3 ms·

It's not about being scary. Why on earth would you think that? It's about creating cognizance of the fact that someone else is making money off your behavior.

by rosser 9y ago

It's not about being scary. Why on earth would you think that? It's about creating cognizance of the fact that someone else is making money off your behavior. You can be scared of that if you want, but creating that fear is certainly not the aim. I personally think things which increase people's general cognizance of the world around them are net goods. There's damned little enough of that as it is.

seanwilson 9y ago
> It's not about being scary. Why on earth would you think that? Telling someone they've been tricked and have been turned into a product is ominous sounding to me.
- rosser 9y ago
  > ...to me. That's your choice, consciously or otherwise. There's no trickery here. It's not like this is being hidden from people. It's just not widely recognized.
  - saimiam 9y ago
    Sin of omission vs commission.. When a cop doesn't explicitly read you your Miranda rights because they want you to incriminate yourself by delaying access to counsel, they aren't lying per se. You are expected to know that cops can exploit you but you, naively, expect good faith behavior from them. FD - see my profile.
- stubish 9y ago
  It is ominous. You are being farmed. If you are not aware what the service is costing you, you are being exploited. Are there some more benign terms to use to spin this? Or are the correct terms negatively loaded for a reason? This is particularly important if you believe minors should not be able to enter contracts. By using 'free' services, they are selling something unknowingly, maybe something they can't get back. "additional terms or product requirements (including age requirements) may apply" is there for a reason; an attempt to avoid liability.
jacquesm 9y ago
If you had any idea about what goes on behind the scenes you would think it is scary.
- rosser 9y ago
  I'm reminded of the Otto von Bismarck quip about laws and sausages. This is why I have zero qualms about using ad blockers, blocking third-party cookies, white-listing first-party cookies, and, and, and... An industry with as demonstrably unclean hands as online advertising deserves to die.

by rosser 9y ago

seanwilson 9y ago

> It's not about being scary. Why on earth would you think that? Telling someone they've been tricked and have been turned into a product is ominous sounding to me.

rosser 9y ago
> ...to me. That's your choice, consciously or otherwise. There's no trickery here. It's not like this is being hidden from people. It's just not widely recognized.
- saimiam 9y ago
  Sin of omission vs commission.. When a cop doesn't explicitly read you your Miranda rights because they want you to incriminate yourself by delaying access to counsel, they aren't lying per se. You are expected to know that cops can exploit you but you, naively, expect good faith behavior from them. FD - see my profile.
stubish 9y ago
It is ominous. You are being farmed. If you are not aware what the service is costing you, you are being exploited. Are there some more benign terms to use to spin this? Or are the correct terms negatively loaded for a reason? This is particularly important if you believe minors should not be able to enter contracts. By using 'free' services, they are selling something unknowingly, maybe something they can't get back. "additional terms or product requirements (including age requirements) may apply" is there for a reason; an attempt to avoid liability.

jacquesm 9y ago

If you had any idea about what goes on behind the scenes you would think it is scary.

rosser 9y ago
I'm reminded of the Otto von Bismarck quip about laws and sausages. This is why I have zero qualms about using ad blockers, blocking third-party cookies, white-listing first-party cookies, and, and, and... An industry with as demonstrably unclean hands as online advertising deserves to die.