DuckDuckGo Challenges Google on Privacy (With a Billboard in San Francisco)

Post by dedward » Thu, Jan 20, 2011, 4:24 AM UTC

epi0Bauqu wrote: post #69

seabee wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The browser does it, and did it long before Google existed.

That doesn't mean Google couldn't or shouldn't prevent the browser from doing it. When this all started, no one envisioned ad networks and data companies aggregating all this personal information, or even that search terms would be a central part of the Internet. So now that we know what is going on, why allow this personal information to leak? As far as I can tell, the only reason is so Webmasters can do better at G…

Post by dauphin » Thu, Jan 20, 2011, 4:26 AM UTC

dools wrote: post #90

Turning off HTTP_REFERER doesn't sound like a very good idea. How would you be able to tell how people found you? Knowing what link someone came in from is a great way to see where your site fits into this world wide web of ours. It sounds to me as if the only issue is 3rd party ad networks. The antidote to this seems to me to be more reasonably the web browser's jurisdiction, ie. making the cookie policy more restri…

Post by magicalist » Thu, Jan 20, 2011, 4:28 AM UTC

epi0Bauqu wrote: post #60

Pewpewarrows wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a feature of how the internet works at an architectural level. How exactly is that Google's fault? If you don't want referral headers to be sent from one website to another, use HTTPS, or turn it off in your browser.

Unfortunately, normal people don't know how to turn them off or use the https version. Google could do a lot of things to make this easier. The best would be to just prevent ad networks from collecting this personal information altogether. The only reason I've heard against doing so is that webmasters need search terms for SEO, but they can get them via Webmaster tools. Failing that, they could make a setting in the…

Post by djmdjm » Thu, Jan 20, 2011, 4:35 AM UTC

epi0Bauqu wrote: post #35

citricsquid wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was under the impression you can opt-out of all that, is that not the case?

No, you cannot opt-out of the referrer header. However, you can use the SSL version, which doesn't send it in most cases (still sends it for HTTPS->HTTPS traffic). Edit: sorry, I meant you cannot opt-out using http://www.google.com/privacy/ads/ or other HTTP (regular Google) settings.

Post by sp332 » Thu, Jan 20, 2011, 4:55 AM UTC

chrisbroadfoot wrote: post #84

seabee wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The browser does it, and did it long before Google existed.

Yep - if you don't want people seeing your bieberqueries, you should use SSL Google: https://encrypted.google.com/ ... or if you're super paranoid, disable sending referrer in your browser.