Why not just turn DNT on? Sure, not all websites respect it, but all Google services do.
Alternatives to Google Products
401–410 of 527 posts
Re: Alternatives to Google Products
#402We are facing two issues: 1. Privacy against advertisers 2. Privacy against security agencies. From my perspective, first issue, is more important than second one. I think Apple does pretty decent job regarding first issue. MS holds second position. Google/FB hold the worst position. So even though Apple/MS are closed source, I think our privacy will improve considerably just by installing an ad-blocker and sticking…
Something I'm pondering.. If advertisers can't reach me then why should I be concerned what they collect about me? I do not see any ads, I use gmail and gcal. Genuine question - I understand I'm still 'the product' as far as they're concerned but it's a broken loop if they don't get my eyeballs. Help me understand anything I'm missing. I'm currently not motivated enough to move out of google products.
It might sound a bit radical, but I think, even using rival's products to decrease Google's monopoly is an achievement on its own. To be honest, Firefox is somewhat an inferior product compared to Chrome, but I use it just to increase diversity in browser marketplace.
Re: Alternatives to Google Products
#403Earlier quoted context omitted.
If Firefox really cared more about privacy than about its money flow they would have disabled 3rd party cookies by default instead of explicitly hiding¹ that setting. Apple can do it. There's no reason why Firefox can't. And if there is a reason, it should have been dealt with years ago. -- ¹ i just noticed that in Firefox 60, the setting is no longer as hidden as it used to be. Good!
Most casual users would be quite upset if cookies stopped working. "Why does this site not stay logged in"? Etc.
Not all cookies, just 3rd party ones.
Re: Alternatives to Google Products
#404We are facing two issues: 1. Privacy against advertisers 2. Privacy against security agencies. From my perspective, first issue, is more important than second one. I think Apple does pretty decent job regarding first issue. MS holds second position. Google/FB hold the worst position. So even though Apple/MS are closed source, I think our privacy will improve considerably just by installing an ad-blocker and sticking…
Where exactly does Amazon fit in your picture?
Regarding their cloud business, I think it's fine to use AWS. However, I'm kind of against their online shop, since there are many reports that they abuse their employees in warehouses.
Re: Alternatives to Google Products
#405At the risk of revealing my ignorance, but how can we trust those alternative services any more than Google?
Re: Alternatives to Google Products
#406Google Photos would be the most difficult thing for me to leave behind. Nothing to my knowledge even comes close in terms of functionality. A year or two ago I tried Microsoft's equivalent in OneDrive and it was absolutely abysmal, the web interface barely functioned with a few thousand photos.
Not to mention the search works so well, I don't know how I'd replace it for finding things. I would take an eternity to go back and tag all of my photos.
Re: Alternatives to Google Products
#407Earlier quoted context omitted.
If Firefox really cared more about privacy than about its money flow they would have disabled 3rd party cookies by default instead of explicitly hiding¹ that setting. Apple can do it. There's no reason why Firefox can't. And if there is a reason, it should have been dealt with years ago. -- ¹ i just noticed that in Firefox 60, the setting is no longer as hidden as it used to be. Good!
Most casual users would be quite upset if cookies stopped working. "Why does this site not stay logged in"? Etc.
You think Apple is upsetting casual users?
Re: Alternatives to Google Products
#408Earlier quoted context omitted.
Okay, let’s think about some side effects of having lots of potentially sensitive data nicely stored at one location: * Propaganda: Because you understand what people need to hear, it’s a perfect tool to influence opinion. Of course, this doesn’t happen in your country (it never does). A recent popular example is the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Thankfully this evil cooperation does not exist any more (by changing it…
I don't see how any of this applies to Google. Are you saying that dictators can steal my data from Google? I'd think they'd have an easier time breaking into my house and stealing my computer. By a factor of maybe a thousand.
But the payoff from breaking into Google is much larger than stealing your computer. One of those provides mass access to data and the other only involves data about a few persons. So comparing that is not really valid.
Re: Alternatives to Google Products
#409Earlier quoted context omitted.
JS is often used to change the position of elements based on the window size. If you give it wrong info, it will break the layout.
I can't imagine that's 'usual'; most sites will do absolute positioning in css, if at all. As you suggest, trying to layout pixel-by-pixel designs is notoriously awkward and best avoided.
I'm not talking about absolute positioning, but calculating positions and width/length based on rules (like the browser does with CSS, but for stuff the browser can't do). For example: https://css-tricks.com/scaled-proportional-blocks-with-css-a...
Re: Alternatives to Google Products
#410Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Probably most websites use Google Analytics or an alternative. How is this not essential though? You can't effectively run a business without some understanding of your traffic and where it's coming from. Also, you can use Google Analytics in a way that doesn't store PII.
I could run the business just fine without Google Analytics. Would just be in the dark a bit more. I'm not associated with EU so I haven't pondered on this as much as others. My first thought is that this should really be up to the browsers and their users on what info Analytics software is able to work out just from the user being on the page. Users should just assume that every business will absorb all available in…
Users should just assume that every business will absorb all available information.
Users don't know what "available information" is. And frankly, not even the browser developers do - we keep discovering new ways to track people (e.g. using ETags) with features that weren't intended for that. So it's quite hard to claim the user can simply decide what to share.