AXS App from Someone Who's Used it Before

I’ve been watching, and occasionally commenting, the AXS app freak out for the last couple days. And the amount of disinformation about it is astounding.

I’ve used this app before for other events and it is not as bad as many are making it out to be.

First, the list of things it access that has been linked from a reddit post is wildly misrepresented. The list every one is concerned about is the privacy policy for their website as well as the app. The app permissions don’t include anything related to your payment information, nor does it have access to it or send it to anyone. If they tried that, they would lose their right to process payments. Sharing payment info outside of actual transactions in that manner would have them banned by every major credit card company.

When you install the app it will ask for access to your location, if you say no the app will work just as well as if you say yes.

Most everything else that it actually wants access to (not that reddit post list, it’s wrong), is off by default.

The app can access your contacts and will ask to, only if you try to transfer tickets to someone else. Then it asks for access to your contacts so you can select who to send them to. You do NOT have to give it access to your contacts to transfer, it just makes it easier.

If any of you use, or have ever used, the Facebook app, that app way more invasive than this and comes with most of the permissions turned on by default.

Edit to add link:
https://www.reddit.com/r/wow/comments/bkxj9k/

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This is going to get buried and ignored because it doesn’t fit the narrative.

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People just love running with things before finding out if they’re true or not. Thanks for sharing.

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People are generally freaking terrible at understanding app permissions on their smartphones, despite literally everyone having a smartphone for the last decade or more.

I figured those misunderstandings were causing most of the current outrage, although there were apparently people complaining about this App in the past in other contexts so I thought maybe there was -something- there, but it’s also totally possible that context is the same thing going on here.

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I don’t understand why they have to use an app for conventions to begin with. Blizzcon has worked out fine for years without it, why the sudden change?

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Same idea as an authenticator AFAIK. And helps prevent copies and such.

Don t want to risk privacy issues? Don t use your phone to get in then. They already said they will allow people to go to the desk but that will make them work and they prefer not to.
Just claim your phone is a company phone or government phone and the app is not on the list of approved apps you can install and problem solved.

Stop defending both sides. If you understand that you are giving too much data to 3rd party app then bypass using the app/phone. If you don t then have fun.

The issue is Blizzard using a 3rd party app requiring privacy and data access, that is the issue because Blizzard should have known better. The fact that other invasive apps are already doing the same is whataboutism and is not an arguments. Not everybody uses or has Facebook or instagram or twitter on their phone. because YOU do things one way does not mean everybody does.

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Amazing that people throw a tantrum at a 70 year old retiree at walmart for wanting to glance at their receipt but here we are defending the idea of giving an app access to your contacts because it “just makes things easier.”

The reddit list goes into pretty good detail and Akston is already hailing you as the destroyer of doubt when it comes to this app in other threads. Can you tell us what is “mostly” off by default and what is not? What about the reddit post is “wrong” exactly?

“It gives them the ability and you give consent for them to do all of these things, they just wont, because they are better than that.” Doesn’t convince me.

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To stop scalpers.

If you need a constantly changing QR code to scan to get in, you can’t buy up all the tickets and re-sell them for a higher price.

Many places are starting to move toward this system. I would be that within 5 years any concert, convention, etc will require this form of app to get in.

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Bingo.

In the past, there were complaints about Blizzcon because people would queue up and get lots of tickets just to resell them.

So these things exist now because of bad users.

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Honestly there are tons of apps that collect your personal information. People just love having a fit over everything. If you arent going to attend blizzcon over a stupid phone app that’s your own issue.

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Not scalpers but people who buy one ticket and get 3 people in. Now what they will do is share the phone that bought the ticket. Scalpers can do this too with a $20 phone. To me it is managing for the exception

The only real solution is to do what Universal and Disney do and that is to use fingerprint biometrics but imagine the sh*t show if that was the case and how people would be up in arms

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They’re doing it anyway though? Ebay is full of tickets.

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Well, first off, the app doesn’t access your cc info, and definitely not your pin/security code. They would never be allowed to process payments if they did.

When I used the app the only thing it asked for was access to location. Which you can deny.

It did NOT automatically access contacts, camera/photos, microphone, bluetooth.

Like most apps, it will access your WiFi automatically, but you can turn that off in your settings like any other app.

Pretty much everything else on the list depends on which of the above mentioned permissions you’ve already given it; ie if you turn on your WiFi and use the app it will access the internet, if you turn on Bluetooth it CAN pair with other, nearby devices.

It can, like any other app, modify system settings, but like any other app those modifications are based on what you tell it to do (ie if you have WiFi off and try to use something in it that requires it, it will turn it on if you tell it to)

Really though, if you have any apps on your phone, especially Facebook or games, look at their permissions. Look at what they have access to. This app is not any different.

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You would think Blizzard would address this to squash these rumors…

…wonder if that has anything to do with them downsizing the CS department. :thinking:

They’re probably sitting there, laughing at how people saw something on Reddit and flipped out without finding the truth for themselves.

People enjoy torches and pitchforks around here, instead of actual facts and logic.

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What exactly could they say?

“No, we aren’t going to do something illegal”?

The people drumming up the fearmongering wouldn’t let any Blue reply stop them.

No, but maybe some of those who are listening to the drums would?

I mean, the absence of a blue post to squash these rumors only serve to bolster them.

The whole point of apps giving a prompt to access features/information on a phone is to give people the option to not allow it.

There shouldn’t be a required app period. They didn’t need it in the past.

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I did some checking. While people have had issues with AXS in the past, I can’t find a single incident of someone’s identity being stolen, cc info being use, personal info being sold off, whatever.

People mostly just have issues getting refunds.

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