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Can't you achieve the same effect at user level by faking some data + messing with tracking via Firefox containers + Ghostery + Cookies AutoDelete?
by prostoalex 6y ago
Can't you achieve the same effect at user level by faking some data + messing with tracking via Firefox containers + Ghostery + Cookies AutoDelete?
- RussianCow 6y agoAnd how many people are realistically going to go through that effort?
- SirSourdough 6y agoWhat portion of all users are going to do that? A fraction of a percent? The point of making the companies change is that most users aren’t computer literate enough to understand the problem, it’s consequences, or the mitigations. The knowledge asymmetry between the average user and the companies collecting and using this data could hardly be more vast, and that creates a situation where companies can effectively prey on less knowledgable users. If the wide majority of users aren’t capable of finding/using the available user-level solutions, the problems will remain rampant.
- prostoalex 6y agoThe latter could be accomplished by shipping a privacy-championing browser that enables those behavior by default (Brave? Apple?). You're saying the low levels of adoption of such technologies are indicative of users' subpar technical skills, but maybe it's just general apathy and disinterest? E.g., how many public protests and calls to action have we seen after Snowden revelations? FWIW, the former is already prevalent among younger generations, with Instagram for their "public" life and f-Insta for everything private.
- pessimizer 6y agoThe government setting up an independent, trustworthy program to do this for every single person either unaware or unskilled enough to do this would cost a lot more than $10/person, or whatever this dividend is. But if the "you" you're referring to here is actually just you, of course you can.