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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

#111

Post by jonlucc »

Roverlord wrote: post #86
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?

I've typed the same postcode into Maps almost every day for the past 5 years - Google, could you maybe help it be the first autocomplete result when I enter it manually?

Anecdotally, I have a few locations I put in weekly or so to make sure I have an accurate ETA or to see if one of two routes is obstructed. They autocomplete as soon as I type the first letter of either, and they're in the dropdown list of locations under either "This Week" or "Previous Searches". These are both named locations, so maybe that's different from an address?

Re: New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

#112

Post by bitL »

annapurna wrote: post #62
levesque wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iOS is becoming more attractive by the day.

That's what it's become for me and my circle. Got my parents the older iPhones (6S) late last year and got the same for myself this month. I miss being able to access the local storage (one small hack I found was using the Firefox app local folder to store my files)

Did the same with my parents (SE + 6S) and alongside iOS I use Jolla Sailfish and ancient Nokia N9 with Meego (both pure hackable Linux).

Re: New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

#113

Post by Raphmedia »

benschulz wrote: post #14
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

This attitude makes me so off the charts angry, I struggle to put it into words. I think Jews in Germany in the 1920s didn't think they were doing anything wrong, or feel a need to actively hide it.

These kinds of practices are still going on right now. See the Anti-gay purges in Chechnya that happened in 2017. "The Chechen police and military have conducted entrapment schemes, in which a victim is lured on a date, beaten and humiliated". According to some sources, those entrapment schemes where using online dating apps.

Eric Schmidt's concept of privacy is so focused on the sort term where we live in free countries. Who knows what the future holds in store?

Imagine if in 50-100 years the political situation gets really bad in the US and they decide to pass such a law. That hypothetical future government could simply get all the data from companies like Google and pinpoint their targets with scary accuracy. Imagine being jailed for web searches that you have done decades prior.

As a trans person, that's the kind of things that keep me up at night. Especially since the ads that Google are presenting to me recently shifted and my shadow profile is clearly tagged as "trans" now.

Re: New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

#115

Post by SquareWheel »

ingenieroariel wrote: post #91

I have had to visit the #nixos channel in Freenode (IRC) lately on a computer with all tracking disabled and the Recaptcha that is usually just click and continue becomes a multi-minute endeavor finding street signs, cars and buses. You really get punished if you opt out of tracking.

Which makes sense, seeing as they use account data and other heuristics to determine if you're a bot or not. The streetsigns are their fallback for when they don't have enough data.

Re: New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

#117

Post by philamonster »

Actively having to take extra steps to just log out of any of their services is the biggest little deception. Once they changed their login screen (cannot even remember when) you had to click multiple extra times to remove an account explicitly or you were still tracked/logged in/Google was aware of you. I started deleting history in Fx whenever the browser is closed which helps with this but I have windows/tabs open for weeks for a reason and can't always close the browser. I've just some to accept the extra steps it takes to actually logout though it pisses me off slightly each time I do it.

I've taken no steps to confirm they are actively getting info from my browser if I don't remove my account or if they are not if I do because I have turned off as much account data tracking/opted out of as much as I could for my Google account. But logging out of YouTube, which gives you no indication that you are actively logged in in the active browser window, and then going to mail.google.com will show you that Google is still aware of your account. Bullshit.

Re: New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

#118

Post by jimmytucson »

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…

> 3 or 4 rounds of A/B testing and you get the most efficient (read: manipulative) method of getting users "engaged"

Now replace “engaged” with “to buy stuff” and that’s essentially online advertising. You’re being tricked by gurus of the mind to send your money to someone else. How this is legal represents a gap between traditional laws and modern times.

The sad truth for us software engineers is, a lot of the most exciting work is at least tangentially related to refining this trickery: big data, machine learning, etc. For example, implementing GDPR where I work has been a bizarre experience from a human standpoint. On the one hand, we all surely feel privately it’s a good thing for people, but we talk about it to each other as if it’s a burden and a setback for our business (which it is).

Re: New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

#119

Post by _ptgt »

mulmen wrote: post #104
jerf wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the native app, albeit in beta, so you may not have it yet. You can turn on smile functionality in the app, but you must turn on all notifications. "Also what does Amazon have to do with SV?" Amazon is part of metaphorical Silicon Valley. So's Microsoft, for instance. Metaphorical Silicon Valley is too large to fit in literal Silicon Valley.

Is IBM included in metaphorical Silicon Valley? What about Expedia? Or Concur? Seems very arbitrary. Is metaphorical Silicon Valley only applicable to negative actions of tech companies or does it apply to all big tech companies? I searched for “metaphorical Silicon Valley” and didn’t see anything relevant. Also how did you get into this beta and where is the actual option? Is it under notifications? I’d prefer to us…

>Is IBM included in metaphorical Silicon Valley? What about Expedia? Or Concur? Seems very arbitrary. Is metaphorical Silicon Valley only applicable to negative actions of tech companies or does it apply to all big tech companies? I searched for “metaphorical Silicon Valley” and didn’t see anything relevant.

Right, and while we're at it Goldman Sachs shouldn't be considered part of Wall Street. They're headquartered on West St after all!

Re: New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

#120

Post by ThomPete »

Tepix wrote: post #33
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 hope you never suffer bad consequences of giving up your privacy.

If i do most of us do :)
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