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What I do have a problem with is advertisers tracking people across websites, and that all of the major browser vendors are happy to facilitate/encourage this.

by uxp 15y ago

What I do have a problem with is advertisers tracking people across websites, and that all of the major browser vendors are happy to facilitate/encourage this. I think everyone has a problem with this to a degree. I'm ok with Google giving me personal search results and Facebook recommending me products based on recent wall posts. What I'm not ok with is my Fiancé searching for wedding ideas one night on her laptop at home, and the next day having all the website ads being shown to me from a particular ad network on my iPhone being wedding related while connected to my home WiFi. This really happened to me 2 weeks ago. I expect a certain amount of privacy, for both her and myself. Nothing needs to be written in law that says that I cannot be tracked, but there should be a moral code on what kinds of ads are displayed and where they will be displayed. If advertiser networks can't develop a system that isn't invasive then they need to go away, via adblock or otherwise.

Retric 15y ago
Targeted advertising done well can be helpful, and I realize the only thing making these connections is a computer program some where. Yet, while I don't mind reminders that a movie I might like is out, there is something innately creepy about being tracked like that. PS: Progress is being made on the creepy front. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html?pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.h...
bad_user 15y ago
To add to your point, the problem with cross-website tracking is that it breaks the mental model that people have about these web services. For instance, one would expect for Google to know everything you searched for. I don't think that anybody is naive enough to not realize it, even non-technical users. So if you're searching for something and you don't want Google to find out about it, then the simplest thing you can do is to NOT search on Google. And the problem with cross-website tracking is that this model breaks. Now Google / Facebook know what websites you visit, even if you were careful about not searching on Google, or not sharing/following links on Facebook. It's pretty scary actually.

by uxp 15y ago

Retric 15y ago

Targeted advertising done well can be helpful, and I realize the only thing making these connections is a computer program some where. Yet, while I don't mind reminders that a movie I might like is out, there is something innately creepy about being tracked like that. PS: Progress is being made on the creepy front. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html?pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.h...

bad_user 15y ago

To add to your point, the problem with cross-website tracking is that it breaks the mental model that people have about these web services. For instance, one would expect for Google to know everything you searched for. I don't think that anybody is naive enough to not realize it, even non-technical users. So if you're searching for something and you don't want Google to find out about it, then the simplest thing you can do is to NOT search on Google. And the problem with cross-website tracking is that this model breaks. Now Google / Facebook know what websites you visit, even if you were careful about not searching on Google, or not sharing/following links on Facebook. It's pretty scary actually.