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Twitter abandons 'Do Not Track' privacy protection

zdnet.com

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Re: Twitter abandons 'Do Not Track' privacy protection

#61

Post by quakeguy »

qb45 wrote: post #57
xg15 wrote: post #13

Ok, honestly, was DNT ever more than a smoke grenade for muddying the privacy discussion? The standard always relied on every single shady data collector out there to act against their core interest, facing not even the risk of detection (let alone punishment) if they don't comply, all just because you asked them nicely. You might as well carry a "do not rob me" card in your wallet. Was there ever a honest belief by…

What's up with this "Ayn Rand fanboys" meme? I keep seeing this recently and this time I can't even imagine how it could be relevant.

IDK really, but i found this article lately:

https://www.salon.com/2016/12/14/fountainhead-of-bad-ideas-a...

Make your own conclusions.

Re: Twitter abandons 'Do Not Track' privacy protection

#62

Post by self-diversity »

qb45 wrote: post #57
xg15 wrote: post #13

Ok, honestly, was DNT ever more than a smoke grenade for muddying the privacy discussion? The standard always relied on every single shady data collector out there to act against their core interest, facing not even the risk of detection (let alone punishment) if they don't comply, all just because you asked them nicely. You might as well carry a "do not rob me" card in your wallet. Was there ever a honest belief by…

What's up with this "Ayn Rand fanboys" meme? I keep seeing this recently and this time I can't even imagine how it could be relevant.

In the current Internet culture, it's very important to constantly signal to the world that you have the correct political stance. You will often find such people espousing the notion that "everything is political" which is fairly silly, all things considered, but here we are.

Re: Twitter abandons 'Do Not Track' privacy protection

#63

Post by d33 »

woud420 wrote: post #37
michel-slm wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if the major adblockers should have whitelisted the DNT-respecting sites by default.

They haven't for most cases but to be fair, even if the publisher would respect DNT, it doesn't mean that the ad-server at the end of the line or any of the other partners will.

Also keep in mind that while this would be an incentive to respect DNT for some time, there's no guarantee that this would stick - they might at some point just get back to evil behavior when they get whitelisted.

Re: Twitter abandons 'Do Not Track' privacy protection

#64

Post by csydas »

xg15 wrote: post #13

Ok, honestly, was DNT ever more than a smoke grenade for muddying the privacy discussion? The standard always relied on every single shady data collector out there to act against their core interest, facing not even the risk of detection (let alone punishment) if they don't comply, all just because you asked them nicely. You might as well carry a "do not rob me" card in your wallet. Was there ever a honest belief by…

I don't think it was ever meant to be a comprehensive solution; it was meant as a start to address the rampant issue of tracking. There wasn't a mechanism short of outright blocking for a user to declare intent. The argument has always spiraled around what is the agreement between a user and a site they visit. Implicit agreements, revenue models, etc, but it's always been a unidirectional communication; the website tells the user, after the fact, what the terms and conditions are.

Do Not Track was an attempt to give users a voice and the overwhelming response to it by the trackers was to ignore it. DoNotTrack wasn't an effective anti-tracking solution, but for every opt-in, it was a clear message from users. It's why Microsoft's auto-opt in, while probably well meaning, really screwed the whole thing. It had to be a choice.

It was a message, and it's still a very strong argument when it comes to the discussion about dishonesty among trackers and advertising networks.

Re: Twitter abandons 'Do Not Track' privacy protection

#65

Post by [deleted] »

quakeguy wrote: post #61
qb45 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's up with this "Ayn Rand fanboys" meme? I keep seeing this recently and this time I can't even imagine how it could be relevant.

IDK really, but i found this article lately: https://www.salon.com/2016/12/14/fountainhead-of-bad-ideas-a... Make your own conclusions.

[deleted]

Re: Twitter abandons 'Do Not Track' privacy protection

#66

Post by rbg246 »

quakeguy wrote: post #61
qb45 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's up with this "Ayn Rand fanboys" meme? I keep seeing this recently and this time I can't even imagine how it could be relevant.

IDK really, but i found this article lately: https://www.salon.com/2016/12/14/fountainhead-of-bad-ideas-a... Make your own conclusions.

I'm not sure one one can make their 'own' conclusions from reading that article it was clearly biased towards reaching the conclusion that Ayn Rand was a writer for 'juveniles' which I don't think is a fair appraisal. I mean I don't agree with her conclusions on the world but I would say the world she has created in her novels are at a higher level than juvenile reading.

Re: Twitter abandons 'Do Not Track' privacy protection

#67

Post by jwilk »

SimeVidas wrote: post #10
LeoNatan25 wrote: post #6

My ad blocker has a DNT they cannot abandon.

Even better when used in conjunction with Firefox’s Tracking Protection (`privacy.trackingprotection.enabled` in about:config).

Is there a way to have Tracking Protection without the DNT header nonsense?

Re: Twitter abandons 'Do Not Track' privacy protection

#68

Post by criddell »

notatoad wrote: post #21
LeoNatan25 wrote: post #6

My ad blocker has a DNT they cannot abandon.

Which is exactly how DNT should work, because client-side defeating of tracking is the only way to be sure you aren't actually being tracked.

There is pretty much no practical way to be sure you aren't actually being tracked. The amount of metadata we spew is crazy.

Re: Twitter abandons 'Do Not Track' privacy protection

#69

Post by Chaebixi »

qb45 wrote: post #57
xg15 wrote: post #13

Ok, honestly, was DNT ever more than a smoke grenade for muddying the privacy discussion? The standard always relied on every single shady data collector out there to act against their core interest, facing not even the risk of detection (let alone punishment) if they don't comply, all just because you asked them nicely. You might as well carry a "do not rob me" card in your wallet. Was there ever a honest belief by…

What's up with this "Ayn Rand fanboys" meme? I keep seeing this recently and this time I can't even imagine how it could be relevant.

> I keep seeing this recently and this time I can't even imagine how it could be relevant.

In this case, it sounds like it's mocking the idea that the market-based voluntary agreements could solve this problem. Lots of people seem to think you can solve any problem by just "letting the market work."

Re: Twitter abandons 'Do Not Track' privacy protection

#70

Post by [deleted] »

quakeguy wrote: post #61
qb45 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's up with this "Ayn Rand fanboys" meme? I keep seeing this recently and this time I can't even imagine how it could be relevant.

IDK really, but i found this article lately: https://www.salon.com/2016/12/14/fountainhead-of-bad-ideas-a... Make your own conclusions.

[deleted]
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