17 ms·

Disney+ demands users’ age and gender so it can “deliver targeted advertising”

208 points by NickRandom 4y ago

JadoJodo 4y ago
Part of me wants to just lean in and claim to be a "105-year-old they/them", but I know that the vast majority of people would happily provide this information just to keep their service up. What a shame.
mrwh 4y ago
I honestly thought this was a phishing attempt. There doesn't seem to be a way to enter these data via the website, only the email link.
Hizonner 4y ago
Does ANYBODY EVER provide an accurate response to a question like that (except when there's reason to believe they can detect it and do something to your detriment if you lie)? If so, why? Anybody who asks deserves to be chaffed into oblivion with garbage data. Especially, who would be dumb enough to admit to being under 18, or, worse, under 13? An 8 year old should see the obvious reasons not to do that. A bright 6 year old. I used to lie and say I was really old, but now I'm really old so I just lie at random.
- soperj 4y ago
  I remember playing Leisure Suit Larry at 8 or 9 years old. They'd test you to make sure you were over 18 but if you said you were over 99, it would just reply "No you're not" and boot you. I don't remember what they'd do if you said you were under 18, I don't know if I was dumb enough to ever try it once.
  - kibwen 4y ago
    Here's Leisure Suit Larry's age quiz, consisting of pop culture questions that would have suggested adulthood back in 1987: https://allowe.com/games/larry/tips-manuals/lsl1-age-quiz.html https://allowe.com/games/larry/tips-manuals/lsl1-age-quiz.ht...
    - wvenable 4y ago
      Getting through the age quiz as a kid was almost as fun as playing the game.
    - b800h 4y ago
      Did they alter it for foreign markets? Some very US centric questions there.
      - LAC-Tech 4y ago
        How much of a foreign market was there for English language computer games in 1987?
    - soperj 4y ago
      That can't be all of them. I swear there was one with Bo Jackson as well, which I would confuse with the Bo Derek ones (didn't know who either was at the time).
- StillBored 4y ago
  Yah I used to type 1911, but its interesting just how old some sites allow you to be. Some places can't even deal with 100 year olds (which isn't that uncommon) while others allow you to be 150+. Presumably some places appear to just be doing todays date-120/130 years. So its possible to create an account that likely won't be able to revalidate ones birthday using their age validators in a few years unless they adjust the age because you will be over what they think is the max age.
- birdman3131 4y ago
  Depending on the site if they are gonna use it as verification in the future. Im not gonna remember the randomly entered date. Its not like you can identify 87% of the US based on Date of birth, 5 digit Zip Code and gender. Oh wait. https://dataprivacylab.org/projects/identifiability/index.html https://dataprivacylab.org/projects/identifiability/index.ht...
  - Hizonner 4y ago
    Does that mean you give real answers to the other "password recovery" questions? "Verification" questions should get random answers that get saved in your password manager.
    - nprateem 4y ago
      It's always fun when you have to call up customer support though and have to spell your mother's maiden name. "Yes it's right bracket, exclamation, capital R, dollar sign..."
      - b800h 4y ago
        "She was a member of the Technocracy Movement" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technocracy_movement https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technocracy_movement
- user3939382 4y ago
  My "birthday" is January 1, 1970 (an homage to unix) for any database/system inappropriately asking. This way they don't have my data to leak or abuse, but I still know what I specified if I'm asked to verify it.
  - Ancient 4y ago
    I always use January 1st {Birth Year} (easy to remember) but I like this now too. Thanks
    - kgwxd 4y ago
      That's still accurate enough for their goals though. I put random very old dates and just keep DOBs noted in my password manager.
  - katla 4y ago
    I might just start doing the same. Thanks! :)
  - LeifCarrotson 4y ago
    At 00:00:00 UTC, I assume? I don't expect there's any reason for them to divide by a datetime...but one can hope that some ad server somewhere has crashed as a result. My go-to birthday has always been January 1st of the year I was actually born. That way it doesn't raise any eyebrows if I want to convert something to a real account or interact with real people, but it fails verification if they mishandle my credentials. That's worked great, except that one time when I inadvertently booked a flight on united.com (who should have my actual birthday, with whom I'd flown internationally several times before) with a session token or something set by a random travel search engine to whom I had given my fake January 1st birthday and then (I thought) abandoned before picking a different flight. Customs had pointed questions about the authenticity of my passport and driver's license, because their system showed that my documents should be different and they couldn't tell me why... They eventually let me back into the country, but that was not fun.
    - vanilla_nut 4y ago
- WarOnPrivacy 4y ago
  > Especially, who would be dumb enough to admit to being under 18 For websites that respect COPPA, under-13 might be your best bet for less targeting ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Online_Privacy_Protection_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Online_Privacy_Pr...
  - Hizonner 4y ago
    Yeah, but the problem is that it often locks you out of the site completely, which they don't tell you until you've answered. And when it doesn't, it often breaks features or locks down your access to content. I guess in theory it could also trigger them to ask for a note from your parents...
    - WarOnPrivacy 4y ago
      > but the problem is that it often locks you out of the site completely, which they don't tell you until you've answered. I see now. Children under 13 are not currently permitted to register on the sites and apps for Disney Parks. For activities on apps and other online offerings, minor children under 13 years old may access some content under the supervision of a parent or guardian within that person's account. ref: https://plandisney.disney.go.com/question/create-accounts-minor-children-play-disney-app-421312/ https://plandisney.disney.go.com/question/create-accounts-mi...
- basch 4y ago
  Have you ever given the wrong information, and then later needed to use it as some type of security / identity verification? I know I've run into it at least once, I think maybe Microsoft, where having an unknown birth date on the account became a huge headache. Lesson learned. Write stuff like this down in a vault too.
  - Hizonner 4y ago
    Keeping your legend straight is a fundamental part of good tradecraft...
  - everybodyknows 4y ago
    I gave Google an off-by-one birth date way back when. A few years ago they figured it out -- sorry, don't recall what hints they may have been working from -- and demanded a correction. After considering the implicit threat, account termination, I surrendered the actual birthdate.
- hiq 4y ago
  I know somebody who lost an instagram account like this. Provided fake info when signing up. Years later, get a request to post an id or get banned. Id didn't match the fake info of course, so account banned all the same.
mensetmanusman 4y ago
Just say you’re 6
- phone8675309 4y ago
  You have to mentally be 6 if you’re enjoying the garbage they’re chucking onto Disney+.
  - WarOnPrivacy 4y ago
    Andor is one of the better shows I've seen - ever. Their Star Wars offerings in general have been very well put together.
    - yamazakiwi 4y ago
      What about the other 99.999% of their content?
      - WarOnPrivacy 4y ago
        I imagine most viewers only watch .001% of everything they have access to; the rest of it would be properly irrelevant.
        yamazakiwi 4y ago
        That makes sense!
    - dehrmann 4y ago
      Back in my day, we were waited 15 years for more Star Wars content, then immediately regretted it and asked what we'd been doing with our lives.
    - bil7 4y ago
      it really is an amazing show. I hope it does very well. However I can forsee two groups; the first, who won't watch because "it's star wars and i'm not into star wars"; the second, "i like star wars but this show doesn't have any light sabers or jedis or the force - why would i watch it?? boring!"
Markoff 4y ago
