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Google Has Dropped Ban on Personally Identifiable Web Tracking

propublica.org

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Re: Google Has Dropped Ban on Personally Identifiable Web Tracking

#131

Post by solveforall »

[Disclaimer: shameless plug, and also previously announced as a Show HN a while back]

I would like to mention my search engine as another privacy-focused alternative: https://solveforall.com/

1) Does not track user activity. Hosted in Canada. 2) Does not leak referrer to visited sites 3) No ads. Will be considering affiliate links, a paid API, and/or "good" ads -- ads people want that don't compromise privacy 4) Integrated feed reader which also provides search results 5) Activation codes (like DDG bangs, so ?g instead of !g) 5) Plugins written in JS/data to be searched can be added at any time. 6) Deep search -- get results from the search results page of several sites at a time. Try https://solveforall.com/answers.do?q=rx+480&client.kind=web&...

There clearly a lot more work to be done, and I plan on open sourcing this soon, but please try it out and let me know any feedback you have!

Re: Google Has Dropped Ban on Personally Identifiable Web Tracking

#132

Post by singularity2001 »

icebraining wrote: post #117
pmyjavec wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be honest DuckDuckGo is fine, you just need to put a little extra effort in. I'll admit it takes some getting used to but I happily use it now. Also as others have stated the 'sp!' bang is handy.

StartPage is a mystery to me; they say they're "enhanced by Google", but what does Google get out of providing their search results to a competitor?

Also heard rumors about StartPage being very shady. Would be nice to get some confirmation on this or to learn that it was only a campaign by competitors. Google for "StartPage malware" ;)

Re: Google Has Dropped Ban on Personally Identifiable Web Tracking

#133

Post by drawnwren »

solveforall wrote: post #131

[Disclaimer: shameless plug, and also previously announced as a Show HN a while back] I would like to mention my search engine as another privacy-focused alternative: https://solveforall.com/ 1) Does not track user activity. Hosted in Canada. 2) Does not leak referrer to visited sites 3) No ads. Will be considering affiliate links, a paid API, and/or "good" ads -- ads people want that don't compromise privacy 4) Inte…

The UI on the left side could use some work. I followed your link, search for Ars Technica and then spent about a minute trying to figure out why it was showing me electronics. Everything feels just a bit too large and control information should probably all be above the page (at least a summary.)

Re: Google Has Dropped Ban on Personally Identifiable Web Tracking

#134

Post by cpeterso »

runeb wrote: post #38
0xmohit wrote: post #9

Earlier: We will not combine DoubleClick cookie information with your personally identifiable information unless we have your opt-in consent. Now: Depending on your account settings, your activity on other sites and apps may be associated with your personal information in order to improve Google's services and the ads delivered by Google. So opt-in becomes opt-out.

To opt out, or "Pause" as Google is tellingly calling it, from the article: To opt-out of Google’s identified tracking, visit the Activity controls[1] on Google’s My Account page, and uncheck the box next to “Include Chrome browsing history and activity from websites and apps that use Google services." You can also delete past activity from your account. [1] https://myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols

There are more tracking settings here for "Ads based on your interests" and "Control Signed-In Ads" (Ads based on your interests on websites beyond google.com):

https://www.google.com/settings/u/0/ads/authenticated

Re: Google Has Dropped Ban on Personally Identifiable Web Tracking

#135

Post by cableshaft »

jmickey wrote: post #106
arkitaip wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have similiar issues with games. I dread open ended ones - Witcher, Skyrim - because of the prospect of them never ending. But it's worse than that because the least resistance in gameplay and I will abandon the game. For instance, I've haven't been able to play more than 10 minutes of Cities: Skylines because it gets overwhelming. At least now I accept that I don't have to finish games. That it's ok to even uninst…

Please consider Board Games as an alternative to Computer Games. There has never been a better time to get into the hobby - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKgz-UBEhss :)

Figured it'd be this video or the Shut Up and Sit Down New to Board Games video before I even clicked on it. Nice :)

But yeah. Board games are the best way to free yourself from screen addiction, in my opinion. And there's tons of interesting board games out there nowadays.

