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I'm not sure what you have to fear with the TV analogy. The biggest issue with parental controls in TVs was that no one knows they're there to turn on. The desi

I'm not sure what you have to fear with the TV analogy. The biggest issue with parental controls in TVs was that no one knows they're there to turn on. The design was always that TV channels broadcast the ratings information, and if you configured it and set a password, then the TV would block any content outside of the rating you configured it to allow. That's exactly how the RTA header would function. It's all client-side decision making based on server provided metadata. There's nothing to track. Every TV in the US has been required to work this way for over 20 years.

johnnyanmac 3y ago
>I'm not sure what you have to fear with the TV analogy. It's a tangential discussion that doesn't have to do with blocking content. As it is these days, TV's are a device that with no control of my own chooses to send telemetry data back home in order to sell my data to 3rd parties for ads. This subsidizes "smart" TV's, but given that there are no more mid-high end "dumb" TV's, this feels less like a choice than a mandate of the industry. On top of all this, there has been murmur of dark patterns related to making sure your TV is internet-connected, which includes trying to connect to an open network after you opt out of a network connection, and having unlisted 4/5G modems built into the tv that are unusable by the consumer but otherwise made to send data out, even if the consumer does not connect to a network. I'm honestly sort of surprised GDPR hasn't come down on this yet. ---- So the header check you describe with computer devices aren't necessarily a concern by itself. But it's a slippery slope one that has been exploited by so many companies so consistently when it comes to matters like this. The world over still hasn't properly litigated to make sure that companies can't simply grab whatever data they want and sell it, so we're in a game of cat and mouse until then. And as a mouse I simply see this piece of cheese with a looming shadow above it.

johnnyanmac 3y ago

>I'm not sure what you have to fear with the TV analogy. It's a tangential discussion that doesn't have to do with blocking content. As it is these days, TV's are a device that with no control of my own chooses to send telemetry data back home in order to sell my data to 3rd parties for ads. This subsidizes "smart" TV's, but given that there are no more mid-high end "dumb" TV's, this feels less like a choice than a mandate of the industry. On top of all this, there has been murmur of dark patterns related to making sure your TV is internet-connected, which includes trying to connect to an open network after you opt out of a network connection, and having unlisted 4/5G modems built into the tv that are unusable by the consumer but otherwise made to send data out, even if the consumer does not connect to a network. I'm honestly sort of surprised GDPR hasn't come down on this yet. ---- So the header check you describe with computer devices aren't necessarily a concern by itself. But it's a slippery slope one that has been exploited by so many companies so consistently when it comes to matters like this. The world over still hasn't properly litigated to make sure that companies can't simply grab whatever data they want and sell it, so we're in a game of cat and mouse until then. And as a mouse I simply see this piece of cheese with a looming shadow above it.