MoviePass subscribers really should read that Terms of Service agreement.
On Friday, speaking at an industry conference, MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe made some comments that raised a few eyebrows. “We get an enormous amount of information,” he said. “We watch how you drive from home to the movies. We watch where you go afterwards.” Basically, Lowe admits that MoviePass is your new Big Brother. Needless to say, people were upset.
According to Variety, in response to people’s warranted outrage, MoviePass has updated their smartphone app to turn off location tracking. In a statement, MoviePass said:
“Today, MoviePass released a new app update, including the removal of some unused app location capabilities. While part of our vision includes using location-based marketing to enhance the moviegoing experience for our members, we aren’t using some of that functionality today. Our members will always have the option to choose the location-based services that are right for them today and in the future.”
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Mitch Lowe walked back comments, saying that he meant what he said “sarcastically.” Well, now he knows that people don’t tend to enjoy “sarcastic” comments from a movie ticket app about spying on their location.
Either way, MoviePass is now only using your phone’s GPS to do a one-time ping to make sure you’re within range of the theater you want to purchase tickets from. The location-based tracking functionality was all part of a plan, according to a recent interview with Lowe, to expand the MoviePass experience to include discounts to local restaurants, near the theater. The whole “dinner and a movie” date night experience. However, this function isn’t live yet, but according to the statement, is still being developed for the future.
MoviePass has been under an immense amount of scrutiny, as the company has jumped from 20,000 subscribers to over 2,000,000 in less than a year, due to its model of “unlimited” movies for $10 a month. Theater chains have fought to ban MoviePass, and many business insiders have long wondered how this model will ever be profitable.
Now, it looks like subscribers need to be a little more skeptical of MoviePass, as well.
