Mastodawn

Anyone know about this app, called Dust? (Note: I don't think it's the secure messaging app). It's apparently for regional burns (mini-Burning Man events). A burn I'm attending is going to do all their organizing, messaging, mapping, etc. using the Dust app.

I fucking hate apps. I mean, some are okay. I hate everything in the world shoving an app at you, mostly because nearly every such app requires a significant chunk of personal data, then needs permissions it shouldn't have, and almost certainly resells my data or keeps it just in case the company needs extra cash.

So... how do I find this stuff out? It's not a major app; maybe a few thousand or tens of thousands of people ever use it, so I'm not finding any info about it by online searching. Admittedly, my google-fu (well, ddg-fu) might be lacking.

If you have any info about how predatory or chill this app is, or hints where I can find such info, I hope you'll share.

#apps #dust #burningman #regionalburn #security #privacy

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adamrice Jul 14

@guyjantic I’ve met the developer, Damian. He seems like a good guy. He’s a Nevada burner, he’s not some faceless megacorp. The app is open-source, and if it were doing something pernicious, I’d expect a techie burner to have discovered that. It does need your location data during the event, but I don’t think it’s phoning home—the whole point of it is that it is useful offline. This is his privacy policy: https://dust.events/docs/privacy

I used it at the Gerlach Regional last year and it really enhanced my experience.

Privacy Policy | dust

WebNative LLC (The company providing the Dust App and this Website) values your personal privacy rights. Our privacy policy is therefore adopted with a commitment to safeguarding these rights:

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Different Than Jul 14

@adamrice This makes me so so much happier to use the app and probably support the developer. Thank you.

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Vecna Jul 14

@guyjantic This one? https://dust.events/

I have no connection to this app (never heard of it before), but here's what I was able to find...

It actually looks great to me. The privacy policy is to not collect/share data. (Privacy policy: https://dust.events/docs/privacy/, more detail in an FAQ: https://dust.events/docs/zfaq/#data-privacy)

It's free/open source. The code is available at https://github.com/damiant/dust and is MIT-licensed. I haven't looked through the code to see if it's using any third-party libraries that might collect data or anything like that, but at a glance, it looks completely chill.

dust | dust

dust is a guide for burners to find events, camps and art.

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Different Than Jul 14

@vecna Oh, that is all very good news. Thanks!

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Jonobie Jul 21

@guyjantic My local burn (#CriticalNorthwest) has used it the past two years. No idea what the underlying details are, but I hate that it's edging out the printed field guides. Especially since my regional burn is in a cellphone dead zone and so this forces me to pull out my phone. They've gotten stingy with printed guides now that they're using it.

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Different Than Jul 22

@jonobie Yeah, I feel that, too. We're certainly not paying less for burns, and now we also don't get a printed guide. I'd prefer a paper option. Given that they're generally going with apps, though (which is annoying), I'm glad it's this one. It seems non-evil.

Edit: Damn, your burn is in Granite Falls? I'm in western NY right now, but I grew up 20 minutes from there!

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Jonobie Jul 22

@guyjantic

Agreed on being glad the app seems non-evil at least.

Yes, in the Masonic campground in Granite Falls. It is such a beautiful area! And there’s something so so magical about a forest burn.