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This is just email tech playing catch up with instant messaging, twitter, and other communication tools. At least with email I can block images and prevent the

by jbob2000 7y ago

This is just email tech playing catch up with instant messaging, twitter, and other communication tools. At least with email I can block images and prevent the tracking from occurring. I can't do that with facebook or twitter.

harryh 7y ago
This is not correct, and there is even a section in the post rebutting this point (did you read it?). See "Email clients have done this for years. Even Apple does this with iMessage"
jld 7y ago
From the article: > Superhuman doesn’t even let its own customers turn images off. So merely by using Superhuman, you are vulnerable to the exact same spying that Superhuman enables you to do to others.
- Skunkleton 7y ago
  All superhuman is doing is giving access the same tech that every company uses to monitor emails sent to individuals. If you don't like it (and you absolutely shouldn't), then don't use superhuman and turn of automatic image downloads in your email client.
  - ajiang 7y ago
    The problem is that the person that "doesn't like it" isn't the user of Superhuman, it is the recipient, who doesn't get a choice as to what email client the sender is using.
    - Skunkleton 7y ago
      And my point is that a large percentage of emails sent contain tracking pixels already. Privacy conscious recipients should already have automatic image downloading disabled.
- human20190310 7y ago
  This is where the author's dunk on Superhuman became complete. A Superhuman investor, who does not disclose his interest in the company, pops in to say it's the recipient's responsibility to defend their own privacy, using a method (turning images off) that Superhuman's own product makes impossible for its users. Wow.
ajiang 7y ago
I think this misses the points from the original post, the most critical IMO are: (1) Recipient generally doesn't know they're being tracked. Even in the argument that 'email is catching up to IM', the recipient always knows that read receipts are turned on -- because it is built into the UI. (2) Recipient doesn't know they're being tracked multiple times, with multiple locations. Again, in that same argument, messenger doesn't tell you the number of times I viewed your message and where I am when I viewed it. BTW -- you can absolutely turn off read receipts across both Facebook and Twitter.
- jbob2000 7y ago
  Turning off read receipts doesn't actually turn off read receipts, it just does't show the state to the user. Facebook still knows whether or not my message was read.

harryh 7y ago

This is not correct, and there is even a section in the post rebutting this point (did you read it?). See "Email clients have done this for years. Even Apple does this with iMessage"

jld 7y ago

From the article: > Superhuman doesn’t even let its own customers turn images off. So merely by using Superhuman, you are vulnerable to the exact same spying that Superhuman enables you to do to others.

Skunkleton 7y ago
All superhuman is doing is giving access the same tech that every company uses to monitor emails sent to individuals. If you don't like it (and you absolutely shouldn't), then don't use superhuman and turn of automatic image downloads in your email client.
- ajiang 7y ago
  The problem is that the person that "doesn't like it" isn't the user of Superhuman, it is the recipient, who doesn't get a choice as to what email client the sender is using.
  - Skunkleton 7y ago
    And my point is that a large percentage of emails sent contain tracking pixels already. Privacy conscious recipients should already have automatic image downloading disabled.
human20190310 7y ago
This is where the author's dunk on Superhuman became complete. A Superhuman investor, who does not disclose his interest in the company, pops in to say it's the recipient's responsibility to defend their own privacy, using a method (turning images off) that Superhuman's own product makes impossible for its users. Wow.

ajiang 7y ago

I think this misses the points from the original post, the most critical IMO are: (1) Recipient generally doesn't know they're being tracked. Even in the argument that 'email is catching up to IM', the recipient always knows that read receipts are turned on -- because it is built into the UI. (2) Recipient doesn't know they're being tracked multiple times, with multiple locations. Again, in that same argument, messenger doesn't tell you the number of times I viewed your message and where I am when I viewed it. BTW -- you can absolutely turn off read receipts across both Facebook and Twitter.

jbob2000 7y ago
Turning off read receipts doesn't actually turn off read receipts, it just does't show the state to the user. Facebook still knows whether or not my message was read.