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After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

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Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#111

Post by icebraining »

pjc50 wrote: post #110
icebraining wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem isn't just my reccomendations, it's those of my fellow citizens, voters, and potential lynch mobs. No argument there. Also, I don't get the information on why a video is reccomended to me - is it country-specific? I don't know; it worked in all European countries I've used it in. You mouse over the video, it shows the three-dots menu (⋮), then you choose "Not Interested", then the thumbnail is replaced by…

Ah, I've figured it out: the next dialog, "Tell Us Why", doesn't always name a particular video that prompted the reccomendation. Some of them do, some of them don't. Which begs the next question: where are they coming from if not previously watched videos?

Uh, that's curious. Can't say that ever happened to me.

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#112

Post by jacksmith21006 »

TAForObvReasons wrote: post #56
justinzollars wrote: post #35

Concerned that google has so much info ( https://myactivity.google.com/myactivity ) I visited https://myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols to turn off Web & App Activity, but left Voice & Audio Activity on. This breaks my google home. I do not want Google to save 20 years of search history so I can use a stupid google home. For the first time I'm considering Apple's device. This is a dark pattern Google

> For the first time I'm considering Apple's device. Apple does collect analytics, but those can be turned off in OSX at the very least. As a company, they are not currently geared towards data collection. They have publicly positioned themselves in favor of privacy.

The issue with Apple is transparency. I want a dashboard like Google provides to see what they are collecting, let me delete and download like Google does.

Both companies have basically the same terms with privacy.

https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/en-ww/ Legal - Privacy Policy - Apple

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#113

Post by murukesh_s »

sfotm wrote: post #99
product50 wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah - you want to make use of Google services (search, maps, youtube, Photos etc.) for free and don't want to give anything in return. #entitlement Also, most likely you turning off tracking will impact your Google experience. Google is different than Facebook in that they offer real value services without which you can't survive a day on the web. Just count how many times you rely on a Google service in a day. The…

"they offer real value services without which you can't survive a day on the web" This is just not true. There are viable competitors in about every space that Google is in. Use local documents and sync via a different storage provider. Alternate email providers exist. The only place where they have a distinct advantage is search, and even then, DuckDuckGo is usually enough (and if it's not, just pass a !g flag). You…

Bing is good in search, I switched to bing after google search showed a result directly in the top of search results after parsing an amazon shipment email. I realised they are tracking too much. Every company who depends on ad will do or eventually do that unless there are regulations in place. As a user it's up to you how much you want to share your data with third parties and advertisers.

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#114

Post by jacksmith21006 »

izacus wrote: post #78
TAForObvReasons wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For the first time I'm considering Apple's device. Apple does collect analytics, but those can be turned off in OSX at the very least. As a company, they are not currently geared towards data collection. They have publicly positioned themselves in favor of privacy.

Please don't forget the treasure trove of data Apple gets via iCloud services, which rival Googles if you're invested in their ecosystem - contacts, calendars, emails, location (Find my phone), all application data (backups), etc. They don't also fully encrypt all of that information and give it to government on request.

Exactly and little transparency from Apple on what they collect and not dashboard like Google to delete or download.

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#115

Post by ajross »

opportune wrote: post #6

This article is about (in favor of) censoring the youtube platform to make life easier for advertisers. That doesn't seem very related to the information leaks and level of granular individualized advertising that the Facebook platform provides and which can be used to negative effect by advertisers. To me this is a clumsy, lazy attempt to make lazy platform censorship seem "good" in the way that regulating how Faceb…

Exactly. And the top comment here isn't about either of those subjects, it's a bland complaint about search history tracking with the usual iOS fanboy pivot to "Apple's business model doesn't require that".

Everyone takes from this kerfuffle what they want. I tend to agree with you for myself, but for most people Facebook having egg on its face is just a stage to stand on to whine about whatever they think is important.

Which is to say: the answer to the question in the title is probably "no".

