Dispo repeatedly changes privacy policy after location data questions

Dispo’s privacy policy is apparently still developing. 

The hot new photo app, which has raised $20 million in Series A funding, attempts to breathe life into social image sharing by adapting the aesthetic of disposable cameras. On Tuesday, Dispo shed its invite-only skin and opened up to the wider public — quietly, and without notice, updating its privacy policy in the background. 

The app’s privacy includes a section titled “Information automatically collected,” which details numerous types of data collection done by the app. On the afternoon of March 5, that section of the policy explained that Dispo collects location data. 

“We collect location data such as information about your device’s location, which can be either precise or imprecise,” the policy, a screenshot of which is embedded below, explained. “How much information we collect depends on the type and settings of the device you use to access the App.”

We reached out to Dispo on March 5 in an effort to determine if the app collected users’ precise location data, and, if so, what the company considers “precise.” We also asked what Dispo does with the location data once it is gathered, and if that data is ever sold or transferred to third parties. 

Only after we reached out did Dispo remove that specific language from its policy. 

The company made a mistake in a draft of the privacy policy and never fixed it until Mashable inquired. However, the privacy policy (under the “CCPA Privacy Notice” section) still stated that in the last 12 months Dispo had collected “Geolocation data” with a given example being “device location.”

This section was also later altered, to clarify that Dispo had not tracked users’ location data in the last 12 months, after we reached out about it.

We followed up with Dispo to ask if the privacy policy would be updated to note the recent changes, but received no immediate response. As of March 9, the privacy policy states that Dispo automatically collects “device data” which may include “location.” 

So why, if the privacy policy now says Dispo never collected user location data, does any of this matter? 

As the problematic Clubhouse app makes clear, users rely on buzzy new apps’ privacy policies for valuable insight into what those apps are doing with their data. 

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It also says something about a company’s priorities. To be far enough along to receive a spread in the Times Sunday Styles section, in print on March 7, but to have an error-laden privacy policy that you are forced to constantly update every time a reporter asks you a question suggests a company which puts publicity over its users’ privacy. 

Which, no matter how many disposable-camera filters you layer over it, is never a good look.