Off topic: I wonder how hard it is to poison this type of data gathering?
Is that a question?
Ask HN: So what happened to Facebook "localhost" tracking?
71–80 of 111 posts
Re: Ask HN: So what happened to Facebook "localhost" tracking?
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
The collective leverage of a union gives you significantly more power to do something like this.
Only if the union is against the unethical request. In some cases the union may be for it, which makes it even harder to push back.
Fellow software engineers aren't incentivized to destroy their company's reputation in the same way that boards of directors have proven to be time and time again.
Re: Ask HN: So what happened to Facebook "localhost" tracking?
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not at all to defend Meta but "a feature that allows software developers to test applications" is a dubious definition of localhost. I also can't come up with a better one.
“A network interface which allows processes on the same internet host to communicate without the need for a network connection”
It is like having a pool room at home instead of playing at the bar. Facebook want to snoop around your pool room.
Re: Ask HN: So what happened to Facebook "localhost" tracking?
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
You don't need to join a union to push back against unethical feature requests.
> You don't need to join a union to push back against unethical feature requests. If you push back against unethical feature requests: No union: you get fired Union: you still get fired
Maybe don't apply to Meta in the first place? With their track record it's pretty obvious that you'll be part of building something morally dubious.
Re: Ask HN: So what happened to Facebook "localhost" tracking?
#75i would love to have a software engineer's union, not so much to get better working conditions but to be able to say stuff like "i can't implement that unethical feature, it's against union rules and i'd lose my membership".
Honestly - shouldn't one assume that train already departed when they decided to work for company that is basically data mining operation with no ethics?
Re: Ask HN: So what happened to Facebook "localhost" tracking?
#76Re: Ask HN: So what happened to Facebook "localhost" tracking?
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
Still a better outcome than tossing your ethics overboard.
Why bother to join a union, pay dues, potentially have your career limited, and have another layer to deal with? Just leave or be fired without the song and dance.
How would your career be limited?
Re: Ask HN: So what happened to Facebook "localhost" tracking?
#78i would love to have a software engineer's union, not so much to get better working conditions but to be able to say stuff like "i can't implement that unethical feature, it's against union rules and i'd lose my membership".
You could join the Order of the Engineer and refuse to do things that would not be compatible with your understanding of the Obligation of an Engineer [1]. Of course, that doesn't stop your employer from asking someone else to do it and asking you to find other employment.
There's a few other orders or societies or what have you that you could join. Personally, I don't drive a train or even wear a stripey hat, so I haven't considered joining an organization for Engineers.
[1] https://order-of-the-engineer.org/about-the-order/obligation...
Re: Ask HN: So what happened to Facebook "localhost" tracking?
#79Chrome and Firefox have deployed / are deploying local-network-access which prompts the user when apps try this.
I guess that's why I am getting so many "Allow to find devices on your network" alerts. Good feature overall.
I get loads of them when I'm on a Netsweeper filtered network... pretty much any time any asset a page loads is from a blocked site (social media pixels normally).
Re: Ask HN: So what happened to Facebook "localhost" tracking?
#80> Meta must face a lawsuit alleging that it secretly tracked Android users' browsing activity on mobile websites that embedded Meta's analytics pixel, and linked that activity to users' identities, a federal judge ruled Monday. > The decision, issued by U.S. District Court Judge Rita Lin in San Francisco, grew out of a class-action complaint initially brought last June by California resident Devin Rose (and later joi…
Not at all to defend Meta but "a feature that allows software developers to test applications" is a dubious definition of localhost. I also can't come up with a better one.
It's not a definition, but it is an accurate statement.