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Who wants to be tracked?

quantable.com

71–80 of 273 posts

Re: Who wants to be tracked?

#71
post #55

Better question here is, why is this not handled through the browser instead of relying on individual web apps to do it. Block third party cookies by default, delete other cookies on the last tab or window closed and prompt user to save cookies on a form submit ("do not delete cookies for this domain when leaving" type of prompt, for pages with logins, settings, etc). Also remove features that make easy fingerprintin…

I might be wrong but I think the EU regulation that forced these cookie acceptance forms―I can't remember if it was GDPR or some earlier directive―specifically required that the consent submission may not be automated so that the browser can be configured to accept everything. It may have had good intentions as entities such as Microsoft would just set their browsers to default to accept all cookies anyway and a marg…

> I think the EU regulation that forced these cookie acceptance forms

Yep, i'm just not sure if it was general incompetence or just plain lobbying by third parties to do so.

Re: Who wants to be tracked?

#72
My main problem is cross website tracking. I don't really have a problem with a website keeping track of all my visits to that particular website.

I think it works similar in real life as well. You don't mind if a store clerk recognises you coming back to a shop. But you would be kind of creeped out if he also knew where and when you last visited your dentist.

Re: Who wants to be tracked?

#73

Better question here is, why is this not handled through the browser instead of relying on individual web apps to do it. Block third party cookies by default, delete other cookies on the last tab or window closed and prompt user to save cookies on a form submit ("do not delete cookies for this domain when leaving" type of prompt, for pages with logins, settings, etc). Also remove features that make easy fingerprintin…

I think it makes sense to roll your own analytics stack using first party cookies, but OP went a little bit overboard by removing all tracking cookies altogether.

Re: Who wants to be tracked?

#76
The model of regulation-compliance is this. It's not really about the specifics. Consent, privacy, kyc... Those may be initial motives for regulation, but by the time these exist in the world, they are a set of standard, rigid "compliance" protocols.

From formulation stage, it allows two parallel realities. One in which "consent" or whatnot have an intuitive meaning. Politicians and activists live here. One in which "consent" is a specification for a compliant "3rd party solution." Businesses live here.

Once functional, the bank, website or other complying business can claim the rules were made up by the regulator, and the regulator can either claim to be successful or blame businesses for problems. Being unremarkable, by copying or using 3rd party comliance plugins is more important than respecting the regulation's intent.

By the time consumers are affected, "consent" has a technical specification. It no longer has much actual meaning.

Think of the hoops, paperwork, informed consent signatures and such that you deal with at a bank. All those things had some regulatory logic behind them initially. Employees at the bank think this is government-required paperwork. What it is is compliance.

Re: Who wants to be tracked?

#77
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My violin is probably small-medium sized for this problem. You can talk to your users in person and ask them, or poll them via email. Do usability tests etc. I guess it just costs more. Other industries have to do this, they can't just default-spy on their customers.

> You can talk to your users in person and ask them doesn't scale. > poll them via email doesn't work. > default-spy on their customers analytics is not spying.

You can poll them via pop ups.

Ive seen this done a couple of times. The sites took care to make it unobtrusive, sensibly placed and with short, meaningful questions.

Frankly I think the data they got drove better decisions than analytics.

I liked that they let you write a message too.

Re: Who wants to be tracked?

#78
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You can talk to your users in person and ask them doesn't scale. > poll them via email doesn't work. > default-spy on their customers analytics is not spying.

you don't need scale, you need good data

Good data requires statistical significance which needs scale

Re: Who wants to be tracked?

#79
post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is similar to law enforcement saying: "You mean we cannot track everything you say and do. How in the world are we supposed to do our jobs safely and efficiently?" Answer is, you basically can't. Not safely and not (as) efficiently. Because the world will turn dystopian and will destroy the very thing we are trying to create/maintain. (Happiness, etc) It's nice to be able to A/B test your blog or product. It's c…

> it also hurts How is simple analytics or A/B testing that's NOT internet-wide tracking (that is, only for the website you're on) or sold (which would be outright illegal without explicit consent) hurting you? Genuine question, because I don't see it. Internet-wide tracking across many sites: sure. But that's a very different thing – it's the difference between "I'm home Darling, I saw Sander at the mall today" vs.…

The data is that of "I have a person who likes monkey paws" and then they can sell that to the monkey paw conglomerate. Next thing you know you're getting monkey paws in the mail!

Re: Who wants to be tracked?

#80
post #6

I don't know how the experience is in US, but in EU it's because GDPR is a complete failure of a law which doesn't actually solve any problem.

That law is at least an attempt to fix an existing problem. So this is like blaming someone who made a subpar raft for the flood that required the raft.
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