Last week we reported that MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe had been bragging about the app’s location tracking feature, and now he is completely backtracking on his earlier comment.
Mitch Lowe’s comments caused a stir last week
MoviePass is app that gives subscribers unlimited access to movies for just $10 a month. CEO Mitch Lowe discussed the app’s tracking abilities in an interview last week:
“We get an enormous amount of information…We watch how you drive from home to the movies. We watch where you go afterwards.”
This comment did not go unnoticed as this tracking feature was not outlined in the company’s privacy policy. Users do give some location access to allow the app to find their nearest cinema, but they have also unknowingly been signing up to further tracking. The company claimed this tracking would allow them to suggest nearby restaurants for after the film.
The CEO now claims he was mistaken
In a new interview, Mitch Lowe now claims he was mistaken when discussing the data MoviePass receives. When talking about his previous comments with Variety, he claimed his earlier statements were incorrect.
“I said something completely inaccurate as far as what we are doing…We only locate customers when they use the app…If you get in your car and drive five miles, we don’t know where you are or where you are going.”
He confirmed that the app only checks the location of the customers when checking for the nearest participating theatre, and when they check in to the theatre, so the app can verify their credit card. He went on to say that the app will always allow customers to opt in to location tracking in the future.
As a result of last week’s interview, Lowe stated that about half a dozen people had cancelled their subscription, but it’s “not a huge number”, especially considering the app has 2 million subscribers and is aiming to reach 5 million by the end of the year.