Good for them, I "pirate" content legally since I pay huge fees in Czechia from each storage media (last time I bought 64GB flashdrive, the copyright fees were more than cost of the flash drive), so I can legally download copy of any movie, TV show or music for my own use. Pahe in India, Philipines, PSA on PM, MKVking and plenty of other options to download legally content even without torrenting.
yamazakiwi 4y ago
Tiktok asked for my birthday and I couldn't navigate away from the page. I uninstalled and reinstalled the app to try and circumvent entering a birthday. They banned my account. This account was active for 2+ years and they out of the blue REQUIRED a birthday like wth.
- dmonitor 4y ago
  that might have been compliance with some law regarding showing content to children
  - yamazakiwi 4y ago
    I thought the same, but everyone I've asked hasn't run into this question. I signed up with my phone number and didn't give them an email, maybe they're getting age from SSO for other users?
dymk 4y ago
Age and gender are the two highest signals that targeted ads take into account. The Facebook growth team has always wanted to remove gathering age / gender from the sign-up flow (which reduces friction to sign up). But, ad targeting would take such a large hit, they could never do so. It was a huge deal internally when "Custom" was added as a gender option in the sign-up flow, and even then, there's a nudge towards the binary to retain better ad targeting. In addition to that, companies wants you to acknowledge that you're over 13 so they can be more loosey-goosey with data collection (thanks California!).
- Traubenfuchs 4y ago
  > It was a huge deal internally when "Custom" was added as a gender option Did a significant amount of users pick this though?
- feoren 4y ago
  > It was a huge deal internally when "Custom" was added as a gender option in the sign-up flow, and even then, there's a nudge towards the binary to retain better ad targeting. It's odd that advertisers would dislike that change for targeting -- surely the people who pick "custom" are sending a major signal that correlates with other preferences. It's a third grouping they can specifically target! If they split "male" into "HYPER-MASCULINE ALPHA MALE: CARS, GUNS, AND FOOTBALL FUCK YEAH!" and "I have a penis but I try not to let it make decisions for me", advertisers should presumably love that distinction too. Of course the reality is that their decades of research deciding what constitutes "male" and "female" has gotten them stuck in a shitty local minimum and they can no longer abandon this binary concept that they cling desperately to without admitting that they've never actually known what the fuck they're doing.
  - zeroonetwothree 4y ago
    If there was a 300 dimensional vector expressing your nuanced gender identity that would be even better, but advertisers would have no idea how to target it (at least at first).
    - 4y ago
ProAm 4y ago
My birthday is always January 1st, 1970 at 00:00:00 UTC
- zeroonetwothree 4y ago
  Well, most peoples birthdays don’t change…
- txsoftwaredev 4y ago
  My failed PHP date conversions look similar...
acd 4y ago
Coppa "Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule ("COPPA")" If the kids is below 13, targeting would probably not be allowed. "The act, effective April 21, 2000, applies to the online collection of personal information by persons or entities under U.S. jurisdiction about children under 13 years of age, including children outside the U.S. if the website or service is U.S.-based.[1] It details what a website operator must include in a privacy policy, when and how to seek verifiable consent from a parent or guardian, and what responsibilities an operator has to protect children's privacy and safety online, including restrictions on the marketing of those under 13.[2]" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Online_Privacy_Protection_Act https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Online_Privacy_...
- mankyd 4y ago
  Indeed. I don't understand the outrage at wanting to know the age of your customer, especially when: a) there are laws involved b) you have a variety of content/products specifically aimed at different ages I won't speak to gender, that's certainly a different concept, but age doesn't exact ring alarm bells for me here.
  - zmgsabst 4y ago
    Disney: “Gendered stereotypes are harmful — be more inclusive!” Also Disney: “Tell us your gender so we can target ads based on that!” I would take DIE advocates more seriously if they reformed themselves — rather than lecturing the rest of us while engaging in such blatant hypocrisy.
    - sublinear 4y ago
      It's called "cultural Marxism". It's not necessarily a conspiracy, but it's certainly a thing. DEI is just the latest consultant scheme.
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
      - 4y ago
biasedestimate 4y ago
At least they ask you for it, instead of tracking you until they can figure it out.
- Ancient 4y ago
  Why not change the age/gender data every 6 to 12 months to see how they deal with that =)
nashashmi 4y ago
Wife and I use the same account. What do I do?
- orthecreedence 4y ago
  Average your ages and put "non-binary."
  - alias_neo 4y ago
    What if you're the same age and same gender. Damn, they got you both!
throw03172019 4y ago
Will these ads be shown in their paid product?
- alias_neo 4y ago
  Yes, in the $7.99 "tier" apparently. I wasn't aware there even were tiers (not US).
odessacubbage 4y ago
i have still never seen a 'targeted ad' that is even remotely related to my interests or purchasing habits.
- s3000 4y ago
  People buy status symbols not for their direct benefit, but to communicate with their environment. A brand doesn't have to influence those who buy but those who don't.
logicalmonster 4y ago
Why does Disney really need this information for advertising purposes when they already know what shows somebody is watching? I realize that any age/gender can watch any show, and of course a lot of Disney's catalogue is pretty universal to age/gender, but there's going to be some kind of a signal in anybody's viewing history. If some profile is routinely watching a show about makeup or horses or ballet dances, you have a pretty good guess about the age/gender. Likewise if some profile is watching a lot of shows about monster trucks, little league baseball, and RPG games, you likewise can make a pretty reasonable guess about who they are.
- pipeline_peak 4y ago
  Because watching Starwars doesn’t equate to buying Ziplock bags. Playing video games, of any kind as an adult is such a norm today that it’s not entirely accurate to say “well this person plays Mario, let’s advertise crayola”,
  - autoexec 4y ago
    > Because watching Starwars doesn’t equate to buying Ziplock bags. Sometimes it does. https://www.amazon.com/Ziploc-Sandwich-Featuring-Different-Designs/dp/B07BP9G782 https://www.amazon.com/Ziploc-Sandwich-Featuring-Different-D...
gorwell 4y ago
What will they deliver to me, a xi/xir, born in 1935?
- rickstanley 4y ago
  What does "xi/xir" mean?
  - tomjen3 4y ago
    It is one of the gender-neutral terms.
    - webstrand 4y ago
      There are quite a number of them, with a few dating back to the 1800s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_neutrality_in_languages_with_gendered_third-person_pronouns#Table_of_standard_and_non-standard_third-person_singular_pronouns https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_neutrality_in_languages...
      - rickstanley 4y ago
        Interesting, I didn't know about this!
  - txsoftwaredev 4y ago
    It means nonsense.
tomjen3 4y ago
Well then, I guess that I am born on Jan 1st 1970 and identify as a multi-user OS.
TheLoafOfBread 4y ago
At the start Netflix was about getting rid of ads ridden cable TV so you now you can get competing Disney+ which is now just a cable TV with targeted ads based on your personal data. It is evolving, only backwards.
- bdw5204 4y ago
