Helping you use your own data on your own device isn’t a problem. Sharing it could be a concern but what we’re usually worried about is when that is done without your knowledge or consent. In this case, the user has to initiate the action, is fully informed, and can control what is shared. This is very far from what Facebook does.
Unfortunately, making it easier to use the data makes it easier to use the data. It changes the ecosystem and the default expectations.
For an ios example, location sharing is optional but the expectation is becoming that it’s used: https://www.vox.com/culture/23742552/location-sharing-iphone... I was really surprised by this article because I couldn’t imagine this kind of 24/7 surveillance of friends and family. I’ve asked around and it’s becoming the expectation in romantic relationships, and it’s uncommon but not surprising in friendships.
For an offline example, the standardized barcodes on the back of US driver’s licenses are changing how businesses use them. Liquor stores and bars used to briefly use them to check age. The last few years I’ve seen an increasing number that scan the barcode to collect the info. I’ve also visited two gyms and a shipping service that wanted to scan IDs, which is a request I never saw before the REAL ID Act made it easy to collect the data. If you think it’ll stay optional, try to take a US flight without a READ ID-compliant ID, open a US bank account without a social security number, or cross an international border without a passport. Today’s optional is tomorrow’s mandatory.
Compiling personal info from the different apps and making it easy to share is inherently a problem because making that easy changes the expectation and organizations start demanding it. When NameDrop interoperates between ios, Android, and POS systems it’ll become a standard expectation in business interactions. To give two plausible changes where I expect it to quickly become expected: getting in a queue for a table at a busy restaurant, and retail sales predicating refunds or support on it. It’ll be a cheap, minor benefit for the businesses and users have it on and filled in by default. For another example, a half-dozen businesses near me don’t accept cash - you have to use a form of payment that gives up at least your name to the store if you want to buy a donut, have your hair cut, or park your car. None of those services should require personally identifying information, but now it’s mandatory.
I’d like to see ubiquitous data collection put off as long as possible, include little data by default, and not include durable, correlateable identifiers like phone numbers and national ID numbers. That’s not hyperbole about a mustache-twirling dystopian intrusion, it’s one more small integration for NameDrop that’ll start out optional: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212940
