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New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

forbrukerradet.no

431–440 of 463 posts

Re: New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

#432
post #324
post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> * use anonymous/private/porn mode browsing most of the time (except for sites I actually want to be logged in permanently) instead of this, I just use Firefox and use the Multi-Account Container function to separate my browsing

Firefox is great on desktop, but I've found it too slow and clumsy on mobile, sadly.

Opposite for me. I use Chromium on Desktop and Firefox on mobile. Firefox Focus for everyday's browsing, and Firefox Mobile for long term sessions (I have 200 opened tabs of hacker new on Firefox Mobile, it's ridiculous)

Plus, Adblock extensions on Firefox Mobile work great.

Re: New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

#433

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There may be no intention of manipulation If random airmchair commentators can see the results as manipulative I guarantee that the program managers and devs can see it too.

A lot of times you need to take a step back to see what you're doing. It's not always easy to do in a work environment.

It's easy to see in a work environment. It's not easy to not dismiss it in favor of a promotion carrot.

Re: New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

#434
post #345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No, we just need to stop buying from companies whose business model is anything other than you give them money and they give you stuff. So, stop using the internet, then? Uncoordinated collective economic action like you call for doesn't really work, especially when it's against the shareholder-value maximizing interest of a corporation.

I have an iPhone over an Android because Apple’s business model meets that criteria and nothing about the Android ecosystem does. I have Roku TVs but they are set to automatically go to the HDMI input with my AppleTV. So I don’t have to use a remote that has hard coded buttons that go to the highest bidder and where half the home screen is an advertiser. I buy business Windows PCs or laptops from the Microsoft store…

Your ad free streaming services are still collecting your data.

Re: New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

#436

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I came to the same conclusion 2 weeks ago. Nowadays, I have to solve the captcha 15-20 times before it lets me in. So I have started purposefully making wrong answers-road instead of car, sky instead of cross walks etc. If self driving cars end up crashing, I may have contributed to it. Similar thing happened with YouTube too. They would always show me the same ad over and over. Even if I skip, I would get that ad mu…

Aren't you doing anything weird with your cookies? For me recaptcha is almost always solvable from the first try. Regarding Youtube, usually reloading the page 2-3 times allows me to skip ads, but this trick doesn't work with all videos.

Recaptcha use many kind of informations, among those is your IP address. If you are browsing through a VPN for example it may see that you are not browsing from a home IP but from a datacenter. In that case I think it assumes that you're a bot and makes it much harder to pass.

Re: New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

#437
post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting idea. I should give Firefox another try. (I'm also using Fluid for self-contained Facebook browsing, I suppose that would then become unnecessary).

If you use Chrome, none of the steps you listed matter as far as protecting yourself from Google. I used to use Chrome until it really struck home with me what the incentives are for the world's biggest web advertising company to own the world's most popular web browser in a world where over-the-wire auto-updates are commonplace.

yeah, it's a pity, I hear Chrome is a good browser, but since it's from Google, there's just no way I'd touch it.

Re: New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

#438

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I came to the same conclusion 2 weeks ago. Nowadays, I have to solve the captcha 15-20 times before it lets me in. So I have started purposefully making wrong answers-road instead of car, sky instead of cross walks etc. If self driving cars end up crashing, I may have contributed to it. Similar thing happened with YouTube too. They would always show me the same ad over and over. Even if I skip, I would get that ad mu…

Aren't you doing anything weird with your cookies? For me recaptcha is almost always solvable from the first try. Regarding Youtube, usually reloading the page 2-3 times allows me to skip ads, but this trick doesn't work with all videos.

I have my Firefox set to clear cookies on exit, with NoScript and PrivacyBadger addons. Also has ad/tracking blocking at router. Not sure if any of these can trigger the above behavior. One thing to point out is I was using the same setup in a different region before and never experienced this. Only started getting it after I moved to my current location and got a new ISP. I was never using VPN when I get this captcha issue.

Regarding YouTube, forgot to mention. I was getting that ad problem with Chromecast. I cast a lot of videos with the YouTube Android app. Whenever I get that ad, I would click on the skip ad button in app (which itself takes 2-3 tries sometimes). Then 2 or 3 minutes later, it would show the same ad. After I moved to my current location, I haven't experienced this behavior yet.

Re: New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

#439
post #355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last year I spent 5 months cycling through the US. Walmart was the one place I could consistently find healthy food such as fruit at low prices. Many other retailers have specials prices on fruit that only apply to loyalty cards holders. Obviously they track their customers.

I'm fascinated that you cycled through the U.S. Did you happen to write anything about your travels that you're willing to share? I'd love to hear your experiences seeing America.

http://cycleblaze.com/journals/burgers

I met hundreds of people and most of them were so generous with food, accommodation etc. Some even tried to give me money.

Re: New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking

#440
post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At this point I'm convinced they're deliberately making their captcha's impossible, to annoy me for taking anti-tracking measures.

On the plus side I've become 400% better at identifying whether or not objects are traffic lights and/or fire hydrants.

The most annoying captchas are the ones that change after selecting them. What da faq do I look like - free labor?!?!
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