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www.timesofisrael.com

A pro-Palestinian app created to help consumers boycott Israeli products has gained traction on TikTok amid calls in Hebrew-language media for Google to ban it.

The free app, called “No Thanks,” was launched by Palestinian graduate student Ahmed Bashbash last November. Downloaded by 100,000 users within a month, the app enables consumers to scan product barcodes to determine if the item has connections to Israel.

By the start of April, “No Thanks” reported one million people had downloaded the app. Millions of users had viewed tikTok influencer videos promoting “No Thanks,” contributing to the app’s growth of 900,000 downloads in four months.

    • Artemis@lemmy.mlEnglish
      123·
      7 months ago

      Looks like it has Google AdMob, CrashLytics, and Firebase Analytics trackers…as well as FB Share according to Exodus. While I totally support the cause, this app is definitely tracking/profiting off of it’s users behind the scenes.

      • lunarul@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        7 months ago

        How are crashlytics and firebase analytics profiting off of users? I cannot imagine not including those in an app you’re actually hoping to improve.

        • Artemis@lemmy.mlEnglish
          3·
          7 months ago

          There are other privacy-respecting trackers that could be used for app improvement. At the end of the day, Google profits from the data collected here, and Lemmy has a big community of users looking to avoid this. Tangentially, Google also has massive contracts with the Israeli military that have recently come under fire in the news…just another reason to use different app-improvement trackers if the goal is to truly boycott/divest, etc.

    • Linkerbaan@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      64·
      7 months ago

      I can’t find info on that so I am guessing at the moment it’s not. Though it seems to be more of a small volunteer project than a big group effort for now.

      • WamGams@lemmy.caEnglish
        55·
        7 months ago

        Hint: if an aoo is collecting your data and tracking you, as this app does, it is not open source.

        This implies they are selling your data to brokers.

          • WamGams@lemmy.caEnglish
            41·
            7 months ago

            That is great.

            But I also think leftists should not be downloading protest apps directly through google, because they have that data.

            We need to better expose protest movements to things like fdroid and how to combat the surveillance they carry in their pocket.

            Short termz the app seems like a good thing, but we need to move away from google play long term.