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Google knows where we are, and so do advertisers

vice.com

11–20 of 220 posts

Re: Google knows where we are, and so do advertisers

#11
post #9

Tired of opening maps and getting a prompt to turn on 'make location bettter' every fuckingtime. Are the people working at Google that dumb? How many times do I have to decline. Other than that, the article is one of the most clickbaity one I've read

I suspect the "alright I accept just stop it!" approach is part of the design.

Re: Google knows where we are, and so do advertisers

#12

To be fair, most of the time users' are consenting to this. If you disregard the opportunity to read the privacy policy and just click "I agree", you really can't be too surprised at what information you allow these apps to access. I'd suspect mostly every human on earth is in some database somewhere, and that will become a normal facet of life. Even the second you're born a record is made, as well as the rough time…

Nowadays you need to accept an EULA even just to open a OEM-provided Calculator application. Most people will - justifiably or not - ignore their actual content for they are meaningless to them and have never caused direct harm to most. Were I to spend time reading all the privacy policies and similiar legalese documents, I wouldn't get work done and be left with uncertainty either way, since most policies often cover more legal grounds and scenarii than those relevant and pertaining at the time, for convenience, too. More awareness that your consent is often given for dubious practices would maybe help, but that is not where a "privacy revolution" would begin.

Re: Google knows where we are, and so do advertisers

#14

To be fair, most of the time users' are consenting to this. If you disregard the opportunity to read the privacy policy and just click "I agree", you really can't be too surprised at what information you allow these apps to access. I'd suspect mostly every human on earth is in some database somewhere, and that will become a normal facet of life. Even the second you're born a record is made, as well as the rough time…

At least Europe has made progress and prohibits the "it's in our 20 pages privacy statement" approach. The user must be explicitly informed and then provide consent. If it's unclear what you're consenting to, the consent isn't valid.

Re: Google knows where we are, and so do advertisers

#15
post #11
post #9

Tired of opening maps and getting a prompt to turn on 'make location bettter' every fuckingtime. Are the people working at Google that dumb? How many times do I have to decline. Other than that, the article is one of the most clickbaity one I've read

I suspect the "alright I accept just stop it!" approach is part of the design.

Almost definitely so. Like Youtube telling my epxerience will be 'better' if I login, each time again. But it won't (well, apart from me not to having to click the button each time). How low can you go as a company?

Re: Google knows where we are, and so do advertisers

#16
post #15
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect the "alright I accept just stop it!" approach is part of the design.

Almost definitely so. Like Youtube telling my epxerience will be 'better' if I login, each time again. But it won't (well, apart from me not to having to click the button each time). How low can you go as a company?

Way way lower if you actually look at ISPs and media outlets like Vice. Did you see the amount of tracker shit that side loads up? They spray your private data not only to Google, but tens of other companies as well.

Re: Google knows where we are, and so do advertisers

#17
post #3

Is posting such baity non-journalism on here nowadays a way to farm karma? This doesn't give anyone actual value, most of the things listed are common sense and if you use Google Maps, you are probably already aware of it. I'd wager that some people use Maps exactly because these features make it convenient.

While this article might look obvious to you, most people will be surprised by what they read. We need more articles like this, so that everybody realizes how their data is used, processed, farmed, and sold.

Re: Google knows where we are, and so do advertisers

#18
One of the most disappointing changes in Android recently is that any network-assisted geolocation plugins must now be installed as a system app, not a user app. That means that even if you use LineageOS where most Google stuff has been stripped out, getting a GPS fix through network assistance still sends data to Google servers. Only a tiny minority of users are comfortable working with the command line and will install e.g. Mozilla geolocation to the right place on disk. Just one of many changes Google has pushed into AOSP that end up strengthening its own monopoly.

Re: Google knows where we are, and so do advertisers

#19
post #15
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect the "alright I accept just stop it!" approach is part of the design.

Almost definitely so. Like Youtube telling my epxerience will be 'better' if I login, each time again. But it won't (well, apart from me not to having to click the button each time). How low can you go as a company?

My annoyance gets bigger and bigger and I see myself more and more often saying, never mind! And being left with a bad feeling. Soon I will just stop clicking yt links and find alternatives.

Re: Google knows where we are, and so do advertisers

#20
post #3

Is posting such baity non-journalism on here nowadays a way to farm karma? This doesn't give anyone actual value, most of the things listed are common sense and if you use Google Maps, you are probably already aware of it. I'd wager that some people use Maps exactly because these features make it convenient.

Try not to imagine everyone sees the world through your eyes.
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