  At first, cable TV had no ads because it was funded by subscriptions. Then most cable channels slowly started adding more and more ads and demanding higher and higher rates from cable operators to carry their channels. Then the local channels started demanding rates from cable operators to carry their channels that are otherwise available for free over the air. Then eventually they even started showing ads at the movie theater before the movie you paid to see. What is happening with streaming services adding ads was entirely predictable because the financial incentives of a company that adopts a subscription model are to add ads to the subscription once they think they can get away with it. If they already have ads, the incentive is to add more and more of them until there's pushback (i.e. the NFL has been cutting down on commercial breaks because they got long enough and frequent enough to become a common source of fan complaints when ironically the 2 minute warning was originally added to the rulebook in the early 70s to guarantee TV broadcasters at least one commercial break each half that wasn't because the clock ran out on a quarter). This is why all of the people who want a subscription based model for online services that are currently free are hopelessly naive. If they get their way, things will get better for a few years and then will eventually end up right back where they are but worse because you'll have to pay for the privilege of watching ads.
  - TheLoafOfBread 4y ago
    I am from Eastern Europe, so I have missed the "cable used to be subscription based without ads" time, so thank you for showing me how history rhymes and that ads in subscription based medium are inevitable.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
thrill 4y ago
All they need to know is that someone old enough to have a credit card is paying for the subscription.
LAC-Tech 4y ago
I've lost count of the amount of times the government has asked me what my race is. Surely they'd know by now...
- devoutsalsa 4y ago
  It depends on how adventurous you’ve been using CRISPR to experiment on yourself. Personally, I plan on becoming a petite Mexican woman.
noasaservice 4y ago
Just Pirate and store stuff using Jellyfin. It's an infinitely better experience, and everything just works. And you don't get advertised to, demographized, tracked, or anything. You download, copy, go! I used to recommend Netflix back in the day, cause it just worked. Now, there's 30+ different streaming services, and many have switched to the "leak an episode once a week/month". Just pirate. It's better, cheaper, AND not hostile to the end user!
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- DoingIsLearning 4y ago
  I went from Exodus to Covenant and then eventually gave up on tweaking kodi and slowly went the path of least resistance to streaming services. But now it just feels like a repeat of cable tv with balcanized services. What do you recommend in the high seas, and how do you manage the threat of malware?
  - noasaservice 4y ago
    So first, get a VPN. I go with ProtonVPN. Mullvad is also high quality VPN. You need these because the copyright wonks surveil popular torrent trackers. Then, I stick primarily with video and audio. I stay away from software piracy because I prefer my data to be in FLOSS formats. MAKE SURE to use Firefox, with "uBlock Origin" and "Privacy Badger" plugins before going to any of these links. Also if you're on Windows, go enable in Windows Explorer to show "file extensions" - some torrents will be malware with movie.mp4.exe and try to trick you to run malware. -------------- Movies: RARBG.to - One of the most organized public trackers, gets new content very quickly. Can search by IMDB tags (eg. tt0258038, appearing in IDMB URLs) rutracker.org [.org, .net, .nl] - The best general tracker from Russia and arguably the best one overall. It's great for niche movies, especially from Russia and other east European countries. TorrentGalaxy.to - Another highly recommended site for movies & TV. Proxy list. ettvdl.com Zooqle.com - Easy to use torrent site 1337x.to - Many public p2p releases/encodes are released here, including Tigole/UTR/YIFY. Cams are typically uploaded here as well. psarips.com - Small-sized x265 (re-)encodes [Documentaries] forums.mvgroup.org - Very good documentaries tracker. Registration required. [Anime] Nyaa.si [Anime] hi10anime.com [Anime] shanaproject.com ► DDL (Direct Download) forum.dirtywarez.com - Popular DDL forum. Has a request section. scnlog.me - Scene releases rlsbb.ru - Scene releases ddlvalley.me movieparadise.org adit-hd.com megaddl.co rmz.cr 2ddl.ms rarefilmm.com - Rare movies psarips.com - Small-sized x265 (re-)encodes ► Private Torrent Trackers Nebulance (NBL) - Very good alternative to BTN and easy to join. Great for finding/requesting old, unpopular, obscure shows. NBL can be joined through MAM. You are eligible the moment you become PU, which is 1 month. Filelist - One of the largest general private trackers. Romanian tracker, but media content will typically include dual language audio (English and Romanian). The tracker might be smaller compared to IPT but the quality control is better, especially for movies and TV shows. You will be able to find high quality encodes from PTP and BTN which you might not find on IPT. Can be joined through MAM with a 5 months old account IPTorrents - The largest general private tracker, period. Definitely worth to have as a back up. Invites are easy to come by if you make acquaintances otherwise you can join it through EMP (unofficial invites; need access to invite forum so you have to be Good Perv user class which requires 8 weeks on the tracker). Also, don't forget to log in every 3 months or you lose your account (called Inactivity rule) Secret Cinema - If any of the following keywords interest you then this is the tracker for you - old (as early as the 1st movie ever), non-mainstream, non-English, arthouse, experimental, rare - movies and Tv shows. This tracker can be joined through MAM (6 months old account required) and RED. PassThePopcorn (PTP) - Movies tracker. Best source for movies, period. Couple of unique features - !!!!* The amount of active fleshed out collections available to discover content to watch. It's often better than some legit sites dedicated to this stuff. !!!!* High quality encodes. Many torrents are marked Golden Popcorn (GP). They are best of the best encodes. It is like Oscars but for encodes. Currently it is not possible to join PTP unless you know someone who has an account there and can invite you. The best strategy suggested is to reach as high of a user class you can reach on RED as feasibly possible. This will increase chances when PTP starts recruiting again. In the meantime you can join SC, BHD, BLU etc and make requests there beyond-hd.me (BHD) - Movies/TV tracker. Focuses on HD and some SD content. Originally home to the famous FRaMeSToR remux group but then many more after AHD died. Currently the best alternative to PTP and BTN. After AHD's demise, this is now the 2nd best tracker for high quality encodes too. Can be joined through RED (either be Elite user class OR power user with 6 months old account) pixelhd.me - Movies tracker. Known for producing small sized encodes. PxHD Mobies - 720p/AAC/mp4 at 1.5-2GB (esp. for Mobile Devices); PxHD/PxEHD - 1080p/AC3/mp4 at 4GB and 8GB; and PxHDA - 1080p/DTS/ at "whatever size is necessary" for high transparency (usually 6-12gb). Can be joined through RED (Elite or "high-level" PU; + 2 more proofs; all 3 accounts at least 6 months old) and MAM (Elite or "high-level" PU; + 2 more proofs; all 3 accounts at least 6 months old) HD-Torrents (HDT) - Movies/TV tracker. Focuses on HD content only. This tracker is great for HD movies though not as good as PTP. Specialty lies in allowing of multiple untouched material of the same movie, which helps in getting those foreign languages, different audio/video quality, or even different content in audio/videos. Slightly superior to PTP in this regard. You can pay for an account through their website. (Note - Only buy the account from their own website, not a 3rd party) uhdbits.org (UHDB) - Small movies tracker. Should not aim for it as your primary tracker but it is good to have as backup, aim for BHD instead. Can be joined through RED. TV Chaos UK - TV tracker. Great site for UK TV content. Best joined through requesting on /r/invites (proof of ratio from other sites required). Quality lacks a bit so use it with a TV tracker like BTN to get the most of UK content Broadcast the Net (BTN) - TV tracker. Best source for TV related content, period. Currently this tracker is not recruiting anywhere but it is recommended to join PTP where BTN will recruit again in the future TV Vault (TVV) - TV tracker. Best private tracker for old TV shows. Best way to join it is through MAM. More Than TV (MTV) - Movies/TV tracker. 