imagine all the stuff we could find out about correlations between purchases and genetics. Maybe we can also go ahead and breed the ultimate consumers while we are at it.
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Read the rest of my post. I’ve actually specifically addressed this argument. Neither Google nor Apple will grant permissions automatically to apps that reveal personal information. This is by your consent, and disabling those permission s don’t appear to cause the app to stop working.
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I doubt anyone on this thread concerned about this app is using these anyway? Most people i know have quitted FB years ago and switched whatsapp to other apps latests when it was bought by FB. And those are just the ones who ever used those 2 in the first place. I think it is those that do not care so much who are using also other questionable apps, not the ones who ask questions.
I think (and mentioned before) big question is not permissions. We all know what apps needs permissions for. Question is which are these third parties our data can be shared with and what do they do with it. It is fair question to ask, when we are not just users of some free service (where money is made from data and harvesting is understandable) but actually buying something with money.
There can be completely reasonable explanation of why certain third parties need that data but then it would be just fair to explain it and clear any doubts. Explain who the data is shared with, what purpose, how long it is stored and how it can be deleted if wished. That’s all.
This app only exists to get you into Blizzcon, why the everliving #!%#!%!# does it need to know every little detail about my life? none of that information is needed in order to present a virtual ticket to get into a convention.
This made me laugh. Cus in truth they just want to get a handle on what mobile devices those attending have, so when that guy stands up and says … ’ What ? Don’t you have a phone ’ he can be ready with an answer on what exactly those attending use and whether it will support their new wave of mobile games. After all mobile games is where the money is so you better get ready for some big news on mobile games… like maybe Warcraft.
They are not not attending the Euro games festival this year for the first time in yonks and their quarterly report gives no detail on ‘any’ new and upcoming releases. Basically cus they don’t have any. They are focussing on transferring their current portfolio to ship to phones, so having a handle on what folk use is probably going to be useful.
Me I don’t care. And why ? Well actually I have never owned a mobile phone. And have no plans to ever use one. My choice. I love it. Annoys the pants out of everyone else… but hey. I get by. I also wouldn’t go to BlizzCON cus its a spent force in gaming sadly. They lost all respect last year the way they treated their player base. So sad to watch… so won’t be watching it this year.
For crying out loud people it’s not Blizzard that are asking to access this data or sell it on to third parties it is the app maker. The permissions are the same whether you are going to Blizzcon or any of the thousands of other conerts that AXS provides the ticketing for.
If you are so concerned why aren’t you bombarding the app and the app makers website with this stuff?
The sheer idiocy of people who are willing to believe the most far-fetched conspiracy theory yet won’t accept a simple explanation astounds me.
It’s very quick.
My local bus company uses a similar app and it’s rather fast.
You can pay with cash. Very slow and they complain about lack of change.
Contactless card. Slow but quicker than cash.
Contactless ticket. Not bad but does take a while first load.
QR code app. Quickest as it scans in a literal second.
If there’s thousands of people attending then they can get in much quicker and means less staff needed.