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#116

Post by downandout »

sfotm wrote: post #99
product50 wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah - you want to make use of Google services (search, maps, youtube, Photos etc.) for free and don't want to give anything in return. #entitlement Also, most likely you turning off tracking will impact your Google experience. Google is different than Facebook in that they offer real value services without which you can't survive a day on the web. Just count how many times you rely on a Google service in a day. The…

"they offer real value services without which you can't survive a day on the web" This is just not true. There are viable competitors in about every space that Google is in. Use local documents and sync via a different storage provider. Alternate email providers exist. The only place where they have a distinct advantage is search, and even then, DuckDuckGo is usually enough (and if it's not, just pass a !g flag). You…

For the HN crowd, this may be an option. The general public doesn't really care about privacy, and is not going to use DuckDuckGo or any other service whose primary selling point is privacy. The best search engine will win the market, and the best search engine will tend to be the one that can generate the most money to invest in its service.

Even if someone comes in and beats Google at some point, they will do it by hiring a massive number of talented people and buying large quantities of data centers and servers. Those things can only be paid for through advertising and tracking, as few people will directly pay for search services. I suppose a socialist/communist government somewhere in the world might have the resources to build a search engine of Google quality that doesn't rely on advertising, but they would have their own hostile agenda - that would be far worse than having to put up with Nike trying to sell you some shoes while you search.

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#117

Post by murukesh_s »

zeta0134 wrote: post #84
product50 wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah - you want to make use of Google services (search, maps, youtube, Photos etc.) for free and don't want to give anything in return. #entitlement Also, most likely you turning off tracking will impact your Google experience. Google is different than Facebook in that they offer real value services without which you can't survive a day on the web. Just count how many times you rely on a Google service in a day. The…

Okay actually, I would pay to use most of Google's good services. I expect them to do advertising and they do not (!) need that kind of data on me for their search result advertising to be relevant. They have my search term; that should be enough in isolation. I would pay handsomely for Google Maps, but I have no such option. Again though, that is a service that works just fine without my individual data; they have m…

I think it's time a model will come up where you have an option to choose between an ad supported and paid version.

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#118

Post by jacksmith21006 »

scottie_m wrote: post #100
jacksmith21006 wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do and why I use Google. But live in the US which is a free country to use whatever you want and just want to be left alone so I can. I am fine with you using whatever you want.

Use whichever search engine maybe, but not “use whatever you want” in general. The US is hardly “do what you want” in the general case. Is also the home of, “you have a duopoly, but you’re free to pick between the two,” trying to lock your mobile down. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-doj-at-t/u-s-said-to-inve...

What do you mean can't use whatever you want in the US? Not following?

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#119

Post by ajross »

notacoward wrote: post #37
prolikewhoa wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That CNN article they quote is nothing more than CNN disliking that Youtube is challenging them in viewers and ad money. CNN isn't exactly the bastion of legitimacy and journalistic standards either. They're also trying to take down true left wing media like Jimmy Dore, painting him as a 'conspiracy theorist' for not being certain about the Syrian gas attacks before the OPCW was even there , as real journalists shoul…

> nothing more than CNN disliking that Youtube is challenging them in viewers and ad money Which is also what's behind journalists, bloggers, etc. all hating on Facebook too, but nobody ever wants to hear that.

This is true. But objectively Facebook's practices were extraordinarily harmful in hindsight. Facebook's paid "advertising" that could target super-fine demographics basically allowed for the weaponization of Fake News, dropping the munitions into environments that other observers weren't even seeing. So unverified garbage that even FOX wouldn't run ended up on a lot of voters' front pages.

The ability to run your "story" on Facebook as a paid ad basically pulled an end around on society's idea of a shared truth. It wasn't the only tool to that effect, maybe not even the most damaging, but it was a disaster nonetheless.

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#120

Post by jacksmith21006 »

prepend wrote: post #25
DanBC wrote: post #9

> Child advocates have also raised alarms about the ease with which smartphone-equipped children are exposed to inappropriate videos and deceptive advertising. COPPA has unfortunate consequences. My 7 year old child watches youtube. He can't have an account, so he uses my account. Youtube thinks an > 18 year old is watching the videos, and so places ads for gambling and alcohol on the videos he watches. There's no me…

That’s because Google doesn’t care because you let him watch. Lots of companies comply with coppa (Amazon, Netflix, Apple, Microsoft) and Google could if they carded enough. But even if their kids app was available on your laptop, it’s still inappropriate for kids. So you letting your kid watch YouTube as an 18 year old is a personal decision and not much to do with coppa existing or not existing.

Agree. My kids learned how to lie about year born when they were in grade school.
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