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"Localhost tracking" explained. It could cost Meta €32B

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Re: "Localhost tracking" explained. It could cost Meta €32B

#241
post #95
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what they need AI for. It won't say no.

The engineers did not say no either though.

My experience is that most won’t. I was someone who wouldn’t say no, once. For me it was because I was naive and didn’t believe people would work so hard to exploit others.

In fact, one time there were users on an ad network I built who were breaking rules. I’d track them and try to figure out where they came from and who they actually are, only for them to drop out and open a new account. I’d report to my CEO about this, ask for advice, generally discuss strategies to prevent this kind of usage of the network. He seemed very concerned. But sure enough, eventually I figured out it was actually him all along. He was making tens of thousands of dollars in revenue per month doing literally the most shady stuff on the network. He was using my naivety to keep himself in the loop on internal compliance and stay a step ahead of me.

I’ve worked with several people like this. They love the tech industry. I had to finally admit to myself that I worked with bad people and did bad things to develop the awareness and courage to start saying no and do something else.

Once I was gone, he did the same thing with a younger developer who was eager to break into the industry. I actually work with him now, nearly 15 years later.

Re: "Localhost tracking" explained. It could cost Meta €32B

#242
Interesting view on Mastodon arguing this might even be a criminal act, not just civil liability: https://infosec.exchange/@isotopp/114664494157616670

> What Meta did wasn’t just a violation of GDPR. It involved bypassing built-in technical protections with the intent to extract and link data — potentially personally identifiable information (PII) — to users without their knowledge or consent.

> That is the textbook definition of unauthorized access and data exfiltration.

Re: "Localhost tracking" explained. It could cost Meta €32B

#243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> These kinds of things now point me in a direction where I consider advertising alone to be immoral and want it banned. I (personally) think that's going too far. Targeted advertising has been really, really good for small businesses, and given that local newspapers are basically dead and TV/radio are expensive, these business kinda have to use Meta/Google et al. And that's fine (IMO obviously). The actual problem h…

Targeted advertising has been good for small business in the same way that the mob is good to small business that pay up. The main reason businesses need to rely on advertising to reach people is because people are already being bombarded by competitors.

Sorry what? Like, basically all businesses need to advertise, and unknown ones (i.e. small and new businesses) need to do this much more.

Coke will be fine if they stop buying TV spots (for a while, at least) but I'm pretty sure Linear/Datadog etc wouldn't be the size they are now without advertising.

> The main reason businesses need to rely on advertising to reach people is because people are already being bombarded by competitors.

Fundamentally, advertising is a way to tell potential customers you exist. Most people don't seek out new products, how do you think small businesses would grow in a world with no advertising?

Re: "Localhost tracking" explained. It could cost Meta €32B

#244
post #92

Remember in 2014 when the Android Twitter app started sending a list of all your installed applications back to Twitter? https://news.bloomberglaw.com/privacy-and-data-security/twit... Ever since then I refused to install native versions of apps that could be used in a browser. I don't use Facebook or Instagram so I don't know if that works anymore, and I recall testing that they were intentionally crippling Facebook…

>I refused to install native versions of apps that could be used in a browser.

Same. After AT&T force obsolesced my perfectly working phone back in February 2022 (it had the bands but they simply didn't want to support it!) I kept it as a dedicated app phone. No web browsing, no stored credentials or cookies, just an app sandbox. Sending a ray of diarrhea to companies who force us to use apps instead of web. I'm looking at you, Chipotle.

Re: "Localhost tracking" explained. It could cost Meta €32B

#245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but it should include everyone involved, from top to bottom. We won't get those data theft misfeatures if engineers refused to work on them out of personal liability.

I once bluntly refused to deploy an app to production because it was a finance system that handled billions of dollars and the personal data of a million children. The HTTPS certificates couldn’t be organised on time (don’t ask), so I simply refused to deploy it using HTTP only “just for now” (=years). The look of stunned shock on the project manager’s face is something I’ll never forget. He was apoplectic with mixed…

> He was apoplectic with mixed rage and incredulity. “How dare you refuse...

If that's a reaction to a "no" in a professional setting, imagine what he could do in personal life.

Re: "Localhost tracking" explained. It could cost Meta €32B

#246

Very impressive but not surprising coming from Meta. They have an history of doing this kind of things. Back in the early 2010s, they found a way to spy on HTTPS traffic on the iOS App Store to monitor which apps were getting popular. That's what allowed them to know WhatsApp and Instagram were good acquisition targets. At this point, I think the race for Zuckerberg is, can Meta survive long enough for the next platf…

Companies have been trying to make AR/VR the next platform shift but I'm not super convinced that people actually want or desire this outside of a few niche games. To me it feels like it has about as much staying power as 3D glasses in movies.

That's why Apple is releasing their "glass" interface. AR/VR flopped badly so they are trying to normalize the look to bridge the transition.

Re: "Localhost tracking" explained. It could cost Meta €32B

#247
post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Simpler than that: AI co-opted the hype machine and the buzzword gurus, and therefore the investor money.

Pretty much, and it's a shame because AR has so much potential. Our company has started using a AR product in our quality control. It really doesn't take using it for long to realize the potential, being able to overlay a CAD model over the physical finished project is incredible and offers a lot of time savings. Unfortunately the most advanced AR device on the market is over 5 years old so you can really feel the so…

Yeah, but working in those glasses for any length of time is a mindf*ck. It's disorienting.

Re: "Localhost tracking" explained. It could cost Meta €32B

#248

> 1. The user opens the native Facebook or Instagram app, […] I'm not going full "it's your own fault for having those apps installed" — it really isn't — but people need to learn they shouldn't trust apps made by these giant adzillas. (Which to be fair you could also argue for Android as a whole, and Chrome). If Facebook and Instagram are "dominating the market" as the EU likes to say, maybe it's time to force allow…

> people need to learn they shouldn't trust apps made by these giant adzillas.

I do wish life were that simple. Users (including myself) get value out of natively installed apps. Until that changes, this suggestion is impractical.

Re: "Localhost tracking" explained. It could cost Meta €32B

#249
post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How often you're asked has no bearing on the morality or criminality of the ask. Hitmen can't just say "but I keep getting hired to kill people."

Comparing engineers writing tracking code for ads, to hitmen killing people, is an extremely dishonest and emotionally manipulative comparison. These things aren't even in the same category, and you know it.

https://www.google.com/search?q=analogy+definition

Re: "Localhost tracking" explained. It could cost Meta €32B

#250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I once bluntly refused to deploy an app to production because it was a finance system that handled billions of dollars and the personal data of a million children. The HTTPS certificates couldn’t be organised on time (don’t ask), so I simply refused to deploy it using HTTP only “just for now” (=years). The look of stunned shock on the project manager’s face is something I’ll never forget. He was apoplectic with mixed…

How many software developers do you think are struggling to put food on the table?

Would they be as confident of putting food on the table if they were not in SV or were in an age-group subject to ageism or had an immigration status that is subject to indirect pressure etc etc? All software engineer != unconditional privilege
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