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Google to turn on activity tracking for many users who turned it off

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Google to turn on activity tracking for many users who turned it off

#141

Post by extr »

nixass wrote: post #89
riverguardian wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great question. The premise here is that search is an integral part of the product experience of using Google Workspace. We don't offer controls that separate each piece of functionality within Workspace products. The reason there _is_ one governing both Workspace and non-Workspace data (the current Web and App Activity setting) is mostly historical in nature, and the fact that there are two existing controls (one fo…

I don't wanna ruin the conversation here but: > Great question This is exactly how politicians (or whoever is doing something nasty) will start the answer on sensitive question. Shady business.

That's pretty standard phrasing for "you've hit on something i've also thought a lot about". I say it all the time, usually with pleasure, because it means the opportunity to share something I find interesting or feel confident in an answer on.

You are drawing the product manager for this website feature(!) up to be some sort of corrupt politician or big tech conspiracy mastermind. Really absurd.

Re: Google to turn on activity tracking for many users who turned it off

#142

Post by akie »

riverguardian wrote: post #120
twhb wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your comments and the email both are written like nobody really wants tracking off, at least not if they know what’s good for them. Is that what you believe?

I think "tracking" is a bit misleading here. It's product (search) usage activity. None of the Workspace data you provide is ever used outside of Workspace, nor is it used for any other purpose than for the benefit of you and your users (we can't create machine learning models from your data to improve the experience for other customers, for example, without your prior consent), and that data is never used for ads.

But how can we trust what you say? Google is not necessarily a very trustworthy company anymore.

Case in point, the subject at hand: people who said they did not want to be tracked, now have to find a setting and say it again. That does not inspire confidence in the company, and as a proxy, it doesn't give me much hope that I can trust what you say.

Re: Google to turn on activity tracking for many users who turned it off

#143

Post by sdoering »

riverguardian wrote: post #70

Hello hello, PM for the feature checking in here. amf12's reply is quite on-point. Web and App Activity is designed to store search activity across all Google services, and we're splitting Workspace data out since it's governed by strict data handling guarantees, with the hope that more people will feel comfortable getting the benefits of better search in Workspace without having to opt-into search history being trac…

Hi,

thanks for jumping into the room to answer questions.

Personally I am not a fan of this idea. But that is currently not my point.

Sitting in Germany, I have not received this mail (I am a workspace admin for my private stuff and a workspace user for my employer). So maybe we are exempt. Not sure.

But - as a user for a workspace account that is being managed by our parent company in the US, I am wary of this change. In Germany some employees are represented by works councils.

Changes such as these could fall under the works councils' right of co-determination and should/could therefore not be rolled out so easily and promptly across the board for all users. At least not for employees who are represented by works councils.

Have you put into place the possibility for admins to exempt specific user groups from these default on setting?

Re: Google to turn on activity tracking for many users who turned it off

#144

Post by friedturkey »

tomnipotent wrote: post #140
friedturkey wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PR and damage control isn't effective if the employee in charge is like "oh shit dudes our company screwed up!" I think any google employee that comes in here and starts agreeing with the complaints would quickly find themselves out of a massively overpaid job the next day.

Quoted post unavailable.

Loads of valid issues mentioned around here describing concerns with users being tracked. Not really reactive when misuse and abuse of tracking data is so insanely common.

Re: Google to turn on activity tracking for many users who turned it off

#145

Post by tomnipotent »

friedturkey wrote: post #144
tomnipotent wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

Loads of valid issues mentioned around here describing concerns with users being tracked. Not really reactive when misuse and abuse of tracking data is so insanely common.

No post body was provided.

Re: Google to turn on activity tracking for many users who turned it off

#146

Post by [deleted] »

ylyn wrote: post #125
a-dub wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

happy to hear that you found corporate marketing to be moving. unimpressed by disrespectful and nonconstructive talking over of someone right in front of them.

> unimpressed by disrespectful and nonconstructive talking over of someone right in front of them. What are you, the etiquette police?

[deleted]

Re: Google to turn on activity tracking for many users who turned it off

#148

Post by pndy »

josephg wrote: post #3
slater wrote: post #2

That reads as "too many users were disabling our creepy shit, so we're re-enabling it!"

YouTube recently did the same with autoplay. I hate autoplay with a passion, and watching the setting suddenly turn itself on again made me incoherently angry.

There are extensions around to control this behavior and you can switch to invidious or freetube in worst case

Re: Google to turn on activity tracking for many users who turned it off

#149

Post by drpixie »

riverguardian wrote: post #70

Hello hello, PM for the feature checking in here. amf12's reply is quite on-point. Web and App Activity is designed to store search activity across all Google services, and we're splitting Workspace data out since it's governed by strict data handling guarantees, with the hope that more people will feel comfortable getting the benefits of better search in Workspace without having to opt-into search history being trac…

I call bulls*t here. Facebook has a long history of change-the-name-of-the-setting-and-the-new-flag-defaults-to-ON as a method of changing users' settings back to what facebook would prefer. Excuses aside, it looks like the same thing from google.

Re: Google to turn on activity tracking for many users who turned it off

#150

Post by gruturo »

riverguardian wrote: post #77
yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's actually mostly reasonable, but then why default on instead of either keeping the closest existing setting or asking?

Great question. The premise here is that search is an integral part of the product experience of using Google Workspace. We don't offer controls that separate each piece of functionality within Workspace products. The reason there _is_ one governing both Workspace and non-Workspace data (the current Web and App Activity setting) is mostly historical in nature, and the fact that there are two existing controls (one fo…

> Great question.

Just because your company has a product named Android, doesn't mean you _need_ to talk like one, you know.

> That being said, there's an important note that wasn't communicated in the email since it was sent to (paid offering) admins: consumer (non-paid) users who have Web and App Activity disabled will have their Workspace search history setting _also_ disabled as part of the migration. That's because we recognize a user who has turned Web and App Activity off explicitly likely won't feel the need to benefit from Workspace search history either

This is actually (at a first read) GOOD news for individuals' privacy, and you bury it like this? I know there many be a bonus or two on the line here, but what the hell, you almost didn't get the message across. Please communicate like humans, at least as long as you still have humans as an audience.

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