291–300 of 463 posts
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Curious why you feel so entitled that you think Google should provide you with their free mapping service and features with nothing in exchange?
Either that or you weren't here for early versions of Google Maps, haven't heard of OsmAnd, Mapbox, OpenStreetMaps, etc. or you just really like calling people 'entitled'.
My list of degooglifying actions: * switch default search engine to DuckDuckGo (can still use !s bang when one wants to see what Google has) * use tracking blocker (uBlock origin, BlockBear on iOS) * use anonymous/private/porn mode browsing most of the time (except for sites I actually want to be logged in permanently) * use Zoho as a replacement for shared Google docs * use Youtube either in private window, and/or d…
Great list! You forgot to mention the browser, I personally use FF and have grown to like it though I miss Chrome occasionally. >long ago switched to different email for main email, and forwarded gmail account to it (nobody uses it anymore). Neat! How do you set up auto forwarding with gmail?
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?
This seems pretty reasonable to me, although perhaps they named the switch poorly. My guess is that the product manager is trying to provide a single simple "privacy fiend" setting. You apparently want fine-grained privacy controls ("save my personal locations, but not my search history"). It's reasonable to want that, but it seems awfully entitled (not you, but many others on this thread) to demand it. Especially si…
Sure product management is hard, I never said it wasn't. Google maps is wayy ahead of the competition in the field, with or without those history things (cue the whole Apple maps fiasco). But users will always complain about features they don't like, and they won't always give credit for what works.
Honestly I don't care that much, I mostly adhere to the idea that Google & co. don't give a damn about any user's individual data. To them, we're just numbers in a database, and a bunch of metrics to optimize (engagement, revenue, etc.). However, I do think that governments, once they know all this data is stored on centralized servers, are tempted to exploit it, for good reasons or not, which is why at some point I want to limit the gathering of data, when I find it is not explicitly warranted or needed. Case in point, Google Maps doesn't need a history of ALL the places I've been on a day-to-day basis to index my saved locations in it's search box.
Yelp is the worst about this. You can’t even use most features on the mobile website without downloading the app so they can suck up all your info.
Reddit too, they cripple their mobile website to force you into their mobile app and hence your data.
> Reddit has been trying to redesign their website to feel more "modern", but I have noticed that the redesigned UI also features more tracking.
> For one, the new UI (and the new userpage) features session replay tracking everywhere (recording of your mouse movements, keystrokes, and how you interact with the website), as evident by its use of the mousemove JavaScript event listener for the entire page. I found out using Luminous (this isn't an endorsement or ad), which is an extension that detects (and can block) JavaScript events. The old UI also listens for the mousemove event but not everywhere (I have only noticed it on the "submit post" page, but there are probably a few other places), though I'm not sure if this is due to session replay tracking. I cannot say for certain that the old UI doesn't have session replay or something similar, but to me it doesn't seem like it for most pages. Perhaps someone who has investigated this further can confirm or deny.
> Session replay is another form of tracking what you click on (possibly negating attempts to opt out of "regular" tracking of outbound links), can be used to fingerprint a user (how the mouse moves), and will negate attempts to delete posts and comments (for example, ones that accidentally contain personal information or passwords). Even accidentally pasting something like a password in a text box will result in the password being sent to Reddit (and/or a third party) and being stored in plain text. I don't know how Reddit manages user data internally, but with session recording it's possible that a Reddit employee playing back a session to assess user reaction to a new UI update may end up seeing your private messages or posts in private subreddits simply because it was there when you interacted with the page.
> Also, the Reddit redesign completely breaks without JavaScript enabled, to the point where you can't click on links or even see the page content.
> The old UI is still available to users, either through a setting in your account or (if you're not logged in) through old.reddit.com. You can also replace the 'www' part of the URL with 'old' on any Reddit page to get back to the old UI. I really, really hope they don't remove this.
[1]: https://web.archive.org/web/20180528155123/https://reddit.co...
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…
Is your perspective that if everyone shared everything, that we'd all see that we've all got embarrassing/illegal/otherwise unsavory aspects and would eventually change society to see people more realistically? Sort of a "nude beach" perspective? I'm just trying to understand where you're coming from.
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I don't feel entitled and I rarely use them but it's still sleazy behavior. There are a lot of people who don't understand what consequences using Google or Facebook has to their privacy and these companies happily prey on them.
What are the consequences? I guess I don't understand them either
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I disagree. I think vendor lock-in is actually much worse with SaaS because you rarely control your own data or infrastructure. Quality can slowly erode over time and migrating from one SaaS provider to another is often more technically and contractually onerous than migrating between on-premises software products. SaaS apps are often data silos, where interoperability is no longer a necessity (or selling point).
We are a B2B SaaS, generally used by all employees of our client organisations, and there is truth to both sides. We do continually improve the product which benefits all our clients: sometimes features for new sales, sometimes better responsiveness or error management, sometimes in response to competitors. But our customers are quite locked in by momentum - it would cost them a lot to change and they wouldn't see mu…
That said, my concern is that users have little protection against a change of philosophy or business model at their supplier. If one of my SaaS vendors decides to double their price, impose restrictions on use or neglect their product to the point of it becoming unusable, I may have little choice but to conduct a costly migration.
If a traditional, product-model software supplier suddenly doubles upgrade prices or turns evil, generally I am able to stay on the last version I've purchased and simply not upgrade. I really appreciate Jetbrains' licensing model where you pay a subscription for continual upgrades but get a perpetual license for the last version (released at the start of your last 12-month term) should you decide to quit.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah. Tying setting the home address to search history is pretty sleazy and there is no good explanation for this other than bullying people into turning on tracking. I am really getting tired of companies that want to suck up every piece of data.
Curious why you feel so entitled that you think Google should provide you with their free mapping service and features with nothing in exchange?
Having said that, yeah, I do "feel so entitled" that I think sleazy companies should not sneakily manipulate me (and my parents, and other less technically savvy people) into divulging much more than they are aware of. Yes, imagine that, I feel entitled that companies should not manipulate me and lie to me (the carefully worded EULAs etc. do not fundamentally change that, as you very well know).
And guess what, there's the GDPR in Europe that recognises that entitlement and makes it just a bit harder for companies to do that, and I think that's a good thing.
My list of degooglifying actions: * switch default search engine to DuckDuckGo (can still use !s bang when one wants to see what Google has) * use tracking blocker (uBlock origin, BlockBear on iOS) * use anonymous/private/porn mode browsing most of the time (except for sites I actually want to be logged in permanently) * use Zoho as a replacement for shared Google docs * use Youtube either in private window, and/or d…
instead of this, I just use Firefox and use the Multi-Account Container function to separate my browsing
"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
"Fascism is not about silencing one, it's about compelling one to say." Roland Barthes
Outlines the steps the Nazis (and other fascists) took to silence the opposition, get everyone slowly into line, undermine the "public sphere" and rational discourse, replace truth by obedience to power, etc. and then gives some hints what each of us can concretely do to stop these processes.