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Google starts tracking what people buy in physical stores

latimes.com

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Re: Google starts tracking what people buy in physical stores

#151

Post by retube »

lowglow wrote: post #50
adjkant wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, this is a small rant that is not directly aimed at you, so nothing personal. This is aimed generally more at people in the privacy at all costs camp and the like. If there's some viewpoint I'm missing here I'd also love to hear it, so it's not really a mean-spirited rant either. Google owns the internet at this point. For general use purposes, they ARE the internet. So avoiding them should really have at least…

Just use a different email provider (or roll your own), use duck duck go for web searches, don't use an android device. What else do they own? It's already becoming in vogue to move away from facebook/google and are actively looking to move towards other systems but there aren't a lot of quality options out there at the moment. If I could quickly spin up a remote server that had baked in panels for email, blog, and h…

> don't use an android device

what else is there? I don't want Apple.

Re: Google starts tracking what people buy in physical stores

#152

Post by speedplane »

mtgx wrote: post #148
evolve2k wrote: post #119

> The new tracking system was created in consultation with “incredibly smart people” to ensure it's not invasive. He described the program as “secure and privacy safe.” It's not "incredibly smart people" you need; it's "highly ethical people".

Which is why I'm very worried about DeepMind's secret ethical board, if one even exists: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/26/google-de... Why would it have to be secret if it's supposed to make people trust Google's AI more? And what are they hiding? Is President Duterte or a Saudi prince on that ethics panel? (serious question - we just don't know right now)

It needs to be secret to facilitate open discussion. That said, there should be a public component to it. For instance, they should publish their findings when they come to consensus.

Re: Google starts tracking what people buy in physical stores

#153

Post by dazc »

hagakure0c wrote: post #125
evolve2k wrote: post #119

> The new tracking system was created in consultation with “incredibly smart people” to ensure it's not invasive. He described the program as “secure and privacy safe.” It's not "incredibly smart people" you need; it's "highly ethical people".

Sooner or later people will start to revolt and either go back to use semi-anonymous cash or truly anonymous payment systems like bitcoin. Google and advertising will then be in the dark.

People, in general, do not seem to care about privacy so long as they are getting something in return. So, yes, some people will revolt but not a critical mass.

Re: Google starts tracking what people buy in physical stores

#154

Post by bonzini »

amelius wrote: post #111
nsebban wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also requires trivial opt-out and readability of the opt-ins. And it gives enough power to really control what companies are doing with people's data. And the fines are huge (up to 3% of the company's global gross amount) compared to what exists today.

Can users still be manipulated to opt-in to a service X if they want a service Y badly enough? I.e., you can only use Y if you also take X? How many people would opt-out of (or not opt-in to) a service like Google search?

There are some things that must have a separate opt-in from the bare minimum that's necessary to provide the service.

Typically, there are three bullets on European privacy forms: handling personal data to provide the service, handling personal data for commercial and advertising purposes, sharing personal data with third parties (usually for commercial and advertising purposes). Pre-printed forms can only have the first ticked to yes, the other two must be filled in by the customer.

Re: Google starts tracking what people buy in physical stores

#155

Post by bonzini »

AznHisoka wrote: post #13
thinkling wrote: post #4

FTA: "Google says it has access to roughly 70% of U.S. credit and debit card transactions through partnerships with companies that track that data." Wow.

MasterCard and Visa not only make money from each credit card transaction but to add insult to injury, they make money selling that transaction data as well! That's what I call a ludicrous business.

Is this also true of Amex (which makes more money from each credit card transaction than Visa and Mastercard)?

Re: Google starts tracking what people buy in physical stores

#156

Post by bonzini »

romanovcode wrote: post #131

> Google says it has access to roughly 70% of U.S. credit and debit card transactions. I don't get it, does VISA, MASTERCARD or AMEX just gives google the transactions? That got to be illegal, right?

Only if you didn't sign a contract that says they can.

In Europe it would be opt-in in all likelihood.

Re: Google starts tracking what people buy in physical stores

#157

Post by keithpeter »

iDemonix wrote: post #121
evolve2k wrote: post #119

> The new tracking system was created in consultation with “incredibly smart people” to ensure it's not invasive. He described the program as “secure and privacy safe.” It's not "incredibly smart people" you need; it's "highly ethical people".

Very important point. In my workplace, often the smartest engineers are so focused on doing smart things, they forget that the data they're dealing with belongs to, or identifies, people. Got to make those yearly objectives/appraisals count though.

Perhaps a more subtle thing for them to keep in mind: many people carry out a mix of card/online and cash transactions. Only the card/online transactions will be captured. The Panopticon's record will show an extremely unhealthy and meagre diet for me for instance because I buy fresh fruit/veg at markets - cash only.

It strikes me that data censored through transaction modality and then used to make marketing decisions may result in poor results.

Re: Google starts tracking what people buy in physical stores

#158

Post by tskaiser »

adjkant wrote: post #120
gub09 wrote: post #66

This is probably an unusual opinion, but for me privacy is similar to freedom. Freedom is usually defined as a negative: people are free of oppression, have freedom of speech (freedom from speech being constrained), freedom of movement (not forced to stay in one place), religious freedom (freedom to believe what one will and not be limited in practice or assembly), etc. Privacy is the freedom from being watched, from…

I think it's important to note the definition of privacy you use is important. For me, in my daily life, all of this is completely "private". Google having my data in mass and an identity profile on me that no human will ever specifically look at is just as good as private to me. The fact that computers will be handing this data, not other humans, is an important distinction for me. No human will ever see my individu…

It is private, but it is not securely private, meaning it is a castle made of glass.

Re: Google starts tracking what people buy in physical stores

#159

Post by hueving »

vmarsy wrote: post #69

The European Union is often made fun of with "the Americans innovate, the EU regulates", but in the meantime GDPR[1] is coming into force in 2018 > The primary objectives of the GDPR are to give citizens and residents back control of their personal data [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Data_Protection_Regu...

Doesn't this fall squarely into "the Americans innovate, the EU regulates"?

Whether that saying is derogatory or not obviously depends on your point of view, but this new regulation isn't contradictory to the saying.

Re: Google starts tracking what people buy in physical stores

#160

Post by romanovcode »

inesta wrote: post #11

Hmm I was wondering how some stores show up on Google maps even though I did not use Google maps to get to those places. God damm Google.

This has nothing to do with CC. Google collects the places you go to even if you don't use maps to get there.

Basically if you go to some restaurant for example and sit there for 10+ minutes google already knows that you are there as a customer and it saves the location.

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