Google’s new program to track shoppers sparks a federal privacy complaint
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Re: Google’s new program to track shoppers sparks a federal privacy complaint
#2I actually also filed a complaint with the FTC about this program. Nobody wrote an article about me though. :( (In fairness, this appears to be an actual legal case, not just a 'complaint'.) I was particularly perturbed that Google made it clear they had access to my credit and debit card data even if I do not grant them permission to have it.
My guess is somehow I have given the credit card companies permission to sell it, but it feels like my entire purchase history attached to my personally-identifiable info enough to tie it to a Google account really shouldn't be legal to sell.
As a note, filing privacy complaints with the Federal Trade Commission is surprisingly intuitive, and I highly recommend people familiarize themselves with the system and use it liberally.
Re: Google’s new program to track shoppers sparks a federal privacy complaint
#3Previous discussion on this topic: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14406583
Opt-out (I believe) happens at the credit-card level, per [0][1].
[0] https://www.engadget.com/2017/05/23/google-track-shopping-tr...
[1] https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0222-privacy-choices-y...
Re: Google’s new program to track shoppers sparks a federal privacy complaint
#4Unfortunately, credit card companies/banks/etc have been selling purchasing histories, to pretty much all comers, for years.
It'd be really nice if we could stop that instead of caring about the particular people they sell it to.
IE It's not "better" when they sell it to someone who isn't Google, and I honestly could't give a crap about the complaint, which mostly deals with antitrust.
Re: Google’s new program to track shoppers sparks a federal privacy complaint
#5I actually also filed a complaint with the FTC about this program. Nobody wrote an article about me though. :( (In fairness, this appears to be an actual legal case, not just a 'complaint'.) I was particularly perturbed that Google made it clear they had access to my credit and debit card data even if I do not grant them permission to have it. My guess is somehow I have given the credit card companies permission to s…
Has the FTC contacted you to follow up on your complaint? Just curious what process is like.
Re: Google’s new program to track shoppers sparks a federal privacy complaint
#6Unfortunately, credit card companies/banks/etc have been selling purchasing histories, to pretty much all comers, for years. It'd be really nice if we could stop that instead of caring about the particular people they sell it to. IE It's not "better" when they sell it to someone who isn't Google, and I honestly could't give a crap about the complaint, which mostly deals with antitrust.
Yeah, first and foremost, it bothers me that this data can be sold at all in a user-identifiable way. (Presumably for Google to be able to link it to accounts, name and address are included in the data.)
Perhaps this offers the opportunity for a product, in the short term: Is anyone offering credit cards which promise not to sell your purchase history? I'd be game for that.
Re: Google’s new program to track shoppers sparks a federal privacy complaint
#7I actually also filed a complaint with the FTC about this program. Nobody wrote an article about me though. :( (In fairness, this appears to be an actual legal case, not just a 'complaint'.) I was particularly perturbed that Google made it clear they had access to my credit and debit card data even if I do not grant them permission to have it. My guess is somehow I have given the credit card companies permission to s…
Has the FTC contacted you to follow up on your complaint? Just curious what process is like.
Not as of yet. (Filed on May 23rd, got a generic "we received it" email on that date.) It is possible that filing a complaint is akin to screaming into the void, but it made me feel better that I filed it. Presumably if a lot of people file complaints on the same topic, they might notice.
Re: Google’s new program to track shoppers sparks a federal privacy complaint
#8Try as I might, I just can't be bothered to care if someone wants to know what I've been buying so they can show me advertisements relevant to my interests.
But I'm weird, I don't think advertising is inherently evil or annoying.
Re: Google’s new program to track shoppers sparks a federal privacy complaint
#9The older we get, the less fks we give about privacy.
Re: Google’s new program to track shoppers sparks a federal privacy complaint
#10Try as I might, I just can't be bothered to care if someone wants to know what I've been buying so they can show me advertisements relevant to my interests. But I'm weird, I don't think advertising is inherently evil or annoying.
Inherently evil and annoying? No, but in practice it's annoying and online at least, potentially problematic on other levels as well such as security and performance. Telemarketing isn't inherently evil and annoying either, but it's become a playground for scammers with robocalls and constantly shifting spoofed numbers. That, maybe, should tell you something about the nature of the medium, or at least the nature of the medium when it's being exploited by a broad population.