X "betrayed us all to Google"
Is this your reaction to every website that has Google Analytics too? Write a blog post about how it should be opt-in and how it's a betrayal?
Homebrew betrayed us all to Google
11–20 of 22 posts
Re: Homebrew betrayed us all to Google
#12HN discussion about the change: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11566720
Re: Homebrew betrayed us all to Google
#13It seems reasonable to want some analytics and it looks like they did a good job from a privacy standpoint (random IDs that you can even change if you wish). They even allow you to opt-out. There is simply no betrayal here.
The point is, opt-out is the problem.
Why is that a problem? If you are the type of person that is paranoid about anonymous usage data you will be very well versed in opting out of things because that's pretty much the standard. Homebrew is even notifying users that they are starting analytics and that you can opt-out. Here's what I just got on my terminal:
==> Homebrew has enabled anonymous aggregate user behaviour analytics
Read the analytics documentation (and how to opt-out) here:
https://git.io/brew-analytics
Re: Homebrew betrayed us all to Google
#14X "betrayed us all to Google" Is this your reaction to every website that has Google Analytics too? Write a blog post about how it should be opt-in and how it's a betrayal?
It is. And it is a huge problem. It's easier to block this using an adblocking plugin, though.
Re: Homebrew betrayed us all to Google
#15It seems reasonable to want some analytics and it looks like they did a good job from a privacy standpoint (random IDs that you can even change if you wish). They even allow you to opt-out. There is simply no betrayal here.
Opt-In by default is wrong, regardless of the intention.
It very much depends on the thing you're opting into or out of. For example, a better default for organ donation has saved lots of lives: https://sparq.stanford.edu/solutions/opt-out-policies-increa...
Re: Homebrew betrayed us all to Google
#16"You should not track your users. If you need anonymous data, you should ask your users first." Now I'm imagining a website where when when you first visit it, you get a popup like "for capacity planning purposes, this website would like to record that you visited [yes] [no]". I wonder if this author would like such a website?
This is exactly how the EU cookie law works.
Technically the EU cookie law does not require notification for cookies associated with the basic functions of the site.
All those annoying prompts are covering the use of nonfunctional aspects such as tracking.
Re: Homebrew betrayed us all to Google
#17"You should not track your users. If you need anonymous data, you should ask your users first." Now I'm imagining a website where when when you first visit it, you get a popup like "for capacity planning purposes, this website would like to record that you visited [yes] [no]". I wonder if this author would like such a website?
I hope you realize, that "opt-out" doesn't work without tracking the user either. Which kinda reduces the point of not wanting to be tracked to absurdity.
Re: Homebrew betrayed us all to Google
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
The point is, opt-out is the problem.
Why is that a problem? If you are the type of person that is paranoid about anonymous usage data you will be very well versed in opting out of things because that's pretty much the standard. Homebrew is even notifying users that they are starting analytics and that you can opt-out. Here's what I just got on my terminal: ==> Homebrew has enabled anonymous aggregate user behaviour analytics Read the analytics documenta…
My thoughts exactly
Re: Homebrew betrayed us all to Google
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
Opt-In by default is wrong, regardless of the intention.
It very much depends on the thing you're opting into or out of. For example, a better default for organ donation has saved lots of lives: https://sparq.stanford.edu/solutions/opt-out-policies-increa...
I can't agree with that, even if the results are good. And for the record, I am an organ donor.
Re: Homebrew betrayed us all to Google
#20X "betrayed us all to Google" Is this your reaction to every website that has Google Analytics too? Write a blog post about how it should be opt-in and how it's a betrayal?
It is. And it is a huge problem. It's easier to block this using an adblocking plugin, though.
Have you ever looked at Google Analytics information? They don't even give you individual IP addresses or anything like that. They actually do a GOOD job of anonymyzing data like that. You could track more information if you did it by yourself without Google Analytics. It's not really a big deal for someone to track what languages and what browsers people use on their sites.