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Trackers

jacquesmattheij.com

41–50 of 216 posts

Re: Trackers

#41

Believe it or not, some stores sympathise with you. They might actually be run by people like you, people who read your story. They still want to know how you proceed round the store, because that helps them optimise shelf layout, identify hard-to-find items, and so on. So yes, they might use the standard in-store CCTV to observe your journeys, and when they figure that you and people like you always have difficulty…

I find it interesting that a lot of content producers have feel entitled to users' participation in analytics at all.

Sure, it may be frustrating when a user blocks tracking tools (especially self hosted ones) but that's the their choice.

We got by for decades without analysing user habits (even in a local only context, without correlation with third party data). There are so few examples of cases where analysing user behaviour was a make or break factor in a store's survival. Sure, it can be useful to know what a user looked at and, as you suggest, how difficult it is to find the eggs. But there are better ways.

Physical stores at one point (and still now, in many cases) respect that user choice. Want to participate? Get a loyalty card. We'll watch how you spend, but we'll give a little something back to participants.

On the web, the solution is simple. Do it on your application servers back end. Have your request handler (which should probably know a lot more about your user in the context of your application than any third party tool) log user requests and actions. You'll be able to tie data gathered to a logged in user and their local purchase or browsing history.

You'll get to know your user better and you'll avoid third party tools that creep out a growing proportion of your users.

You're not entitled to participation in analytics.

Re: Trackers

#42

Where this analogy breaks down is that the people sent to track you are invisible and can't be seen without the aid of special technology. So what you end up telling people is that they are being followed everywhere by invisible ghosts, who's only desire is to change what ads appear in their newspaper. And it appears that the reaction of most people is about what you'd expect. If a store has policy of "If you come in…

I agree. This analogy is good up to the point where you consider that these trackers don't really know or care who you are. To them you're an anonymous hashed id.

Yes, they 'follow' you around, but they are essentially invisible and mostly aim to improve the targeting of ads/information.

It's easy to forget that a lot of this technology is very new and for a while there will be cases where it's seen as intrusive. Things will only get better over time.

Re: Trackers

#43

I think that better than an ad-blocking solution would be to feed all those trackers with fake information Oh you want location data here it is, this morning I've been all over the planet. Want to know all the websites I'm visiting, sure, here's a million of them. Just based on the fact that they keep trying to sell you the thermometer after you already don't care kind of points out that they're being had, and I'm al…

I think (but I'm far from an expert) that it would be easy to filter out this fake information. Especially if it's obviously fake like "I've been all over the planet." A bit like spam vs "real" emails.

Re: Trackers

#44

I think that better than an ad-blocking solution would be to feed all those trackers with fake information Oh you want location data here it is, this morning I've been all over the planet. Want to know all the websites I'm visiting, sure, here's a million of them. Just based on the fact that they keep trying to sell you the thermometer after you already don't care kind of points out that they're being had, and I'm al…

> feed all those trackers with fake information If you're going to war, sure. But that's a lot of wasted resources. One would hope that we can find a peaceful solution. But war is always an option.

It's already a war - not only according to the article.

Re: Trackers

#45
post #42

Where this analogy breaks down is that the people sent to track you are invisible and can't be seen without the aid of special technology. So what you end up telling people is that they are being followed everywhere by invisible ghosts, who's only desire is to change what ads appear in their newspaper. And it appears that the reaction of most people is about what you'd expect. If a store has policy of "If you come in…

I agree. This analogy is good up to the point where you consider that these trackers don't really know or care who you are. To them you're an anonymous hashed id. Yes, they 'follow' you around, but they are essentially invisible and mostly aim to improve the targeting of ads/information. It's easy to forget that a lot of this technology is very new and for a while there will be cases where it's seen as intrusive. Thi…

> To them you're an anonymous hashed id.

You wish.

Re: Trackers

#46

Where this analogy breaks down is that the people sent to track you are invisible and can't be seen without the aid of special technology. So what you end up telling people is that they are being followed everywhere by invisible ghosts, who's only desire is to change what ads appear in their newspaper. And it appears that the reaction of most people is about what you'd expect. If a store has policy of "If you come in…

If ad-supported sites posted terms of use that precisely defined what info is to be collected, how long it's to be retained, and who will be able to access it, consumers would be able to make an informed decision about what sites to visit. As it is now, without defensive software, one is asked to just blindly trust the sites one visits.

Re: Trackers

#47

I think that better than an ad-blocking solution would be to feed all those trackers with fake information Oh you want location data here it is, this morning I've been all over the planet. Want to know all the websites I'm visiting, sure, here's a million of them. Just based on the fact that they keep trying to sell you the thermometer after you already don't care kind of points out that they're being had, and I'm al…

The marketing industry is moving beyond trackers and cookies. Hastened by the mobile/tablet revolution (users switch devices way more often) and the stricter privacy laws in Europe (anti-cookie laws).

Now they either require you to login to get the "mobile" experience, like Facebook or Twitter, or they use probabilistic statistics to identify you without cookies.

That guy reading a newspaper in the park with a paper bag over his head and 4 goons on the lookout, feeding us uninformative/unlikely data, that guy is with 90% certainty Jacques Mattheij.

(When cookie-tracking was more common we set up a cookie-swap program. Stopped after a few months out of security concerns.)

Re: Trackers

#48

It is funny how things change when you use the physical world metaphor. There was a campaign recently by the Dutch regulatory agency that made people aware of the implications of allowing permissions in "free" apps. They made an (anecdotal) video by promising a free cup of coffee in exchange for your contact list on your phone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYXM56YJWSo (Dutch unfortunately)

Nice video.

My wife has an Android phone, I have an iPhone. Recently, I wanted to install some app on her phone and it is still beyond my understanding, why Google still doesn't allow to deny certain permissions. It's all or nothing.

And no, a fucking video editor shouldn't require access to my contacts, my browsing history and the accounts on my phone.

Android imho is unusable until they let me deny certain permissions, because often, the "best" apps ask for basically everything.

Re: Trackers

#49
post #3

Thank you Jacques for writing how something that would be completely unacceptable in the physical world is deemed perfectly fine online. It has always bothered me. Take for example how the FBI wants to have automatic access to the data in all iphones through a backdoor. Would that be considered OK if they asked lockers makers to make their locks accept a master key so they would be able to enter in anybody's house, s…

It's already possible, any physical lock or home or safe can be opened with a warrant. The fact that we're almost at a point where we can hide something from the government (even with a warrant) is groundbreaking.

Re: Trackers

#50
post #47

I think that better than an ad-blocking solution would be to feed all those trackers with fake information Oh you want location data here it is, this morning I've been all over the planet. Want to know all the websites I'm visiting, sure, here's a million of them. Just based on the fact that they keep trying to sell you the thermometer after you already don't care kind of points out that they're being had, and I'm al…

The marketing industry is moving beyond trackers and cookies. Hastened by the mobile/tablet revolution (users switch devices way more often) and the stricter privacy laws in Europe (anti-cookie laws). Now they either require you to login to get the "mobile" experience, like Facebook or Twitter, or they use probabilistic statistics to identify you without cookies. That guy reading a newspaper in the park with a paper…

This is - unfortunately - spot on, and there is much worse to come.

It's funny how a law that actually confirms a right that is solidly anchored in the declaration of human rights would result in technological circumvention rather than - the expected outcome - compliance.

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