3 ms·

A lot of people are replying to point out that this demonstrates the judge is technically illiterate like that's a bad thing. I think it's a good thing. This is

A lot of people are replying to point out that this demonstrates the judge is technically illiterate like that's a bad thing. I think it's a good thing. This is how a normal person perceives this feature and the fact that it doesn't work as advertised is a failure of communication, implementation, or both. In my experience most technically illiterate people, when common tracking techniques are explained to them, are appalled and creeped out. There's a growing disconnect between what we in the industry consider acceptable and what the non-technical public would consider acceptable. And yes, it's especially galling that when you use one Google product in a mode that's supposed to be private another Google product still tracks you.

gerash 6y ago
If you wear a mask to be anonymous when you enter a shop do you find it "galling" if the cctv still records your entrance or did you expect to become invisible suddenly?
- AlexandrB 6y ago
  If the mask was made of a material that's transparent to CCTV cameras it would be "galling", yes. That's basically what's happening here.
  - gerash 6y ago
    No, the way incognito works is as if you are using a throw away device. If the website measures what pages in the website you visited it doesn't make such incognito "mask" any more transparent. It'd be similar to the cctv recording what aisles you visited in the shop while you had your mask on
to11mtm 6y ago
> A lot of people are replying to point out that this demonstrates the judge is technically illiterate like that's a bad thing. I think it's a good thing. I think it's a double edged sword. Alsup took the time to learn Java, and it probably had an impact in his decision to rule that APIs weren't copyrightable. > There's a growing disconnect between what we in the industry consider acceptable and what the non-technical public would consider acceptable. I'm not sure I agree with this either. Most of the arguments I see that aren't from people who -work- at the companies that do the tracking. Otherwise typically what I hear from technical people is at worst a 'defeatist' argument; that it would require all of the world's governments to enforce such regulations against tracking, otherwise it's a zero sum game.

gerash 6y ago

If you wear a mask to be anonymous when you enter a shop do you find it "galling" if the cctv still records your entrance or did you expect to become invisible suddenly?

AlexandrB 6y ago
If the mask was made of a material that's transparent to CCTV cameras it would be "galling", yes. That's basically what's happening here.
- gerash 6y ago
  No, the way incognito works is as if you are using a throw away device. If the website measures what pages in the website you visited it doesn't make such incognito "mask" any more transparent. It'd be similar to the cctv recording what aisles you visited in the shop while you had your mask on

to11mtm 6y ago

> A lot of people are replying to point out that this demonstrates the judge is technically illiterate like that's a bad thing. I think it's a good thing. I think it's a double edged sword. Alsup took the time to learn Java, and it probably had an impact in his decision to rule that APIs weren't copyrightable. > There's a growing disconnect between what we in the industry consider acceptable and what the non-technical public would consider acceptable. I'm not sure I agree with this either. Most of the arguments I see that aren't from people who -work- at the companies that do the tracking. Otherwise typically what I hear from technical people is at worst a 'defeatist' argument; that it would require all of the world's governments to enforce such regulations against tracking, otherwise it's a zero sum game.