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Apparently CodePen 2.0 sends data to their servers as you type

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61–70 of 73 posts

Re: Apparently CodePen 2.0 sends data to their servers as you type

#61
post #4

You're gonna be shocked how many input fields do this for various UX features :)

HotJar and similar services are (were?) popular as well, and those record your mouse pointer movements and clicks as well, then displays that as an overlay over the application, so it's essentially a "screen recording" of your session of the application.

Wait until you see a microsoft clarity recording.

Re: Apparently CodePen 2.0 sends data to their servers as you type

#62
post #31

This is so it can restore any unsaved changes. I take no opinion on whether this is good or bad, but I can see how from a UX perspective it's nice not to lose 10 minutes of work because your browser crashes or something.

Yes, absolutely, there are good reasons for that. The point is that any secrets typed/pasted in there should be considered compromized Edit: but then if you you quit (or crash) without saving the pen first there is no way to recover unsaved work regardless. That is, the pen must be saved manually at least once for the user to benefit from the autosave.

please don't paste credentials into codepen

Re: Apparently CodePen 2.0 sends data to their servers as you type

#63
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, except for the cases when you happen to have the entire VM for your language running in the same tab where you program lives, and they both are all JS. Probably harder, and wouldn't work equally well for everyone, but it would be possible to have "guess language and autocomplete" entirely client-side, especially when it comes to JavaScript of all languages.

It seems like the main disadvantage would be that you have to load all the autocomplete data / model weights on the client-side and your webpage might be CPU/memory limited

Code editor autocomplete doesn't use ai — search up LSP

Re: Apparently CodePen 2.0 sends data to their servers as you type

#64

the 'it's just autosave' defense in the comments is interesting. is keystroke-level granularity actually needed for that though?

I think what's more interesting is if privacy is the concern, why does the timing matter? The same data is getting saved either way.

Actually never mind, you aren't sending them private information anyway so it's not a privacy concern in the first place.

Re: Apparently CodePen 2.0 sends data to their servers as you type

#66
post #2

because this is how autocomplete logic works i guess? Frontend cannot guess language and completions for you

yes it can. all you need are some tokenizers for the languages you want to guess and once you derived the language, a few lookup tables to store variable name references in :)

Re: Apparently CodePen 2.0 sends data to their servers as you type

#68
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shopify does this. If you ever go to purchase a product on a Shopify 'site, and enter eg your e-mail address, it'll save it even if you decide to cancel and close the tab. Sometimes you receive spam from companies along the lines of marketing or "we noticed you didn't complete your purchase" type crap. Shit is rly invasive.

They can only send the marketing emails if you have the "send me marketing emails" checkbox checked when you type in your email address. Dark pattern, yeah.

No, I've received it just from entering my e-mail and nothing else. So many companies don't care, or don't know.

Either way, if I enter my e-mail, decide "nah" and quit, that should be that. It shouldn't be sending my details in the background

Re: Apparently CodePen 2.0 sends data to their servers as you type

#69
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can only send the marketing emails if you have the "send me marketing emails" checkbox checked when you type in your email address. Dark pattern, yeah.

No, I've received it just from entering my e-mail and nothing else. So many companies don't care, or don't know. Either way, if I enter my e-mail, decide "nah" and quit, that should be that. It shouldn't be sending my details in the background

The checkbox is usually checked by default (it's a Shopify setting), in many jurisdictions (like the USA). "It" was probably an "abandoned checkout" email, which is a transactional email, and is legally allowed.

I use this Shopify feature as a buyer to get discount codes, as abandoned cart emails often come with them.

Re: Apparently CodePen 2.0 sends data to their servers as you type

#70
post #58

Reddit does this. Every keystroke you type into a comment box is sent back to them. So, that means even if you decided to cancel posting something, they still receive what you wrote. I have been known to write responses that were harsh and angry, and I simply don't send. Sometimes it's therapy for me to think through something while typing whatever is in my head. Then I go back and edit once I have have thought it th…

Ever since I learned about full story / datadog RUM I've been writing my replies in a notes app then copy and pasting back in the browser

Yeah, it's infuriating.
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