Google Has Dropped Ban on Personally Identifiable Web Tracking

#1

Post by pcunite » Sat, Oct 22, 2016, 3:58 PM UTC

Google Has Dropped Ban on Personally Identifiable Web Tracking
tech.slashdot.org

Re: Google Has Dropped Ban on Personally Identifiable Web Tracking

#2

Post by pcunite » Sat, Oct 22, 2016, 4:14 PM UTC

I want a personal mobile phone that I can use to communicate with my friends and surf web pages with no history shared with anyone.

Who else wants this?

Re: Google Has Dropped Ban on Personally Identifiable Web Tracking

#3

Post by peller » Sat, Oct 22, 2016, 4:48 PM UTC

pcunite wrote: post #2

I want a personal mobile phone that I can use to communicate with my friends and surf web pages with no history shared with anyone. Who else wants this?

Certainly not the carriers or vendors.

Sadly, it seems "the public" just doesn't care all that much. (If they're even aware of the implications of their complacency, which seems doubtful.)

Re: Google Has Dropped Ban on Personally Identifiable Web Tracking

#4

Post by tunap » Sat, Oct 22, 2016, 4:53 PM UTC

pcunite wrote: post #2

I want a personal mobile phone that I can use to communicate with my friends and surf web pages with no history shared with anyone. Who else wants this?

So much so I ran my aged n900(s) until last month. The latest one stopped staying connected to Tmo, and then only 2g connection(not internal problem as older n900s also exhibit same behavior... 3g spectrum reassigned to LTE, perhaps?). Now I run a N4 loaded w/ CM(kitkat), location/feedback/reporting disabled, everything but phone & messaging under Privacy Guard, only browser and messaging allowed through firewall and I tend to leave my phone at home unless I need it for particular work assignments. It is a fairly hobbled device, but it's great for voice, texts and basic web lookups. Sure, it's all still trackable one way or another, doesn't mean I have to make the job easier for those who believe they value my privacy more than I do.

Re: Google Has Dropped Ban on Personally Identifiable Web Tracking

#5

Post by joosters » Sat, Oct 22, 2016, 4:53 PM UTC

Lots of older discussion in: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12760003

What I don't understand is that the article says that the change was made in the summer. So how come no-one spotted this until now?

Re: Google Has Dropped Ban on Personally Identifiable Web Tracking

#6

Post by eveningcoffee » Sat, Oct 22, 2016, 5:07 PM UTC

Google has gradually become more and more aggressive. Boiling a frog alive comes to my mind.

My general recommendation is: do not use Google products unless you really have to. Do not recommend Google products to your friends and relatives.

This is minimum you can do.

Only thing that will really signal them that they are doing something wrong is loosing the market share.

Re: Google Has Dropped Ban on Personally Identifiable Web Tracking

#7

Post by dghughes » Sat, Oct 22, 2016, 5:21 PM UTC

eveningcoffee wrote: post #6

Google has gradually become more and more aggressive. Boiling a frog alive comes to my mind. My general recommendation is: do not use Google products unless you really have to. Do not recommend Google products to your friends and relatives. This is minimum you can do. Only thing that will really signal them that they are doing something wrong is loosing the market share.

I reset Android on my Samsung S5 and was surprised Google's Gallery app requires access to the Contacts app. I denied Gallery access to my Contacts and now I can't see my pictures but I can take pictures.

Re: Google Has Dropped Ban on Personally Identifiable Web Tracking

#8

Post by bogomipz » Sat, Oct 22, 2016, 5:22 PM UTC

joosters wrote: post #5

Lots of older discussion in: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12760003 What I don't understand is that the article says that the change was made in the summer. So how come no-one spotted this until now?

I thought about this as well, I think its just a symptom of "privacy policy fatigue", how many of these notifications does the average person using a handful of services receive in a year? The velocity of updates to them seems to be increasing. Also quantifying the impact or intent of the changes is not always obvious and clear.

Re: Google Has Dropped Ban on Personally Identifiable Web Tracking

#9

Post by bogomipz » Sat, Oct 22, 2016, 5:28 PM UTC

pcunite wrote: post #2

I want a personal mobile phone that I can use to communicate with my friends and surf web pages with no history shared with anyone. Who else wants this?

I am curious does Cyanogen address any privacy concerns on Android?

Re: Google Has Dropped Ban on Personally Identifiable Web Tracking

#10

Post by blurbleblurble » Sat, Oct 22, 2016, 5:39 PM UTC

peller wrote: post #3

pcunite wrote: post #2

I want a personal mobile phone that I can use to communicate with my friends and surf web pages with no history shared with anyone. Who else wants this?

Certainly not the carriers or vendors. Sadly, it seems "the public" just doesn't care all that much. (If they're even aware of the implications of their complacency, which seems doubtful.)

People definitely care on a deep level, but how could a non-technical person express their lack of consent? I hear people expressing their concerns in the form of paranoid theories. But their theories are true. Many people I know already censor themselves around phones, assuming the devices are listening and sending personal conversations back to some server.