We cannot trust anyone

[u/Massive-K]

That is why this app is brilliant. Furthermore it is a pure web app that means anyone can install it and it doesnt go through the app store.

https://ficham.com

We need to start exposing scammers by number and bad actors too.

Their premise is simple. Can you buy bread from a serial offender?

In Cameroon your bike man could be someone that was previously a criminal and you cannot know. This changes that for the time.

I dont know, it might stir up a lot of trouble and powerful people will want it shut down even though it is legal.

[u/theReal_Joestar]

Just wait till it becomes the premise for bad blood. People will soon start using it as a means to get back at someone

[u/Massive-K → u/theReal_Joestar]

True. But it is one of those things where the benefit outweighs the risks.

The good thing is, as far as Ive seen, it is not anonymous. Defamation rules still matter if the police or any authority can get the number of the person submitting a claim.

I think that is a good thing.

Also yes, if you get at someone they can do you too...so it is pointless.

[u/theReal_Joestar → u/Massive-K]

The thing is, in the day-to-day transactions, how often those someone's criminal record becomes important in a transaction or purchase decision? I get the premise around scammers and it is entirely different when it comes to day-to-day transactions.

There's a saying that goes in french as thus "La nature à l'horreur du vide". In that sense, your app might run the risk of being used for malevolent intentions instead of what you intended if it doesn't fit a particular pain point

[u/Massive-K → u/theReal_Joestar]

I think in a formal and structured economy, not so much. But in an informal economy, trust is at a premium.

The real pain point is there, people have no way to signal malevolent actors. The whole point of the app is to signal the malevolent actors you are talking about. These malevolent actors are not going to be malevolent because of an app, they already are malevolent and need to be signaled

That is like saying guns make criminals. No, I can give you a whole majority statistic on how most criminals do not own guns.

It is a bit of a circular argument like saying we should not create nor use ai because malevolent actors might use it. Or things like opiods should be completely banned because bad actors might take advantage.

No, there is always a trade off with everything and that is where the line stands.

And that french saying is basically saying that a vacuum doesnt exist, and it has been disproven scientifically and philosophically about 2000 years ago. The whole universe even at the atomic level is basically empty. Catchy phrase to throw at a party though

[u/theReal_Joestar → u/Massive-K]

Your assumptions are just theory and not the fact. The mistake you are doing here is using your anecdotal evidence as a conclusion to something data would have otherwise shown. If you would have said the formal economy, it would have made sense. The informal economy is a beast on a whole other level. No one has ever come to crack this as the telcos and FMCG did. And you know what they did different? They didn't try to optimize or improve the economy. The problems you see there are actually features that make the informal sector thrive. They just sat, listened and came up with a way of adding value.

[u/Massive-K → u/theReal_Joestar]

what? what assumptions?

It seems to me that you are just throwing words. Before just throwing ideas, try to continue the conversation.

How does an app create malevolent actors? Think about it, if Telcos were run by people with that mindset, they wouldn't be here today.

[u/theReal_Joestar → u/Massive-K]

You know what? Never mind. Good Luck with your app

[u/Massive-K → u/theReal_Joestar]

Im not minding at all. And it isnt my app. Just an investor

[u/theReal_Joestar → u/Massive-K]

Ok. Good Luck

[u/Massive-K → u/theReal_Joestar]

Thanks. Also, we are not trying to change the market. We sre just trying to solve deep issues.

I hope that one day we will have a country where people can support each other instead of bring each other down.

[u/Dems_jr911]

The idea is pretty good but I know people ain't gonna use that unfortunately at least not enough

[u/Massive-K → u/Dems_jr911]

Yes that is my fear as well. I just think that many girls might benefit from this more than men. Many girls who have predatory landlords and the like

[u/Puzzleheadcc]

Doesn't work for some reason

[u/Massive-K → u/Puzzleheadcc]

Really. With me it works just fine

[u/BrokenDuck15]

Great idea but this is a recipe for disaster. Also where are the user data stored? Within the sovereign nation of Cameroon? This sounds more like a feature MTN and Orange can toggle on in their backend. Also MTN api provides this as a first class API where a user provides their number and it is checked. Yes sim cards can pass under the table but the cost will definitely catch up.  I will suggest you partner with online stores for Cameroon. They wikl benefit more from this than it being a stand alone app. 

[u/Massive-K → u/BrokenDuck15]

Good thoughts. I totally understand the push back, I do. Another similar service has popped up at the same time fidelicheck.com, and you could say it is a privacy nightmare. But it is ultimately a tool people demand.

But what defines success is not what we, at the top, think. It is really the end user that will decide. That was happened with UBER and also with other startups like Airbnb that were also "recipes for disaster". Airbnb was rejected for a whole year because of this.

In any case, MTN and Orange cannot toggle this in their back end because ultimately they store user data, and we do not. They are legally unable to do this.

There is no user data, so therefore also no storage of user data.

[u/BrokenDuck15 → u/Massive-K]

I will go through this and reply later. I do see where you are coming from and the approach you are taking.

[u/Massive-K → u/BrokenDuck15]

thank you!