31–40 of 124 posts
> So what if Google sends me targetted ads? This is just the tip of the iceberg. What you don't see is what is going to get ya. It's not about nefarious actors lurking in the shadows, it's someone like you and me that is incentivized to make more money by taking the advantage of the data they have on you. What if you have nothing to hide? Then you should read this [0] paper that has a more rigorous treatment of priva…
The issue isn't just targeted ads though. This data, once in the hands of google, is packaged and resold to whomever google pleases, for whatever purposes those parties see fit - not even to mention inevitable breaches. Not google, but see the whole healthcare data fiasco lately with apps using facebook's analytics API's as an example.
> We never sell your personal information, and give you controls over who has access
> We are committed to protecting your data from third parties. That’s why it’s our strict policy to never sell your personal information to anyone.
The issue isn't just targeted ads though. This data, once in the hands of google, is packaged and resold to whomever google pleases, for whatever purposes those parties see fit - not even to mention inevitable breaches. Not google, but see the whole healthcare data fiasco lately with apps using facebook's analytics API's as an example.
Out of curiosity, what are some examples of Google packaging and reselling data?
Meh, I'm still not convinced. I mean, I suppose I get possibly being creeped out that Google knows you prefer Pepsi over Coke and that you recently purchased an adult toy or whatever, but...meh? So they'll use that data to sell me targeted ads that I'm just going to block anyways. I just don't see how it's actually harmful beyond the government access issue that's just dropped in as a single sentence at the end of on…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or you just provide someone else’s information. Who says you have to share your true name with your supermarket? Unfortunately it’s very difficult to lie to google
If the company uses phone numbers to lookup accounts, (Local-Area-Code)-8675-309 almost always works. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/867-5309/Jenny
Something the article doesn't mention is that your data is not only used to target you with ads. It's also used to target you with propaganda or any political or social agenda a person, organization or state is willing to pay for. Adtech is the perfect weapon of information warfare, and it's been successfuly used to influence public opinion, and corrupt democratic processes (e.g. Cambridge Analytica). Both ads and pr…
Sounds sensible. You need to pay a fee if you want to display an ad on a billboard. But they are pirating the space on our monitors for free. They really should rent it instead.
I think a great example of why data privacy matters was the recent concern many American women had about whether data collected by their period tracking app could be used to persecute them for abortions. While you might believe that the data being collected about you is harmless, a government hostile to you could use that data against you with great effect.
An even more worrying account of data hoarding was when homosexuals were registered and later sent to concentration camps... (Yes, I've just invoked Godwin's law) In my opinion data should be regarded as a liability by default. We can't rely on a given corporation being benign, or not cooperating with a given regime forever.
Something the article doesn't mention is that your data is not only used to target you with ads. It's also used to target you with propaganda or any political or social agenda a person, organization or state is willing to pay for. Adtech is the perfect weapon of information warfare, and it's been successfuly used to influence public opinion, and corrupt democratic processes (e.g. Cambridge Analytica). Both ads and pr…
The main problem, imho, is that if one can describe the situation and make someone care even a _little_, it’s not enough. There are so many more important things to be worried about throughout one’s lifetime that data privacy doesn’t even register. Being concerned about how one’s data is being sold is a very “first world problem”, and even in “first worlds” it’s not a very big one for the great majority of the popula…
It's really not. Propaganda is very effective in non-FW countries, perhaps even more so because of lower levels of education. Cambridge Analytica had successful campaigns all over Africa and the Middle East, which had a definite effect on the outcome of elections. It can be argued that the 2016 US election result was partially influenced by this, although the tricky thing with information warfare and propaganda is that the effect is very difficult to trace back to a specific cause. It leaves the victim in a state of confusion, with no single and clear source that caused it.
Since this affects society at large, it definitely _should_ be a general concern, and not a FW-only problem.
I don't use an ad blocker and there are certain sites that are annoying, but I think the biggest influence on me is that I avoid those websites. I don't notice the actual ads very often (other than as an annoyance) and I don't buy very much. What I buy seems more influenced by other things like Wirecutter reviews. Should I stop reading Wirecutter because they influence what I buy?
We buy quite a bit through Amazon. Their problems with dodgy vendors and counterfeits are well known, but we're skeptical. My wife returns things for minor flaws fairly often. It's possible we're subtly harmed by something we bought, but I see ads playing a very minor role in this, compared to product listings.
Another example of influence is restaurant reviews. My wife and I both look up nearby restaurants in Google Maps and this is nearly all the information we use to decide which restaurant to go to. (Sometimes she uses Yelp.) How are we harmed by this? Maybe there's some restaurant we missed, but I think we eat pretty well anyway. I don't think we are harmed by using Google for that.
Most privacy arguments seem to be theoretical and/or ideological, not practical. I'm sure you can think of some, and I can easily anticipate them. It's a common trope. But if it's not a practical argument, it's not going to be very convincing to me.