Robert Green wrote:
> I totally understand what you're saying. There is a chicken or egg
> problem, though. Say user 1 wants to play user 2 but user 2 isn't
> registered yet. What is a convenient way to set up the game so that
> user 2 is in "pending" status but user 1 didn't have to explicitly
> enter user 2's email address? After that, how does the system know
> user 2 is linked to that game when user 2 registers?
Using email addresses as unique identifiers sucks, IMHO.
However, there is a *huge* difference between User 1 telling your app
"User 2 will be signing up soon, use her email address" and your app
slurping down hundreds of email addresses in the off chance that
someday, maybe, one or more of them will become users of your app.
To look at this another way: when a desktop program slurps down hundreds
of email addresses and sends it to a third party Web service, we call it
"malware". Why is this somehow different?
> I don't think it cuts into privacy because at this point people are
> used to using their email address as their identifier on almost every
> web site out there.
Let's go back to User 1 and User 2. User 1 signs up for your service and
hands over User 1's email address. That's fine, because User 1 is the
one agreeing to sign up. Sometime in the future, User 2 signs up for
your service and hands over User 2's email address. That's all fine too,
because User 2 is the one agreeing to sign up.
What you're proposing is that User 1 also gives you User 2's email
address. User 2 didn't exactly get a vote in this decision. Perhaps User
2 wants to use a different address (e.g., a unique one for your app, to
minimize possible spam). Perhaps User 2 won't sign up for your app after
realizing she has to provide you with her email address just to play
some game. Perhaps User 2 isn't quite the friend that User 1 thinks she is.
Of course, what you're *really* proposing is for User 1 to give you the
email addresses of User 2, User 3, User 4, ..., User N ("have each user
register for the online service by providing all of their contact email
addresses").
You really should talk to qualified legal counsel about your concept, as
I suspect there are several US states' attorney generals (attornies
general?) who might disagree with your position. Particularly if your
game may involve minors.
> My goal is to make it as easy as possible to create games with users
> that aren't registered yet but will be registering in the future.
That's a noble goal. Just don't assume you can rummage around somebody's
contact list in achieving that goal.
--
Mark Murphy (a Commons Guy)
http://commonsware.com
_The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development_ Version 1.9 Published!
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