6 ms·

I worked at oracle on the bluekai product (search 'oracle' in my comment history). I helped deliver data using bluekai from oracle to platforms like facebook an

by soared 6y ago

I worked at oracle on the bluekai product (search 'oracle' in my comment history). I helped deliver data using bluekai from oracle to platforms like facebook and google. AMA. If you are curious what data is housed in bluekai, here is a 170 page pdf with lists and descriptions of different data providers/vendors: http://www.oracle.com/us/solutions/cloud/data-directory-2810741.pdf http://www.oracle.com/us/solutions/cloud/data-directory-2810...

sailfast 6y ago
What is the best way to opt-out / avoid tracking like this? The Oracle opt-out page requires providing your physical address / email / name and then only sets a cookie in your single browser.
- swsieber 6y ago
  I recommend ublock origin. When I checked with the disclosure page (give me everything you have on me), after disabling ublock origin for that page, it said they had nothing on me. The truth of that statement is debatable, but it seems to be effective.
- soared 6y ago
  A good adblocker and using this tool on all of your devices: https://optout.networkadvertising.org/?c=1 https://optout.networkadvertising.org/?c=1 Its difficult to actually opt out in full, but we will definitely get to that point in the future. Also if you use niche hardware/software (like netscape on an old linux distro) you're data will just get cleansed out. Nobody does fingerprinting unless you're a spy or in charge of purchasing for a hospital or something, so I wouldn't worry about that.
  - jefftk 6y ago
    > Nobody does fingerprinting ... so I wouldn't worry about that. I'm not sure how long you've been out, but this has changed a lot recently. Many adtech companies (not us) have responded to ITP by building out fingerprinting to continue personalization. (Disclosure: I work on ads at Google)
    - soared 6y ago
      Yeah that makes sense. As far as I was aware only the low-tier dmp/cross-device/measurement vendors did, but all the top tier dsps vetted their vendors and don't allow that.
- 29athrowaway 6y ago
  pfsense + pfBlockerNG
dalben 6y ago
Is data of European citizens processed? The site says it's not, but how do they know? GeoIP?
- lostlogin 6y ago
  A VPN based in Europe seems a good option is this is the way.
- soared 6y ago
  I don't know the current answer, but the vast majority of companies just turned off all operations to avoid an GDPR mess. I don't know how it was turned off though. Likely ip.
  - black_puppydog 6y ago
    > the vast majority of companies just turned off all operations to avoid an GDPR mess Are you saying that regulation is effective? :)
    - soared 6y ago
      Yeah, from the perspective that tons of companies stopped doing business in Europe
      - maldeh 6y ago
        Sure, as long as we're not insinuating that's an inherently undesirable thing. We're quite literally on a thread involving a product that collected tonnes of sensitive user data without a clear opt-out mechanism while failing to be an effective custodian, after all.
      - merightnow 6y ago
        Can't think of a single company which did that and had any impact on me. I'm not able to read some news on a local foreign website once every few months and that's kind of everything.
      - 6y ago
akeck 6y ago
Do they store data forever, or does it eventually cycle out for cost reasons?
- soared 6y ago
  There is a metric called time to live (ttl) that cycles users out of an audience after x days. Technically they can live in bluekai forever, but pretty much all platforms default ttl to like 120 days and then advertisers pare it down even more. Oracle's data transfer/storage costs are meaningless since this business unit in oracle just exists to establish market share - they're not trying to make money yet. Other company's data costs are what cause oracle to store/deliver less.

by soared 6y ago

sailfast 6y ago

What is the best way to opt-out / avoid tracking like this? The Oracle opt-out page requires providing your physical address / email / name and then only sets a cookie in your single browser.

swsieber 6y ago
I recommend ublock origin. When I checked with the disclosure page (give me everything you have on me), after disabling ublock origin for that page, it said they had nothing on me. The truth of that statement is debatable, but it seems to be effective.
soared 6y ago
A good adblocker and using this tool on all of your devices: https://optout.networkadvertising.org/?c=1 https://optout.networkadvertising.org/?c=1 Its difficult to actually opt out in full, but we will definitely get to that point in the future. Also if you use niche hardware/software (like netscape on an old linux distro) you're data will just get cleansed out. Nobody does fingerprinting unless you're a spy or in charge of purchasing for a hospital or something, so I wouldn't worry about that.
- jefftk 6y ago
  > Nobody does fingerprinting ... so I wouldn't worry about that. I'm not sure how long you've been out, but this has changed a lot recently. Many adtech companies (not us) have responded to ITP by building out fingerprinting to continue personalization. (Disclosure: I work on ads at Google)
  - soared 6y ago
    Yeah that makes sense. As far as I was aware only the low-tier dmp/cross-device/measurement vendors did, but all the top tier dsps vetted their vendors and don't allow that.
29athrowaway 6y ago
pfsense + pfBlockerNG

dalben 6y ago

Is data of European citizens processed? The site says it's not, but how do they know? GeoIP?

lostlogin 6y ago
A VPN based in Europe seems a good option is this is the way.
soared 6y ago
I don't know the current answer, but the vast majority of companies just turned off all operations to avoid an GDPR mess. I don't know how it was turned off though. Likely ip.
- black_puppydog 6y ago
  > the vast majority of companies just turned off all operations to avoid an GDPR mess Are you saying that regulation is effective? :)
  - soared 6y ago
    Yeah, from the perspective that tons of companies stopped doing business in Europe
    - maldeh 6y ago
      Sure, as long as we're not insinuating that's an inherently undesirable thing. We're quite literally on a thread involving a product that collected tonnes of sensitive user data without a clear opt-out mechanism while failing to be an effective custodian, after all.
    - merightnow 6y ago
      Can't think of a single company which did that and had any impact on me. I'm not able to read some news on a local foreign website once every few months and that's kind of everything.
    - 6y ago

akeck 6y ago

Do they store data forever, or does it eventually cycle out for cost reasons?

soared 6y ago
There is a metric called time to live (ttl) that cycles users out of an audience after x days. Technically they can live in bluekai forever, but pretty much all platforms default ttl to like 120 days and then advertisers pare it down even more. Oracle's data transfer/storage costs are meaningless since this business unit in oracle just exists to establish market share - they're not trying to make money yet. Other company's data costs are what cause oracle to store/deliver less.