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New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

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Re: New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

#21

Post by tossaccount123 »

baxtr wrote: post #3

"If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place." Eric Schmidt, 2009

https://wikileaks.org/google-is-not-what-it-seems/

A good read on Google and Eric Schmidt's relationship with the State Department and federal government in general

"There was nothing politically hapless about Eric Schmidt. I had been too eager to see a politically unambitious Silicon Valley engineer, a relic of the good old days of computer science graduate culture on the West Coast"

Re: New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

#22

Post by snazz »

ThomPete wrote: post #15

I for one are happy to be tracked so that my experience is optimal. Edit: I understand the potential issues and especially with someone like Google using it for other things. But I am more concerned about the backlash against using data to improve our world. There are many different areas which would be improved greatly from more data and would be to everyone's benefit. Personally I have always shared as much as I ca…

I’ve noticed that there seems to be a correlation between tracking and advertising, so I get a better experience and less tracking if I avoid both.

Re: New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

#24

Post by mscasts »

levesque wrote: post #9
mscasts wrote: post #5

This is scary stuff. Thank you norway for taking the fight against Google. How can you turn this off on an android?

iOS is becoming more attractive by the day.

Well, I just turn my location services off. I can't stand the Apple ecosystem even if I have to give them a huge props that they take integrity way more seriously than Google.

Maybe I should invest in a dumb phone.

Re: New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

#25

Post by Tepix »

kache_ wrote: post #6

They constantly berate you to deactivate no tracking preferences on google maps. When you're aware of this fact you start seeing it everywhere, not just on google. For example, on Pinterest they will berate you to sign up using highlighted buttons on land, and the x button is out of the way on the top right corner. This end result is due to product managers/devs looking at conversion rates and optimizing for whatever…

The result of this A/B testing amounts to a dark patterns.

A/B testing a user choice by manipulating him/her like that seems like a no-no.

Re: New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

#26

Post by paganel »

levesque wrote: post #4

I tried using Google Maps without search history turned on. It's basically a downgraded version. They tied saving locations with the search history, so it won't let you search for friends' contacts, set a home address, etc. Is it on purpose? I don't know, but I find it weird that they would tie some unrelated features together. Why does setting a Home address require search history?

> so it won't let you (...) set a home address

That's a feature for me.

Re: New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

#27

Post by IanCal »

northerdome wrote: post #10

Honestly tired of Europe pretending like they are so high and mighty for flagging tech companies for "privacy violations." Frankly it's insulting to say that adults cannot decide for themselves how they want their data used. At this point, users know if you turn on Google tracks you. It is worth it to many for the convenience of quality results Google delivers. If it isn't turn it off. But to say it is Google's fault…

GDPR/etc. absolutely deliver on this:

> Frankly it's insulting to say that adults cannot decide for themselves how they want their data used

All those laws really push is you have to actually let people know what you're using the data for, ask if you can (so that they're able to decide) and make sure you take care of it.

It doesn't say you can't decide for yourself, it just makes it an actual decision.

Re: New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

#28

Post by tirpen »

mscasts wrote: post #5

This is scary stuff. Thank you norway for taking the fight against Google. How can you turn this off on an android?

You can turn of "Location History" and "Web & App History", for your google account from https://myaccount.google.com/data-and-personalization

Before you deactivate them, I suggest looking through the data Google has saved in them for a while so you grok the full scale of how horrible those settings truly are.

Re: New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

#29

Post by snazz »

mscasts wrote: post #5

This is scary stuff. Thank you norway for taking the fight against Google. How can you turn this off on an android?

Installing LineageOS without any Google apps (including Google Play Services) might be the only way to continue using Android minus the tracking. You lose quite a bit of convenience for this, though. And of course, you’re still being tracked by virtue of it being a cell phone with a baseband processor (see my comment at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18821444).

Re: New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

#30

Post by modzu »

levesque wrote: post #4

I tried using Google Maps without search history turned on. It's basically a downgraded version. They tied saving locations with the search history, so it won't let you search for friends' contacts, set a home address, etc. Is it on purpose? I don't know, but I find it weird that they would tie some unrelated features together. Why does setting a Home address require search history?

it is absolutely on purpose. a workaround is you can set pins on the map. instead of a list, you have to zoom out of the map, but then you can click a pin, for example for quick directions to your home address.
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