I work with Ad Data a lot in my job, and there's a lot of misconceptions about what this data that journalists love to propogate: The location data in these networks is very inaccurate. Your OS and browser actually do a pretty good job of locking down your location data unless you give explicit permission. It's in the ad network's interests to lie about the quality of their data - so a lot of the "location" data is g…
Neither the government nor an ad agency needs to know where I am, no matter how "rough" the data is. It's none of their business.
Yet another reminder that everyone everywhere should be blocking all ads all the time. I don't say that lightly as absolutes tend to not be the appropriate solution, but an absolute stance of blocking ads is appropriate.
100%, this has been my soap box for years. A very easy, effective, multi-layer setup: 1. Browser adblocker 2. Pi hole running locally 3. Pi hole at your home network router level And 4, not as easy but effective, a firewall like Little Snitch Edit: the other good news is your old data loses value quickly, so starting today is still very effective: you haven’t missed the boat yet!
This doesn't cover in-app adds on phones over mobile data, which is probably the main vector for the tracking discussed in the article. For that:
>For years, the internet advertising industry has been sucking up our data, including our location data For years, people have been sharing everything they do, what they do, people they spent time with, where they live. Advertisement industry just adds more info to complete your profile, what you buy, what you watch, what you speak online, etc.
People here complain that programmers aren’t engineers because real engineers can accidentally kill people and get sued if they mess an equation up. Instead of just breaking a build or something. I think it’s more concerning that programmers seem to have no care or shame about designing systems that works against the users’ interests. Did you share something intimate in our chat? Well it’s not E2E, moron, we have tha…
It really cannot be both ways--the tech industry cannot both be producing critical infrastructure and be immune from liability. We've tried this experiment before, and millions suffered and died needlessly. We have electrical codes, building codes, automotive safety standards, etc., because many, many people died preventable deaths. With the amount of leverage tech has over the economy I don't think it's reasonable that we don't have software engineering codes and professional accountability. But I have absolutely no confidence we'll get there until there are multiple deadly catastrophes over a series of decades.
I work with Ad Data a lot in my job, and there's a lot of misconceptions about what this data that journalists love to propogate: The location data in these networks is very inaccurate. Your OS and browser actually do a pretty good job of locking down your location data unless you give explicit permission. It's in the ad network's interests to lie about the quality of their data - so a lot of the "location" data is g…
Neither the government nor an ad agency needs to know where I am, no matter how "rough" the data is. It's none of their business.
But dude... just think of all the optimal personalized mattres sales they can do with that data. I mean, people that use the bathroom at 3:57pm for seven minutes are 0.00138% more likely to buy a new mattress within the next six months. They need that data. Think of all the unsold mattresses.
That location information is not available to apps or ad networks without user consent. The government can access it from the carrier with a warrant, but that's not what we're discussing here.
Carriers have also sold customer location data, no search warrant required. Though we can rest assured that the FCC has slapped the carriers' wrists with the utmost seriousness.
And sold it to not just the government but anybody _claiming_ to be a bounty hunter (and some other professions).
I have never regretted my decision to aggressively block ads on every device I use, and to shun devices where I can't.
I am not sure that ad blocking is enough now or in the future as fingerprinting is extremely hard to fight while keeping a convenient web experience. Of course, continue blocking for convenience, but for privacy, more robust solutions are needed. Try to beat this: https://fingerprint.com
I always thought these massive surveillance systems private companies are building will eventually used by governments. The Nazis, Stalin or now North Korea would be supper happy to access the data companies are accumulating aggressively.
I have never regretted my decision to aggressively block ads on every device I use, and to shun devices where I can't.
I am not sure that ad blocking is enough now or in the future as fingerprinting is extremely hard to fight while keeping a convenient web experience. Of course, continue blocking for convenience, but for privacy, more robust solutions are needed. Try to beat this: https://fingerprint.com
Doesn't this just identify you as "that one guy who blocks fingerprinting"?
It's similar to when you use Linux or an obscure privacy-preserving browser. You've made yourself way more unique just by doing that.
(I'm not sure how the math works out though, vs. actually running all that nasty tracking stuff.)
People here complain that programmers aren’t engineers because real engineers can accidentally kill people and get sued if they mess an equation up. Instead of just breaking a build or something. I think it’s more concerning that programmers seem to have no care or shame about designing systems that works against the users’ interests. Did you share something intimate in our chat? Well it’s not E2E, moron, we have tha…
As an old-school programmer who thought computers would improve people's lives back in the 80s when I was a wide-eyed teenager.. I am constantly appalled by the current generation of SV people who are very right-leaning and are happy to steal anything and everything they can. It didn't seem like this 20 years ago when I started. I hate the advertising industry with a passion. Anecdotally, it feels like it fits right…
They say the fish rots from the head. I think the U.S. has been rewarding lawlessness at the top for quite a while now.
I concur on missing the turn of the century optimism that tech could make a brighter future.