2nd best private tracker for TV after BTN. Retention is not good but with a strong request section, this is not an issue. Can be joined through RED asiancinema.me - Movies/TV tracker. A neat little tracker for Asian content. animebytes.tv - Best place for anime on the internet. Can be joined through RED (account has to be 1 year old) AvistaZ - Movies/TV tracker. One of the best places for Asian (mainly Japan, South Korea, China etc) movies and TV shows. Best place for Korean dramas. Easiest way to join is through application on their site. Also one of the few top trackers that have open signups from time to time. Blutopia - Movies/TV tracker. Very nice tracker for Movies and TV. Like other private trackers, you can make the most of it through the use of its request section. As SD encodes are not allowed on this tracker, it is a great source for untouched DVDs, especially if you aren't in top trackers yet TorrentLeech - General scene tracker. One of the largest general private trackers alpharatio.cc - A general private tracker focused on scene releases. Inferior in content compared to other general trackers like IPT, TL, FL etc but has a very strong request section. Great for requests for which personalised trackers don't exist or aren't good enough. Can be joined through MAM and RED during AR's global invites period, keep an eye out ► Live channel Streaming pluto.tv - Official legal service github.com/iptv-org/iptv - Mass IPTV aggregation sportsbay.sx - Sports & non-sports channels 123tvnow.com cxtvlive.com stream2watch.ws time4tv.stream ► Sports /r/rugbystreams - Live streams. Links posted within the hour of the match /r/MLBStreams - Live streams. Links posted within the hour of the match /r/ncaaBBallStreams - Live streams. Links posted within the hour of the match /r/WWEstreams - Live streams. Links posted within the hour of the match /r/mmafights - Live streams. Links posted within the hour of the match /r/motorsportsstreams - Live streams. Links posted within the hour of the match rutracker.org > Sports - Torrents. Sports subforum at rutracker sport-video.org.ua - Torrent soccer, motorsports, baseball, basketball, football, hockey, rugby, other footybite.com - Highlights and live streams. Soccer nbafullhd.com - Replays. Basketball, football, F1 liveonscore.tv - Live streams. Soccer, MMA, motorsports, baseball, basketball, football, hockey sportsurge.net - Live streams. MMA, boxing, motorsports, basketball, football, hockey sporthd.live - Live streams. Soccer, MMA, handball, basketball, rugby, football, tennis and others sportsbay.sx - Live streams. Football, soccer, basketball, hockey, baseball, NCAA, tennis, cricket, motorsports worldcupfootball.me - Live streams. MMA, baseball, basketball, football, hockey, NCAAF, NCAAM 6stream.xyz - Live streams. MMA, baseball, basketball, football, hockey, NCAAF bilasport.net - Live streams. Soccer, MMA, baseball, basketball, football, hockey 720pstream.me - Live streams. MMA, baseball, basketball, football, hockey, NCAAF, NCAAM ripple.is - Live streams. Soccer, MMA, boxing, motorsports, basketball, football nflbite.com - Live streams. Football nbabite.com - Live streams. Basketball https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy/wiki/megathread/movies_and_tv https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy/wiki/megathread/movies_and_t... And there's also https://thepiratebay.org https://thepiratebay.org .
DoingIsLearning 4y ago
Off topic but is there any way to block/disable chromecast screensaver ads from Disney+/Netflix etc.?
vletal 4y ago
I'll happily build them a model which estimates it. Heck, it could be even better, since your "mental" age based on your interests in movies could be more suitable for delivering ads then your actual age.
lowbloodsugar 4y ago
Hm. Recession is making us cutback on our streaming services, but which ones to keep and which ones to cancel? Thanks Disney for making the choice easy!
6yyyyyy 4y ago
If only there were a service that: - Doesn't show ads, or steal your personal information. - Has all the content from every major streaming service. - Is scalable and efficient without a centralized single point of failure. - Can be used with 100% free and open source software. - Lets you keep your favorite shows forever without being subject to the whims of corporate licensing.
- dleslie 4y ago
  DVDs. What you're asking for is DVDs.
  - Wazako 4y ago
    DVDs with 20s of ads not passable?
    - AlexandrB 4y ago
      Buy the DVD and then sail the high seas for a digital copy. You get both a better media experience and a physical backup if your hard drive dies. Edit: I also spend the extra money on a Criterion or Arrow release if it's available. These never have ads.
    - dleslie 4y ago
      VLC, and other FOSS DVD players, do not abide by do-not-skip flags.
  - autoexec 4y ago
    Piracy, because these days a lot of shows never make it to DVD. Disney in particular is terrible about this (probably to push Disney+ subscriptions). Star vs. the Forces of Evil came out in 2015 and hasn't seen a DVD release. Same with The Owl House and their marvel shows https://www.cbr.com/disney-no-current-plans-release-marvel-shows-dvd-blu-ray/ https://www.cbr.com/disney-no-current-plans-release-marvel-s...
    - dleslie 4y ago
egberts1 4y ago
No thanks. We don't need curated ads. We will seek them out so just put it ALL out there for us to choose at our time and privacy.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
nske 4y ago
Ah, I guess I'll just lie and if they somehow lock me out or give me trouble, let's just say it's their loss more than mine. Streaming services should remember they keep customers by offering convenience and the feeling of doing the right thing at a reasonable cost, not because they managed to enforce exclusivity of their content. That's a battle they never won.
mikedelago 4y ago
I'm so exhausted from constant advertisements. I'm so tired of my information being sold off to third parties in order to deliver ads. I'm so tired of good, useful tools and services requiring a forfeit of my privacy in order to use them. Does anyone else wish that they could just exist without being told to buy something every 15 waking minutes?
- fxtentacle 4y ago
  You have pretty much summarized the thinking that led me to build: 1. my own SmartWatch 2. a tool to remove iTunes DRM so that my TV can stay offline 3. fully offline speech recognition 4. a beefy Linux workstation 5. set up a pi-hole 6. patched LineageOS to work on my phone And now my life is pretty much ad-free :)
  - monksy 4y ago
    Don't forget to use libredirect, and ublockorigin on every browser. (libredirect will kill your shadow profiles websites collect about you)
    - fxtentacle 4y ago
      I prefer uMatrix over uBlock. But thank you very much for telling me about libredirect :)
      - monksy 4y ago
        Link for the curious: https://github.com/libredirect/libredirect https://github.com/libredirect/libredirect
  - fsflover 4y ago
    > 1. my own SmartWatch You could buy PineTime instead.
    - fxtentacle 4y ago
kderbyma 4y ago
and....I Cancel....because fuck them.
jklinger410 4y ago
I wonder how many commenters on HN work for businesses that in some way or another use advertising to help sustain their revenue. By the tone of every thread discussing advertising you would think the answer would be zero. But it is certainly not zero.
- mattbrewsbytes 4y ago
  I'm fine with advertising as a trade-off when a service is free but if I'm paying for a service why does that service have to become an ad network? Is the only answer to making money in tech to get massive traffic so you can get 1% of people that actually click on an ad and buy something? What I can't fathom is the amount of money being spent on ads, surely it must be paying off.
  - jklinger410 4y ago
    You can definitely consider tracking and advertising as an extra cost of any service. You are obviously free to cancel services that are too expensive for you. The answer to your second question is yes. How many newspapers do you think we would still have without digital advertising? Close to zero. What people are willing to pay for and what is actually good for themselves and society are two different things. Advertising is a capitalist way to democratize attention. I also sincerely hope everyone complaining about advertising is a hardcore socialist or communist. If not they are awfully hypocritical.
jabroni_salad 4y ago
I feel like this is rather superfluous on Disney's side. If my account has watched Frozen 172 times, you should be able to figure out which ad will be effective on it.
hyperbovine 4y ago
just lie
NickC25 4y ago
A multibillion dollar corporation wants to advertise to me on a service I already pay for? Should be free, then. That's too bad, guess the high seas are calling.
StanislavPetrov 4y ago
I don't watch Disney+, but if I was so inclined this demand would certainly drive me from the subscription camp into the bootleg stream camp.
kennethreitz 4y ago
really not that big a deal

208 points by NickRandom 4y ago

Part of me wants to just lean in and claim to be a "105-year-old they/them", but I know that the vast majority of people would happily provide this information just to keep their service up. What a shame.

mrwh 4y ago

I honestly thought this was a phishing attempt. There doesn't seem to be a way to enter these data via the website, only the email link.

Hizonner 4y ago

Does ANYBODY EVER provide an accurate response to a question like that (except when there's reason to believe they can detect it and do something to your detriment if you lie)? If so, why? Anybody who asks deserves to be chaffed into oblivion with garbage data. Especially, who would be dumb enough to admit to being under 18, or, worse, under 13? An 8 year old should see the obvious reasons not to do that. A bright 6 year old. I used to lie and say I was really old, but now I'm really old so I just lie at random.

soperj 4y ago
I remember playing Leisure Suit Larry at 8 or 9 years old. They'd test you to make sure you were over 18 but if you said you were over 99, it would just reply "No you're not" and boot you. I don't remember what they'd do if you said you were under 18, I don't know if I was dumb enough to ever try it once.
- kibwen 4y ago
  Here's Leisure Suit Larry's age quiz, consisting of pop culture questions that would have suggested adulthood back in 1987: https://allowe.com/games/larry/tips-manuals/lsl1-age-quiz.html https://allowe.com/games/larry/tips-manuals/lsl1-age-quiz.ht...
  - wvenable 4y ago
    Getting through the age quiz as a kid was almost as fun as playing the game.
  - b800h 4y ago
    Did they alter it for foreign markets? Some very US centric questions there.
    - LAC-Tech 4y ago
      How much of a foreign market was there for English language computer games in 1987?
  - soperj 4y ago
    That can't be all of them. I swear there was one with Bo Jackson as well, which I would confuse with the Bo Derek ones (didn't know who either was at the time).
StillBored 4y ago
Yah I used to type 1911, but its interesting just how old some sites allow you to be. Some places can't even deal with 100 year olds (which isn't that uncommon) while others allow you to be 150+. Presumably some places appear to just be doing todays date-120/130 years. So its possible to create an account that likely won't be able to revalidate ones birthday using their age validators in a few years unless they adjust the age because you will be over what they think is the max age.
birdman3131 4y ago
Depending on the site if they are gonna use it as verification in the future. Im not gonna remember the randomly entered date. Its not like you can identify 87% of the US based on Date of birth, 5 digit Zip Code and gender. Oh wait. https://dataprivacylab.org/projects/identifiability/index.html https://dataprivacylab.org/projects/identifiability/index.ht...
- Hizonner 4y ago
  Does that mean you give real answers to the other "password recovery" questions? "Verification" questions should get random answers that get saved in your password manager.
  - nprateem 4y ago
    It's always fun when you have to call up customer support though and have to spell your mother's maiden name. "Yes it's right bracket, exclamation, capital R, dollar sign..."
    - b800h 4y ago
      "She was a member of the Technocracy Movement" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technocracy_movement https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technocracy_movement
user3939382 4y ago
My "birthday" is January 1, 1970 (an homage to unix) for any database/system inappropriately asking. This way they don't have my data to leak or abuse, but I still know what I specified if I'm asked to verify it.
- Ancient 4y ago
  I always use January 1st {Birth Year} (easy to remember) but I like this now too. Thanks
  - kgwxd 4y ago
    That's still accurate enough for their goals though. I put random very old dates and just keep DOBs noted in my password manager.
- katla 4y ago
  I might just start doing the same. Thanks! :)
- LeifCarrotson 4y ago
  At 00:00:00 UTC, I assume? I don't expect there's any reason for them to divide by a datetime...but one can hope that some ad server somewhere has crashed as a result. My go-to birthday has always been January 1st of the year I was actually born. That way it doesn't raise any eyebrows if I want to convert something to a real account or interact with real people, but it fails verification if they mishandle my credentials. That's worked great, except that one time when I inadvertently booked a flight on united.com (who should have my actual birthday, with whom I'd flown internationally several times before) with a session token or something set by a random travel search engine to whom I had given my fake January 1st birthday and then (I thought) abandoned before picking a different flight. Customs had pointed questions about the authenticity of my passport and driver's license, because their system showed that my documents should be different and they couldn't tell me why... They eventually let me back into the country, but that was not fun.
  - vanilla_nut 4y ago
WarOnPrivacy 4y ago
> Especially, who would be dumb enough to admit to being under 18 For websites that respect COPPA, under-13 might be your best bet for less targeting ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Online_Privacy_Protection_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Online_Privacy_Pr...
- Hizonner 4y ago
  Yeah, but the problem is that it often locks you out of the site completely, which they don't tell you until you've answered. And when it doesn't, it often breaks features or locks down your access to content. I guess in theory it could also trigger them to ask for a note from your parents...
  - WarOnPrivacy 4y ago
    > but the problem is that it often locks you out of the site completely, which they don't tell you until you've answered. I see now. Children under 13 are not currently permitted to register on the sites and apps for Disney Parks. For activities on apps and other online offerings, minor children under 13 years old may access some content under the supervision of a parent or guardian within that person's account. ref: https://plandisney.disney.go.com/question/create-accounts-minor-children-play-disney-app-421312/ https://plandisney.disney.go.com/question/create-accounts-mi...
basch 4y ago
Have you ever given the wrong information, and then later needed to use it as some type of security / identity verification? I know I've run into it at least once, I think maybe Microsoft, where having an unknown birth date on the account became a huge headache. Lesson learned. Write stuff like this down in a vault too.
- Hizonner 4y ago
  Keeping your legend straight is a fundamental part of good tradecraft...
- everybodyknows 4y ago
  I gave Google an off-by-one birth date way back when. A few years ago they figured it out -- sorry, don't recall what hints they may have been working from -- and demanded a correction. After considering the implicit threat, account termination, I surrendered the actual birthdate.
hiq 4y ago
I know somebody who lost an instagram account like this. Provided fake info when signing up. Years later, get a request to post an id or get banned. Id didn't match the fake info of course, so account banned all the same.

mensetmanusman 4y ago

Just say you’re 6

phone8675309 4y ago
You have to mentally be 6 if you’re enjoying the garbage they’re chucking onto Disney+.
- WarOnPrivacy 4y ago
  Andor is one of the better shows I've seen - ever. Their Star Wars offerings in general have been very well put together.
  - yamazakiwi 4y ago
    What about the other 99.999% of their content?
    - WarOnPrivacy 4y ago
      I imagine most viewers only watch .001% of everything they have access to; the rest of it would be properly irrelevant.
      - yamazakiwi 4y ago
        That makes sense!
  - dehrmann 4y ago
    Back in my day, we were waited 15 years for more Star Wars content, then immediately regretted it and asked what we'd been doing with our lives.
  - bil7 4y ago
    it really is an amazing show. I hope it does very well. However I can forsee two groups; the first, who won't watch because "it's star wars and i'm not into star wars"; the second, "i like star wars but this show doesn't have any light sabers or jedis or the force - why would i watch it?? boring!"

Markoff 4y ago

Good for them, I "pirate" content legally since I pay huge fees in Czechia from each storage media (last time I bought 64GB flashdrive, the copyright fees were more than cost of the flash drive), so I can legally download copy of any movie, TV show or music for my own use. Pahe in India, Philipines, PSA on PM, MKVking and plenty of other options to download legally content even without torrenting.

yamazakiwi 4y ago

Tiktok asked for my birthday and I couldn't navigate away from the page. I uninstalled and reinstalled the app to try and circumvent entering a birthday. They banned my account. This account was active for 2+ years and they out of the blue REQUIRED a birthday like wth.

dmonitor 4y ago
that might have been compliance with some law regarding showing content to children
- yamazakiwi 4y ago
  I thought the same, but everyone I've asked hasn't run into this question. I signed up with my phone number and didn't give them an email, maybe they're getting age from SSO for other users?

dymk 4y ago

Age and gender are the two highest signals that targeted ads take into account. The Facebook growth team has always wanted to remove gathering age / gender from the sign-up flow (which reduces friction to sign up). But, ad targeting would take such a large hit, they could never do so. It was a huge deal internally when "Custom" was added as a gender option in the sign-up flow, and even then, there's a nudge towards the binary to retain better ad targeting. In addition to that, companies wants you to acknowledge that you're over 13 so they can be more loosey-goosey with data collection (thanks California!).

Traubenfuchs 4y ago
> It was a huge deal internally when "Custom" was added as a gender option Did a significant amount of users pick this though?
feoren 4y ago
> It was a huge deal internally when "Custom" was added as a gender option in the sign-up flow, and even then, there's a nudge towards the binary to retain better ad targeting. It's odd that advertisers would dislike that change for targeting -- surely the people who pick "custom" are sending a major signal that correlates with other preferences. It's a third grouping they can specifically target! If they split "male" into "HYPER-MASCULINE ALPHA MALE: CARS, GUNS, AND FOOTBALL FUCK YEAH!" and "I have a penis but I try not to let it make decisions for me", advertisers should presumably love that distinction too. Of course the reality is that their decades of research deciding what constitutes "male" and "female" has gotten them stuck in a shitty local minimum and they can no longer abandon this binary concept that they cling desperately to without admitting that they've never actually known what the fuck they're doing.
- zeroonetwothree 4y ago
  If there was a 300 dimensional vector expressing your nuanced gender identity that would be even better, but advertisers would have no idea how to target it (at least at first).
  - 4y ago

ProAm 4y ago

My birthday is always January 1st, 1970 at 00:00:00 UTC

zeroonetwothree 4y ago
Well, most peoples birthdays don’t change…
txsoftwaredev 4y ago
My failed PHP date conversions look similar...

acd 4y ago

Coppa "Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule ("COPPA")" If the kids is below 13, targeting would probably not be allowed. "The act, effective April 21, 2000, applies to the online collection of personal information by persons or entities under U.S. jurisdiction about children under 13 years of age, including children outside the U.S. if the website or service is U.S.-based.[1] It details what a website operator must include in a privacy policy, when and how to seek verifiable consent from a parent or guardian, and what responsibilities an operator has to protect children's privacy and safety online, including restrictions on the marketing of those under 13.[2]" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Online_Privacy_Protection_Act https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Online_Privacy_...

mankyd 4y ago
Indeed. I don't understand the outrage at wanting to know the age of your customer, especially when: a) there are laws involved b) you have a variety of content/products specifically aimed at different ages I won't speak to gender, that's certainly a different concept, but age doesn't exact ring alarm bells for me here.
- zmgsabst 4y ago
  Disney: “Gendered stereotypes are harmful — be more inclusive!” Also Disney: “Tell us your gender so we can target ads based on that!” I would take DIE advocates more seriously if they reformed themselves — rather than lecturing the rest of us while engaging in such blatant hypocrisy.
  - sublinear 4y ago
    It's called "cultural Marxism". It's not necessarily a conspiracy, but it's certainly a thing. DEI is just the latest consultant scheme.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - 4y ago

biasedestimate 4y ago

At least they ask you for it, instead of tracking you until they can figure it out.

Ancient 4y ago
Why not change the age/gender data every 6 to 12 months to see how they deal with that =)

nashashmi 4y ago

Wife and I use the same account. What do I do?

orthecreedence 4y ago
Average your ages and put "non-binary."
- alias_neo 4y ago
  What if you're the same age and same gender. Damn, they got you both!

throw03172019 4y ago

Will these ads be shown in their paid product?

alias_neo 4y ago
Yes, in the $7.99 "tier" apparently. I wasn't aware there even were tiers (not US).

odessacubbage 4y ago

i have still never seen a 'targeted ad' that is even remotely related to my interests or purchasing habits.

s3000 4y ago
People buy status symbols not for their direct benefit, but to communicate with their environment. A brand doesn't have to influence those who buy but those who don't.

logicalmonster 4y ago

Why does Disney really need this information for advertising purposes when they already know what shows somebody is watching? I realize that any age/gender can watch any show, and of course a lot of Disney's catalogue is pretty universal to age/gender, but there's going to be some kind of a signal in anybody's viewing history. If some profile is routinely watching a show about makeup or horses or ballet dances, you have a pretty good guess about the age/gender. Likewise if some profile is watching a lot of shows about monster trucks, little league baseball, and RPG games, you likewise can make a pretty reasonable guess about who they are.

pipeline_peak 4y ago
Because watching Starwars doesn’t equate to buying Ziplock bags. Playing video games, of any kind as an adult is such a norm today that it’s not entirely accurate to say “well this person plays Mario, let’s advertise crayola”,
- autoexec 4y ago
  > Because watching Starwars doesn’t equate to buying Ziplock bags. Sometimes it does. https://www.amazon.com/Ziploc-Sandwich-Featuring-Different-Designs/dp/B07BP9G782 https://www.amazon.com/Ziploc-Sandwich-Featuring-Different-D...

gorwell 4y ago

What will they deliver to me, a xi/xir, born in 1935?

rickstanley 4y ago
What does "xi/xir" mean?
- tomjen3 4y ago
  It is one of the gender-neutral terms.
  - webstrand 4y ago
    There are quite a number of them, with a few dating back to the 1800s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_neutrality_in_languages_with_gendered_third-person_pronouns#Table_of_standard_and_non-standard_third-person_singular_pronouns https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_neutrality_in_languages...
    - rickstanley 4y ago
      Interesting, I didn't know about this!
- txsoftwaredev 4y ago
  It means nonsense.

tomjen3 4y ago

Well then, I guess that I am born on Jan 1st 1970 and identify as a multi-user OS.

TheLoafOfBread 4y ago

At the start Netflix was about getting rid of ads ridden cable TV so you now you can get competing Disney+ which is now just a cable TV with targeted ads based on your personal data. It is evolving, only backwards.

bdw5204 4y ago
At first, cable TV had no ads because it was funded by subscriptions. Then most cable channels slowly started adding more and more ads and demanding higher and higher rates from cable operators to carry their channels. Then the local channels started demanding rates from cable operators to carry their channels that are otherwise available for free over the air. Then eventually they even started showing ads at the movie theater before the movie you paid to see. What is happening with streaming services adding ads was entirely predictable because the financial incentives of a company that adopts a subscription model are to add ads to the subscription once they think they can get away with it. If they already have ads, the incentive is to add more and more of them until there's pushback (i.e. the NFL has been cutting down on commercial breaks because they got long enough and frequent enough to become a common source of fan complaints when ironically the 2 minute warning was originally added to the rulebook in the early 70s to guarantee TV broadcasters at least one commercial break each half that wasn't because the clock ran out on a quarter). This is why all of the people who want a subscription based model for online services that are currently free are hopelessly naive. If they get their way, things will get better for a few years and then will eventually end up right back where they are but worse because you'll have to pay for the privilege of watching ads.
- TheLoafOfBread 4y ago
  I am from Eastern Europe, so I have missed the "cable used to be subscription based without ads" time, so thank you for showing me how history rhymes and that ads in subscription based medium are inevitable.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]

thrill 4y ago

All they need to know is that someone old enough to have a credit card is paying for the subscription.

LAC-Tech 4y ago

I've lost count of the amount of times the government has asked me what my race is. Surely they'd know by now...

devoutsalsa 4y ago
It depends on how adventurous you’ve been using CRISPR to experiment on yourself. Personally, I plan on becoming a petite Mexican woman.

noasaservice 4y ago

Just Pirate and store stuff using Jellyfin. It's an infinitely better experience, and everything just works. And you don't get advertised to, demographized, tracked, or anything. You download, copy, go! I used to recommend Netflix back in the day, cause it just worked. Now, there's 30+ different streaming services, and many have switched to the "leak an episode once a week/month". Just pirate. It's better, cheaper, AND not hostile to the end user!

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
DoingIsLearning 4y ago
I went from Exodus to Covenant and then eventually gave up on tweaking kodi and slowly went the path of least resistance to streaming services. But now it just feels like a repeat of cable tv with balcanized services. What do you recommend in the high seas, and how do you manage the threat of malware?
- noasaservice 4y ago
  So first, get a VPN. I go with ProtonVPN. Mullvad is also high quality VPN. You need these because the copyright wonks surveil popular torrent trackers. Then, I stick primarily with video and audio. I stay away from software piracy because I prefer my data to be in FLOSS formats. MAKE SURE to use Firefox, with "uBlock Origin" and "Privacy Badger" plugins before going to any of these links. Also if you're on Windows, go enable in Windows Explorer to show "file extensions" - some torrents will be malware with movie.mp4.exe and try to trick you to run malware. -------------- Movies: RARBG.to - One of the most organized public trackers, gets new content very quickly. Can search by IMDB tags (eg. tt0258038, appearing in IDMB URLs) rutracker.org [.org, .net, .nl] - The best general tracker from Russia and arguably the best one overall. It's great for niche movies, especially from Russia and other east European countries. TorrentGalaxy.to - Another highly recommended site for movies & TV. Proxy list. ettvdl.com Zooqle.com - Easy to use torrent site 1337x.to - Many public p2p releases/encodes are released here, including Tigole/UTR/YIFY. Cams are typically uploaded here as well. psarips.com - Small-sized x265 (re-)encodes [Documentaries] forums.mvgroup.org - Very good documentaries tracker. Registration required. [Anime] Nyaa.si [Anime] hi10anime.com [Anime] shanaproject.com ► DDL (Direct Download) forum.dirtywarez.com - Popular DDL forum. Has a request section. scnlog.me - Scene releases rlsbb.ru - Scene releases ddlvalley.me movieparadise.org adit-hd.com megaddl.co rmz.cr 2ddl.ms rarefilmm.com - Rare movies psarips.com - Small-sized x265 (re-)encodes ► Private Torrent Trackers Nebulance (NBL) - Very good alternative to BTN and easy to join. Great for finding/requesting old, unpopular, obscure shows. NBL can be joined through MAM. You are eligible the moment you become PU, which is 1 month. Filelist - One of the largest general private trackers. Romanian tracker, but media content will typically include dual language audio (English and Romanian). The tracker might be smaller compared to IPT but the quality control is better, especially for movies and TV shows. You will be able to find high quality encodes from PTP and BTN which you might not find on IPT. Can be joined through MAM with a 5 months old account IPTorrents - The largest general private tracker, period. Definitely worth to have as a back up. Invites are easy to come by if you make acquaintances otherwise you can join it through EMP (unofficial invites; need access to invite forum so you have to be Good Perv user class which requires 8 weeks on the tracker). Also, don't forget to log in every 3 months or you lose your account (called Inactivity rule) Secret Cinema - If any of the following keywords interest you then this is the tracker for you - old (as early as the 1st movie ever), non-mainstream, non-English, arthouse, experimental, rare - movies and Tv shows. This tracker can be joined through MAM (6 months old account required) and RED. PassThePopcorn (PTP) - Movies tracker. Best source for movies, period. Couple of unique features - !!!!* The amount of active fleshed out collections available to discover content to watch. It's often better than some legit sites dedicated to this stuff. !!!!* High quality encodes. Many torrents are marked Golden Popcorn (GP). They are best of the best encodes. It is like Oscars but for encodes. Currently it is not possible to join PTP unless you know someone who has an account there and can invite you. The best strategy suggested is to reach as high of a user class you can reach on RED as feasibly possible. This will increase chances when PTP starts recruiting again. In the meantime you can join SC, BHD, BLU etc and make requests there beyond-hd.me (BHD) - Movies/TV tracker. Focuses on HD and some SD content. Originally home to the famous FRaMeSToR remux group but then many more after AHD died. Currently the best alternative to PTP and BTN. After AHD's demise, this is now the 2nd best tracker for high quality encodes too. Can be joined through RED (either be Elite user class OR power user with 6 months old account) pixelhd.me - Movies tracker. Known for producing small sized encodes. PxHD Mobies - 720p/AAC/mp4 at 1.5-2GB (esp. for Mobile Devices); PxHD/PxEHD - 1080p/AC3/mp4 at 4GB and 8GB; and PxHDA - 1080p/DTS/ at "whatever size is necessary" for high transparency (usually 6-12gb). Can be joined through RED (Elite or "high-level" PU; + 2 more proofs; all 3 accounts at least 6 months old) and MAM (Elite or "high-level" PU; + 2 more proofs; all 3 accounts at least 6 months old) HD-Torrents (HDT) - Movies/TV tracker. Focuses on HD content only. This tracker is great for HD movies though not as good as PTP. Specialty lies in allowing of multiple untouched material of the same movie, which helps in getting those foreign languages, different audio/video quality, or even different content in audio/videos. Slightly superior to PTP in this regard. You can pay for an account through their website. (Note - Only buy the account from their own website, not a 3rd party) uhdbits.org (UHDB) - Small movies tracker. Should not aim for it as your primary tracker but it is good to have as backup, aim for BHD instead. Can be joined through RED. TV Chaos UK - TV tracker. Great site for UK TV content. Best joined through requesting on /r/invites (proof of ratio from other sites required). Quality lacks a bit so use it with a TV tracker like BTN to get the most of UK content Broadcast the Net (BTN) - TV tracker. Best source for TV related content, period. Currently this tracker is not recruiting anywhere but it is recommended to join PTP where BTN will recruit again in the future TV Vault (TVV) - TV tracker. Best private tracker for old TV shows. Best way to join it is through MAM. More Than TV (MTV) - Movies/TV tracker. 2nd best private tracker for TV after BTN. Retention is not good but with a strong request section, this is not an issue. Can be joined through RED asiancinema.me - Movies/TV tracker. A neat little tracker for Asian content. animebytes.tv - Best place for anime on the internet. Can be joined through RED (account has to be 1 year old) AvistaZ - Movies/TV tracker. One of the best places for Asian (mainly Japan, South Korea, China etc) movies and TV shows. Best place for Korean dramas. Easiest way to join is through application on their site. Also one of the few top trackers that have open signups from time to time. Blutopia - Movies/TV tracker. Very nice tracker for Movies and TV. Like other private trackers, you can make the most of it through the use of its request section. As SD encodes are not allowed on this tracker, it is a great source for untouched DVDs, especially if you aren't in top trackers yet TorrentLeech - General scene tracker. One of the largest general private trackers alpharatio.cc - A general private tracker focused on scene releases. Inferior in content compared to other general trackers like IPT, TL, FL etc but has a very strong request section. Great for requests for which personalised trackers don't exist or aren't good enough. Can be joined through MAM and RED during AR's global invites period, keep an eye out ► Live channel Streaming pluto.tv - Official legal service github.com/iptv-org/iptv - Mass IPTV aggregation sportsbay.sx - Sports & non-sports channels 123tvnow.com cxtvlive.com stream2watch.ws time4tv.stream ► Sports /r/rugbystreams - Live streams. Links posted within the hour of the match /r/MLBStreams - Live streams. Links posted within the hour of the match /r/ncaaBBallStreams - Live streams. Links posted within the hour of the match /r/WWEstreams - Live streams. Links posted within the hour of the match /r/mmafights - Live streams. Links posted within the hour of the match /r/motorsportsstreams - Live streams. Links posted within the hour of the match rutracker.org > Sports - Torrents. Sports subforum at rutracker sport-video.org.ua - Torrent soccer, motorsports, baseball, basketball, football, hockey, rugby, other footybite.com - Highlights and live streams. Soccer nbafullhd.com - Replays. Basketball, football, F1 liveonscore.tv - Live streams. Soccer, MMA, motorsports, baseball, basketball, football, hockey sportsurge.net - Live streams. MMA, boxing, motorsports, basketball, football, hockey sporthd.live - Live streams. Soccer, MMA, handball, basketball, rugby, football, tennis and others sportsbay.sx - Live streams. Football, soccer, basketball, hockey, baseball, NCAA, tennis, cricket, motorsports worldcupfootball.me - Live streams. MMA, baseball, basketball, football, hockey, NCAAF, NCAAM 6stream.xyz - Live streams. MMA, baseball, basketball, football, hockey, NCAAF bilasport.net - Live streams. Soccer, MMA, baseball, basketball, football, hockey 720pstream.me - Live streams. MMA, baseball, basketball, football, hockey, NCAAF, NCAAM ripple.is - Live streams. Soccer, MMA, boxing, motorsports, basketball, football nflbite.com - Live streams. Football nbabite.com - Live streams. Basketball https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy/wiki/megathread/movies_and_tv https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy/wiki/megathread/movies_and_t... And there's also https://thepiratebay.org https://thepiratebay.org .

DoingIsLearning 4y ago

Off topic but is there any way to block/disable chromecast screensaver ads from Disney+/Netflix etc.?

vletal 4y ago

I'll happily build them a model which estimates it. Heck, it could be even better, since your "mental" age based on your interests in movies could be more suitable for delivering ads then your actual age.

lowbloodsugar 4y ago

Hm. Recession is making us cutback on our streaming services, but which ones to keep and which ones to cancel? Thanks Disney for making the choice easy!

6yyyyyy 4y ago

If only there were a service that: - Doesn't show ads, or steal your personal information. - Has all the content from every major streaming service. - Is scalable and efficient without a centralized single point of failure. - Can be used with 100% free and open source software. - Lets you keep your favorite shows forever without being subject to the whims of corporate licensing.

dleslie 4y ago
DVDs. What you're asking for is DVDs.
- Wazako 4y ago
  DVDs with 20s of ads not passable?
  - AlexandrB 4y ago
    Buy the DVD and then sail the high seas for a digital copy. You get both a better media experience and a physical backup if your hard drive dies. Edit: I also spend the extra money on a Criterion or Arrow release if it's available. These never have ads.
  - dleslie 4y ago
    VLC, and other FOSS DVD players, do not abide by do-not-skip flags.
- autoexec 4y ago
  Piracy, because these days a lot of shows never make it to DVD. Disney in particular is terrible about this (probably to push Disney+ subscriptions). Star vs. the Forces of Evil came out in 2015 and hasn't seen a DVD release. Same with The Owl House and their marvel shows https://www.cbr.com/disney-no-current-plans-release-marvel-shows-dvd-blu-ray/ https://www.cbr.com/disney-no-current-plans-release-marvel-s...
  - dleslie 4y ago

egberts1 4y ago

No thanks. We don't need curated ads. We will seek them out so just put it ALL out there for us to choose at our time and privacy.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

nske 4y ago

Ah, I guess I'll just lie and if they somehow lock me out or give me trouble, let's just say it's their loss more than mine. Streaming services should remember they keep customers by offering convenience and the feeling of doing the right thing at a reasonable cost, not because they managed to enforce exclusivity of their content. That's a battle they never won.

mikedelago 4y ago

I'm so exhausted from constant advertisements. I'm so tired of my information being sold off to third parties in order to deliver ads. I'm so tired of good, useful tools and services requiring a forfeit of my privacy in order to use them. Does anyone else wish that they could just exist without being told to buy something every 15 waking minutes?

fxtentacle 4y ago
You have pretty much summarized the thinking that led me to build: 1. my own SmartWatch 2. a tool to remove iTunes DRM so that my TV can stay offline 3. fully offline speech recognition 4. a beefy Linux workstation 5. set up a pi-hole 6. patched LineageOS to work on my phone And now my life is pretty much ad-free :)
- monksy 4y ago
  Don't forget to use libredirect, and ublockorigin on every browser. (libredirect will kill your shadow profiles websites collect about you)
  - fxtentacle 4y ago
    I prefer uMatrix over uBlock. But thank you very much for telling me about libredirect :)
    - monksy 4y ago
      Link for the curious: https://github.com/libredirect/libredirect https://github.com/libredirect/libredirect
- fsflover 4y ago
  > 1. my own SmartWatch You could buy PineTime instead.
  - fxtentacle 4y ago

kderbyma 4y ago

and....I Cancel....because fuck them.

jklinger410 4y ago

I wonder how many commenters on HN work for businesses that in some way or another use advertising to help sustain their revenue. By the tone of every thread discussing advertising you would think the answer would be zero. But it is certainly not zero.

mattbrewsbytes 4y ago
I'm fine with advertising as a trade-off when a service is free but if I'm paying for a service why does that service have to become an ad network? Is the only answer to making money in tech to get massive traffic so you can get 1% of people that actually click on an ad and buy something? What I can't fathom is the amount of money being spent on ads, surely it must be paying off.
- jklinger410 4y ago
  You can definitely consider tracking and advertising as an extra cost of any service. You are obviously free to cancel services that are too expensive for you. The answer to your second question is yes. How many newspapers do you think we would still have without digital advertising? Close to zero. What people are willing to pay for and what is actually good for themselves and society are two different things. Advertising is a capitalist way to democratize attention. I also sincerely hope everyone complaining about advertising is a hardcore socialist or communist. If not they are awfully hypocritical.

jabroni_salad 4y ago

I feel like this is rather superfluous on Disney's side. If my account has watched Frozen 172 times, you should be able to figure out which ad will be effective on it.

hyperbovine 4y ago

just lie

NickC25 4y ago

A multibillion dollar corporation wants to advertise to me on a service I already pay for? Should be free, then. That's too bad, guess the high seas are calling.

StanislavPetrov 4y ago

I don't watch Disney+, but if I was so inclined this demand would certainly drive me from the subscription camp into the bootleg stream camp.

kennethreitz 4y ago

really not that big a deal