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US Military disables ad trackers on troops' phones

theguardian.com

81–90 of 118 posts

Re: US Military disables ad trackers on troops' phones

#81
post #4

Could also you know just ban invasive tracking and adtech bullshit…

This is basically impossible to do on a global scale. And even within a jurisdiction, there is a great risk of overregulation, see e.g. Europe.

Disclaimer: I am a Linux and GrapheneOS user, running my own DNS with filtering for trackers, etc.

Re: US Military disables ad trackers on troops' phones

#82

Does it make sense to give the troops special phones instead of their own? I always find it weird that soldiers can take their own phones into the base.

Most of what goes on on most bases is as unsecret as it gets. The rooms where sensitive things happen have security measures in place and they keep you from bringing your phone in there. Usually a little locker is provided where you store your phone while you are inside the protected area. In some very sensitive places there may be additional active and passive measures but usually people with access to those areas p…

Guess what people talk (and write) about after meetings.

Re: US Military disables ad trackers on troops' phones

#83
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IIRC they actually don't and it materially reduced Meta's profit when Apple rolled out the advertiser ID system.

That may have been true initially but meta has enough information to heuristically observe unidentified users and compare their behaviors with known consumers. It only takes a few actions to uniquely identify a consumer with a high degree of confidence.

Yes, it was temporary and Meta revenue and profit at all time high (before data center buildout).

Re: US Military disables ad trackers on troops' phones

#84
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IIRC they actually don't and it materially reduced Meta's profit when Apple rolled out the advertiser ID system.

"Facebook says Apple iOS privacy change will result in $10 billion revenue hit this year" (2022): * https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/02/facebook-says-apple-ios-priv... See also perhaps "It’s not Meta - its APPLE who have screwed us small advertisers": * https://www.reddit.com/r/FacebookAds/comments/1o85w2q/

Wow that number is line an order of magnitude or more than I expected it would be

Re: US Military disables ad trackers on troops' phones

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems like stalking laws in most jurisdictions should already cover this. Is there any legal precedent that could help without the need for new laws?

i am not a lawyer, but to the best of my knowledge there are specific criteria for "stalking", one of which being that the stalking causes fear or distress. the average person (i.e. a "reasonable person" by legal definition, even if us tech folk don't consider it reasonable) is not particularly scared or distressed by targeted ads. some people even like them. a good lawyer might be able to make something out of it, b…

Not to mention you “opted in” by the terms and conditions of the service, which would certainly argue that if you didn’t agree to the terms, you didn’t have to use their website.

Re: US Military disables ad trackers on troops' phones

#86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In a different legal environment this would be a good approach, but currently I don’t think the courts would accept this argument, as they are trying to push Congress to legislate rules on things like this (which Congress steadfastly refuses to do). Prior courts were more willing to “legislate from the bench” but current justices have expressed concern that Congress is abdicating its rulemaking responsibility.

That’s a hilarious idea. Given the Supreme Court of today, afraid of legislating from the bench? Are you serious?

Yes. Why do you disagree?

Re: US Military disables ad trackers on troops' phones

#87

Wow, it's like there should be a law that allows anyone to disable all data tracking about then, not just anonymize it. This is a large conversation about Consent, which is a concept Silicon Valley refuses to acknowledge.

To them, the consent is using the device/service/whatever. You see it in various bits of EULA and ToS all the time. "Continued use of implies agreement with the license terms". Now, is that at all feasible when you need a smartphone to do things like pay for parking in cities or to read menus at restaurants? No. Do the people in SV who think this way also try to wedge their products and services in every single nook,…

What's their excuse with Flock-like surveillance? Leaving the house is consent to their tracking. Let's be real: they don't value consent in any form.

I wouldn't be surprised one of those big-tech product managers gets tried for not understanding sexual consent either.

Re: US Military disables ad trackers on troops' phones

#88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> All you losers hang out on HN and Reddit because its the only place you can flag and moderate away reality Minor correction, but you forgot Wikipedia. Why flag reality when you can rewrite it and police it with bots? Reverting change, references do not meet WP::59593 subparagraph 4.1

Whatever you posted that is now dead I'm certain was true. These SWES are all imperialist servants. Here are 1 million upvotes

Re: US Military disables ad trackers on troops' phones

#90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of what goes on on most bases is as unsecret as it gets. The rooms where sensitive things happen have security measures in place and they keep you from bringing your phone in there. Usually a little locker is provided where you store your phone while you are inside the protected area. In some very sensitive places there may be additional active and passive measures but usually people with access to those areas p…

Guess what people talk (and write) about after meetings.

If you talk and/or write about what happened in one of those places, you can face consequences from discipline up to prison.

Yes, it happens. No, it better not happen much, and it's not supposed to happen at all.

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