Re: Google Has Dropped Ban on Personally Identifiable Web Tracking

#136

Post by cableshaft »

wincy wrote: post #91
arkitaip wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have similiar issues with games. I dread open ended ones - Witcher, Skyrim - because of the prospect of them never ending. But it's worse than that because the least resistance in gameplay and I will abandon the game. For instance, I've haven't been able to play more than 10 minutes of Cities: Skylines because it gets overwhelming. At least now I accept that I don't have to finish games. That it's ok to even uninst…

Maybe take a look at Gamebooks? Inkle's remake of the Sorcery! gamebooks [0] were something I was playing and enjoying quite a lot. I'm giving that up too for now, maybe I'll reintroduce it later. I was amazed to find out that physical gamebooks are still a thing and being published. If you encounter "resistance" in the game just turn to the next page. I'd suggest if you're really dreading games so much, try giving t…

Thanks for that link. That looks pretty interesting. Is that the same Steve Jackson that does the Munchkin / Illuminati card games?

Re: Google Has Dropped Ban on Personally Identifiable Web Tracking

#137

Post by newscracker »

wincy wrote: post #69
inanutshellus wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like they're trying to save their marriage after "screen addiction" became a problem. I had the same problem with video games. I ended up swearing off video games that didn't have an ending and have been all the better for it.

My marriage isn't in shambles or anything like that. Just not great. We just feel like we've been on autopilot for years. It never really "became a problem", it was just always a problem. We were both glued to our screens. We never did anything. My daughter is 18 months old and will sign and say "birds birds" because she loves birds and wants to watch videos on Youtube. If we turn it off she starts screaming she's so…

What about a camera or camcorder to capture memories with your daughter? That seems to be missing in your original list. Would it be digital or film?

Re: Google Has Dropped Ban on Personally Identifiable Web Tracking

#138

Post by kuschku »

windlep wrote: post #98
xgbi wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using firefox? Did you tick "Send analysis data to Mozilla"? If yes, Mozilla has the very same information about your browsing habits and all clicks and actions you performed in Firefox too. It's just that Google shows it to you, rather than not telling you anything. Any sufficiently big Android/iOS app has the very same system in place so that they can see what people are doing with their app and anticipate interest…

> Using firefox? Did you tick "Send analysis data to Mozilla"? If yes, Mozilla has the very same information about your browsing habits and all clicks and actions you performed in Firefox too. That is blatantly false. The policy page here describes what is sent for each data feature in Firefox: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/firefox/ Mozilla does not have tracking cookies scattered through-out the web tracking…

> Chrome can send all history unencrypted to Google if you ask it to, under Privacy Checkup, Web & Web App Activity: "Include Chrome browsing history and activity from websites and apps that use Google services". Supposedly this is to make the search more relevant. This was unchecked for me by default though

Starting today, that is on by default, and existing users get a screen asking them to enable it – I just got it pushed to my Android phone, asking me to enable that.

Re: Google Has Dropped Ban on Personally Identifiable Web Tracking

#140

Post by kuschku »

Kenji wrote: post #118
kuschku wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you root, you won’t be able to use Android Pay (an advertised feature of the device) anymore due to the recent changes to SafetyNet that now trigger if even the bootloader isn’t locked.

Well, we have root access. Can't we completely stump and destroy this stupid safety net? This should have a very high priority for anyone who cares about open smartphone systems. There should be a safety net remover that simply strips all safety net API calls off a program and inserts all valid flags by default.

The issue is the way it happens.

SafetyNet actually sends its results to a Google server, which validates that they’re properly signed, and then sends a message to the backend of the app.

The only way to successfully break it is by emulating or replacing SafetyNet on the device, but as part of it runs in TrustZone, that’s not easily possible.

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