5 ms·

And yet, has anyone ever been harmed by Google Analytics? How would we know?

by skybrian 4y ago

spookie 4y ago
This has been answered in the thread, but the tl;dr is that it compromises European rights. Poor Google :'(
- skybrian 4y ago
  How important can these rights be if compromising them harms nobody? You could have the right to name an asteroid, but it's not an important right.
  - criddell 4y ago
    Do you think Google has ever been served a court order requiring them to share information on a user and not inform the user? If so, then probably some people have been harmed.
    - skybrian 4y ago
      That doesn't follow, and it seems doubtful whether it ever happened. Google has received court orders about other user data like Gmail, but have they ever gotten a court order about Google Analytics? That data isn't associated with Google accounts, and I doubt law enforcement would know what to ask for.
      - criddell 4y ago
        If GA cannot be associated with an individual, why do you think the Danish Data Protection Agency cares?
belorn 4y ago
We know from scandals and leaks that google has access to citizens sensitive data from multiple nations, with privileged access that handles medical, military, political, commercial, and legal information. No one should hold that much power.
- skybrian 4y ago
  That's not what I asked, though. Those aren't examples of people being harmed.
  - esperent 4y ago
    Why are you bringing up the word "harm" here? The relevant word is "privacy". The relevant question is "has anyone had their right to privacy taken from them, as defined in EU law?". The answer, according to the Danish, French, and Austrian governments (so far), is "yes".
- daniel-cussen 4y ago
  Like the whole privacy ship has sailed. The mark of the beast has been deeply imprinted. Tattooed on the forehead, like slaves in Ancient Rome. It doesn't mean we're all fucked. On the contrary. Game has changed. Poker into chess. And you know why they hold that much power? Nobody else made a search engine worth a fuck. That's it. Secondly, integrity. Google actually debugs. Meaning until there's no bugs left. I've seen bugs in everything except Google's software, mostly, don't accuse bugs but can't vouch they have none, either. Makes perfect sense their use of Yubikey led to no account compromises among like 100000 accounts, that and the bug-free software are the fruits of integrity. I mean I'm sure I've seen bugs in Google's software but I don't remember them off the top of my head, unlike Apple since like 2021, whom else, well the whole Solarwinds bitch story, American second-tier tech getting fucked wholesale. What happened to "don't share needles"? Everybody is sharing one needle. That needle is the internet. Like if you must share it like burn the tip very carefully with a lighter and pump drano through it. So that's what Google did. And they're doing it as a public service basically, like not exactly but pretty much, today at least I do buy their argument that it's free so it's not harmful to the consumer. But other days I know it hurts businesses, and everybody gets their money from businesses or taxes on businesses, so harm to business is harm to the consumers who earn their money from that business ultimately.
34679 4y ago
The right to privacy isn't just about the potential for harm. I wouldn't want a stranger watching me have sex, even if they were a completely passive observer.
- skybrian 4y ago
  This isn't what Google Analytics does, though.
lmm 4y ago
We probably won't find out until decades after, when it comes out that the reason someone was denied entry to the US or got their bank account frozen was because a US agency incorrectly identified them based on some data that they secretly pulled out of Google Analytics.
teddyh 4y ago
Pervasive Monitoring Is an Attack: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7258.html https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7258.html

And yet, has anyone ever been harmed by Google Analytics? How would we know?

spookie 4y ago

This has been answered in the thread, but the tl;dr is that it compromises European rights. Poor Google :'(

skybrian 4y ago
How important can these rights be if compromising them harms nobody? You could have the right to name an asteroid, but it's not an important right.
- criddell 4y ago
  Do you think Google has ever been served a court order requiring them to share information on a user and not inform the user? If so, then probably some people have been harmed.
  - skybrian 4y ago
    That doesn't follow, and it seems doubtful whether it ever happened. Google has received court orders about other user data like Gmail, but have they ever gotten a court order about Google Analytics? That data isn't associated with Google accounts, and I doubt law enforcement would know what to ask for.
    - criddell 4y ago
      If GA cannot be associated with an individual, why do you think the Danish Data Protection Agency cares?

belorn 4y ago

We know from scandals and leaks that google has access to citizens sensitive data from multiple nations, with privileged access that handles medical, military, political, commercial, and legal information. No one should hold that much power.

skybrian 4y ago
That's not what I asked, though. Those aren't examples of people being harmed.
- esperent 4y ago
  Why are you bringing up the word "harm" here? The relevant word is "privacy". The relevant question is "has anyone had their right to privacy taken from them, as defined in EU law?". The answer, according to the Danish, French, and Austrian governments (so far), is "yes".
daniel-cussen 4y ago
Like the whole privacy ship has sailed. The mark of the beast has been deeply imprinted. Tattooed on the forehead, like slaves in Ancient Rome. It doesn't mean we're all fucked. On the contrary. Game has changed. Poker into chess. And you know why they hold that much power? Nobody else made a search engine worth a fuck. That's it. Secondly, integrity. Google actually debugs. Meaning until there's no bugs left. I've seen bugs in everything except Google's software, mostly, don't accuse bugs but can't vouch they have none, either. Makes perfect sense their use of Yubikey led to no account compromises among like 100000 accounts, that and the bug-free software are the fruits of integrity. I mean I'm sure I've seen bugs in Google's software but I don't remember them off the top of my head, unlike Apple since like 2021, whom else, well the whole Solarwinds bitch story, American second-tier tech getting fucked wholesale. What happened to "don't share needles"? Everybody is sharing one needle. That needle is the internet. Like if you must share it like burn the tip very carefully with a lighter and pump drano through it. So that's what Google did. And they're doing it as a public service basically, like not exactly but pretty much, today at least I do buy their argument that it's free so it's not harmful to the consumer. But other days I know it hurts businesses, and everybody gets their money from businesses or taxes on businesses, so harm to business is harm to the consumers who earn their money from that business ultimately.

34679 4y ago

The right to privacy isn't just about the potential for harm. I wouldn't want a stranger watching me have sex, even if they were a completely passive observer.

skybrian 4y ago
This isn't what Google Analytics does, though.

lmm 4y ago

We probably won't find out until decades after, when it comes out that the reason someone was denied entry to the US or got their bank account frozen was because a US agency incorrectly identified them based on some data that they secretly pulled out of Google Analytics.

teddyh 4y ago

Pervasive Monitoring Is an Attack: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7258.html https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7258.html