4 ms·

> we would be wary on taking free Google Analytics for granted It is not free. Your users pay for that with their privacy and Google gets your user's browsing

> we would be wary on taking free Google Analytics for granted It is not free. Your users pay for that with their privacy and Google gets your user's browsing history for free. It is unfair and you should not have used it in the first place.

DarkCrusader2 8y ago
Their "I am not a robot" captcha is in similar vein. If I am training your machine learning models by manually clicking on pictures, I need access to the trained model. I have refused to use dozens of service which required me to click pictures to prove that "I am not a robot" and sent the service provider an email informing them of my decision. I would urge everyone to do the same.
- danShumway 8y ago
  Not sure where it falls on your ethics continuum, but it's not that hard to tell the difference between a pre-labeled and unlabled picture in a Google Captcha. I've started noticing that if you're sneaky you can get a surprisingly large tolerance for error. I've no idea how effective that actually is at poisoning results. There is an (admittedly a little nasty) part of my brain that really likes the idea that if I'm being asked to provide free labor for a proprietary company, then I'm not really under any obligation to be a great worker. Just refusing to use the service is probably more effective though.
- auslander 8y ago
  This, plus most sites side load content from major CDN's, like ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery and log the requests. You'll need additional extension besides VPN, Private Browsing and uBlock Origin - Decentraleyes: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/decentraleyes https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/decentraleyes It's amazing how much you need to break free from tracking, but I'm on the war path :) Btw, taking the red pill will cut you off Facebook and Google accounts, unless you provide real phone numbers. Matrix movie: "You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes"

DarkCrusader2 8y ago

Their "I am not a robot" captcha is in similar vein. If I am training your machine learning models by manually clicking on pictures, I need access to the trained model. I have refused to use dozens of service which required me to click pictures to prove that "I am not a robot" and sent the service provider an email informing them of my decision. I would urge everyone to do the same.

danShumway 8y ago
Not sure where it falls on your ethics continuum, but it's not that hard to tell the difference between a pre-labeled and unlabled picture in a Google Captcha. I've started noticing that if you're sneaky you can get a surprisingly large tolerance for error. I've no idea how effective that actually is at poisoning results. There is an (admittedly a little nasty) part of my brain that really likes the idea that if I'm being asked to provide free labor for a proprietary company, then I'm not really under any obligation to be a great worker. Just refusing to use the service is probably more effective though.
auslander 8y ago
This, plus most sites side load content from major CDN's, like ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery and log the requests. You'll need additional extension besides VPN, Private Browsing and uBlock Origin - Decentraleyes: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/decentraleyes https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/decentraleyes It's amazing how much you need to break free from tracking, but I'm on the war path :) Btw, taking the red pill will cut you off Facebook and Google accounts, unless you provide real phone numbers. Matrix movie: "You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes"