121–130 of 263 posts
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What does LA Times have to do with parking app? Why this misdirection?
This is an article in the LA Times by a columnist who works for the LA Times.
The author says that the app's "more than 4,000-word privacy policy is a minefield of digital pitfalls". I hate to break it to them, but the LA Times has a more than 7,000-word privacy policy with the exact same pitfalls. - Collecting IP address: check - Collecting geo-location and device identifiers: check - Cross-device tracking: check - Tracking referring and exit URLs: check - Third-party cookies for ad targeting…
What does LA Times have to do with parking app? Why this misdirection?
Oh, great timing. Just ended a conversation with some friends who had bought a dishwasher. The display for these new machines had been removed, so the only way to tell when the machine was really finished was to... Guess what? Download an app! I suppose I don't need to tell you all the permissions it asked for...
Someone can make an absolute killing by creating an entire brand of “dumb” appliances that Just Work. Make them sensible quality, modern, entirely offline.
I don’t think it’s there. I’d be willing to bet appliances are already a commoditized market and the margins are already painfully thin. “Absolute killing” it would not be.
One of my local shopping complexes had their landlord add tolls to the previously free parking. It was all done via an incredibly shitty app that required you to set up an account and link a credit card to pay. It was slow, hard to use, and crashed a couple of times on me while I was trying to set up the account forcing me to start from scratch. They also had kiosks, but they were not working. I used to go to that sh…
Golden example or greedy landlords killing their golden goose.
Where I live all shopping centers in the town have the same fees for parking, CHF 1 for the first hour then CHF ½ for every half hour. You can pay with an app, for example https://easypark.ch, or by cash at a central parking meter by the entrance which accepts credit cards, too, and even returns change.
It's not really a joy but acceptable.
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The headline clearly says "if you park at this Trader Joes". It's pretty clear that this is about an issue with the parking garage at a specific Trader Joes. Whether the retailer or their landlord came up with the stupid scheme doesn't really make a difference to the customer.
Of course it makes a difference. If you want to protest the parking scheme and you complain to Trader Joe’s you won’t get anywhere, because they have nothing to do with it. They’re only mentioned because they’re a popular store and will draw clicks. It’s a sleazy and dishonest tactic. Trader Joe’s isn’t responsible for the scheme, nor is it limited to that particular Trader Joe’s. It’s a service that’s used at many d…
Of course they do. They have a contract with the landlord. They rent the space and pay for parking. If you are a customer of a retailer, why would you go complain to their landlord?
> Why highlight that one specifically?
Why not? Journalists can either cover something in breadth, or in depth, and in this case the journalist decided to go in depth on a specific location.
The author says that the app's "more than 4,000-word privacy policy is a minefield of digital pitfalls". I hate to break it to them, but the LA Times has a more than 7,000-word privacy policy with the exact same pitfalls. - Collecting IP address: check - Collecting geo-location and device identifiers: check - Cross-device tracking: check - Tracking referring and exit URLs: check - Third-party cookies for ad targeting…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Someone can make an absolute killing by creating an entire brand of “dumb” appliances that Just Work. Make them sensible quality, modern, entirely offline.
I think privacy advocates think that there’s this massive untapped market of single-issue consumers who would gladly spend the extra money for this kind of thing. I don’t think it’s there. I’d be willing to bet appliances are already a commoditized market and the margins are already painfully thin. “Absolute killing” it would not be.
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What about a simple "I don't have a mobile?" A lot of folks forget there are still people who don't have one - and many who don't want one. If the store won't transact with someone simply because they don't feel like handing out that bit of information (or simply because they don't have the information to provide), they're not really a store worth transacting with.
Don’t feel like you need to lie. Just say, “no”.
but also, have no qualms about providing false information. you have no legal obligation in most cases to provide accurate info, and companies often employ deception in trying to elicit oversharing private info anyway.
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In California there's just a simple form and a fee to retrieve information from the DMV. If anyone does this to lookup your information, you will be notified by the state. I highly recommend getting a PO Box or a PMB and using that as your primary address on your drivers license, for this exact reason. In this case, you are required to also give the address you physically live at, but this information is not eligible…
If you own property, does that really protect you? Land records are public, and you can just use a website like http://searchpeoplefree.com/
I hate tech like this. It ostensibly offers some minor convenience for the end-user, but it's really just a big data grab for whatever company implemented it. A few years ago, I went to a local Shake Shack and found they replaced their cashiers with kiosks. But placing an order requires me to give them my phone number, supposedly so they can text me when my order was ready. This should have been a very simple transac…
I always put a fake number into the Shake Shack kiosk. It hasn't been a problem, since the people sacking the burgers shout out my equally fake name to pick up my order. If Shake Shack is really texting me that my order us ready, it's going to a prison pay phone a dozen states away.