Path Insists They are Inviting Not Spamming

Path, the mobile social networking app that tries keeping up with the Facebooks and the Twitters, has recently announced it has reached 10 million registered users. They may want to check out how many of those are still using Path, especially with allegations of spamming have surfaced.

Unlike Facebook and Twitter, Path users are limited to accepting only up to 150 friends, but they can share their life’s status (what they read, where they go, even when they are about to sleep) to every social networking service imaginable. However, users cannot cross-post their Facebook status updates or latest tweets on Path.

If this still interests you, be careful in signing up for a new account, especially with Path 3.0 recent version. Part of the signup process includes an option to invite all their Facebook friends on Path. This pushy tactic is employed by many other apps. However, Path takes it to the next level by bombarding the users’ contacts with auto-texts and robocalls in an attempt to recruit them into downloading its app. This is even if the user has uninstalled the app.

One sample of the automated text message reads: “(Name of user) wants to show your photos on Path.” This is followed by a link leading to Path’s download page. If the user’s friend uses a landline as their listed phone number, the text message is converted to speech and is read aloud automatically.

These accusations could be scandalous to Path, which has been notorious with how it handles private data. Last year, Path was caught uploading its users’ address book data to its servers. The officers apologized for collecting personal information and has since updated the app, but they had to pay the price. In February, Path paid $ 800,000 as settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

Path, however, insists they are doing nothing wrong this time. “Users are giving us permission to send invitations to friends and family,” Nate Johnson, Path’s vice president of marketing, said in an interview with CNET. “Path is best with friends. We want to help users connect with close friends and family as quickly as possible.”

This means that had the user deselected all the check placed on his friends’ profile photo, they would not have received those spammy invites. A problem that, sadly, the user could not seem to find a remedy.

Source: The Verge, via CNET
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