4 ms·

Stop using subjective terms like “creepy” and define exactly what you mean.

by matte_black 8y ago

machinesmachine 8y ago
Not being clear enough about what, how and when they proceed in regards to data
sorokod 8y ago
As well as being quite clear that they know much more about your life than you are comfortable with.
carapace 8y ago
> Mactaggart recalls the moment about four years ago that turned him into a privacy advocate. He asked a Google engineer at a cocktail party whether he should be worried about his privacy. "He said, 'Oh if you just knew how much we knew about you, you'd be really worried,' " recalls Mactaggart. It's not like we don't know that they don't know but if they did know they would not like it, and we know that too. Creepy: doing something to someone that you know they would not like if they knew about it but doing it anyway. What the tech industry et. al. is doing is deeply creepy and the only reason we're not up against the wall is that people haven't quite understood yet what's going on. It's so egregious that people are incredulous, but as they start to get a clue it will eventually be pitchforks and torches time. (Ahem, GDPR...)
slg 8y ago
The subjective nature of the term creepy is exactly what is important here because it all depends on context. Most people would consider it creepy when Target knows their daughter is pregnant before they do. [1] I would also bet most people would be perfectly happy if Target figures out they have a new puppy and starts sending coupons for dog food. Those things are fundamentally the same when it comes to what data is collected and what process predicted it. However the human element of privacy makes those two situations worlds apart. That human context is what is important and why it is so hard to come up with universal algorithms or rules that can adequately handle any privacy situation. [1] - https://consumerist.com/2012/02/17/target-figures-out-teen-girl-is-pregnant-before-her-father-does-sends-helpful-coupons/ https://consumerist.com/2012/02/17/target-figures-out-teen-g...
- nneonneo 8y ago
  Somewhat unrelated, but is anyone else having trouble loading that consumerist page? It keeps redirecting me off to https://consumerist.com/remote-login.php?login=... https://consumerist.com/remote-login.php?login=.... which 404s. Looks like a WordPress plugin (WPRemoteLogin) gone amok. EDIT: looks like this is because I'm logged into my own Wordpress blog. Weird that that should have any bearing on my ability to load this blog.

Stop using subjective terms like “creepy” and define exactly what you mean.

machinesmachine 8y ago

Not being clear enough about what, how and when they proceed in regards to data

sorokod 8y ago

As well as being quite clear that they know much more about your life than you are comfortable with.

carapace 8y ago

> Mactaggart recalls the moment about four years ago that turned him into a privacy advocate. He asked a Google engineer at a cocktail party whether he should be worried about his privacy. "He said, 'Oh if you just knew how much we knew about you, you'd be really worried,' " recalls Mactaggart. It's not like we don't know that they don't know but if they did know they would not like it, and we know that too. Creepy: doing something to someone that you know they would not like if they knew about it but doing it anyway. What the tech industry et. al. is doing is deeply creepy and the only reason we're not up against the wall is that people haven't quite understood yet what's going on. It's so egregious that people are incredulous, but as they start to get a clue it will eventually be pitchforks and torches time. (Ahem, GDPR...)

slg 8y ago

The subjective nature of the term creepy is exactly what is important here because it all depends on context. Most people would consider it creepy when Target knows their daughter is pregnant before they do. [1] I would also bet most people would be perfectly happy if Target figures out they have a new puppy and starts sending coupons for dog food. Those things are fundamentally the same when it comes to what data is collected and what process predicted it. However the human element of privacy makes those two situations worlds apart. That human context is what is important and why it is so hard to come up with universal algorithms or rules that can adequately handle any privacy situation. [1] - https://consumerist.com/2012/02/17/target-figures-out-teen-girl-is-pregnant-before-her-father-does-sends-helpful-coupons/ https://consumerist.com/2012/02/17/target-figures-out-teen-g...

nneonneo 8y ago
Somewhat unrelated, but is anyone else having trouble loading that consumerist page? It keeps redirecting me off to https://consumerist.com/remote-login.php?login=... https://consumerist.com/remote-login.php?login=.... which 404s. Looks like a WordPress plugin (WPRemoteLogin) gone amok. EDIT: looks like this is because I'm logged into my own Wordpress blog. Weird that that should have any bearing on my ability to load this blog.