We received the following question about the DAT Trucker app permissions through the form on our Contact Us page:
re: DAT Trucker
Why does this app require such extensive permissions??
It seems like it is asking for much more access to my phone and information that it needs to do the apps job.
Are you selling the excess info you collect over and above what is needed by the application?How can I opt out of allowing all the permissions you request?? How can I accept only those permissions needed to run the app??
Thanks
The non-personal part of Vicki’s response about DAT Trucker app permissions was as follows:
… Although we listed the “My DAT Trucker Services” app on our Trucker Apps page https://truck-drivers-money-saving-tips.com/trucker-apps/, we have nothing to do with the DAT trucker app about which you wrote.
We agree that some apps seem to go “over the top” in requiring users to agree to permissions that appear to invade one’s privacy. (The ones I like the least require me to let my phone calls be looked at.)
Even though I don’t have answers to your question, I am BCC’ing this email to a lady named Sarah at Transcore DAT. If anyone can help you with this – or direct you to someone in the company who can — she can. …
Sarah Allen was kind enough to have Bert Goo from Transcore provide a reply about the DAT Trucker app permissions, which we are pasting below as a guest post with permission.
Bert’s reply is as follows (name of inquirer and contact info removed):
… In answer to your question on the permissions we request for the My DAT application, here are the details.
PHONE PERMISSION:
We don’t directly call phone numbers, but when you press a button to call a truck stop or other number, we need that permission to bring up your phone dialog with the number you intend to call in it.
LOCATION:
We need Gps and network permission to figure out where you are so we can search for Truckstops, Walmart’s and everything nearby.
NETWORK COMMUNICATION (upcoming):
Version 2.0 needs this to actually get the data. Currently, all the data is hosted remotely (not on phone) so this is critical. Even in the future, when we host data on the phone we’ll need this permission to get updates. The app will not work, at all, without this
RETRIEVE RUNNING APPS
I try to make some intelligent decisions on what Navigation/Mapping App to call when you press navigate or map. In order to do that I have to see what you have installed. This permission is required for that. If we didn’t have this permission but you might be a little frustrated when you press the map button and a strange app that you installed fires up instead of Google Maps.
PHONE STATUS and IDENTITY:
We really aren’t interested in the status of your phone. We need this to get a unique identifier (The manufacturers serial number). One of our business requirements is to restrict the number of loads a user can view per day. I pass serial number up to for each loads request to keep track of how many results have been returned. We don’t store the serial number or phone number.
I hope this helps. If you have any additional questions please let us know. We’ve got a rather large update coming out next week that includes trucker friendly hotels and service locations as well as storing the data on the phone so if you’re in an area with no cell coverage you can still search for locations.
Bert Goo
…
Thank you, Sarah and Bert, for your work in explaining the DAT Trucker app permissions. We appreciate your dedication to serving professional truck drivers.
Sincerely,
Mike and Vicki Simons
Truck-Drivers-Money-Saving-Tips.com
Return from DAT Trucker App Permissions: Why So Extensive? to our Trucker Services page or our Truck Drivers Money Saving Tips home page.
