3 ms·

I kept hoping this was satire.

by jhickner 17y ago

spectre 17y ago
You have to understand something to satire it. This guy obviously didn't understand.
- Tichy 17y ago
  What did he not understand?
  - natrius 17y ago
    Copyright law, the DMCA's Safe Harbor Provision (and its European analogues), whether people should have an expectation of privacy on public streets, and what the solution to the tracking cookie problem should be. I'll assume the first three misunderstandings are self-evident. The last one I'll explain. Cookies are sent by your computer, which is under your control, to Google and other advertising companies. The solution isn't regulation. The solution is browsers that make it easy to control the information that you're providing. Every existing major browser is produced by an internet advertising company or is paid by an internet advertising company, so there's a bit of a conflict of interest at the moment. If governments want to solve this problem, it would be cheaper to create a browser extension that achieves their goals, or publicize an existing one. What expectation of privacy should one have on the internet in the first place? If I patronize some establishment in the real world, there's no guarantee that they won't tell anyone else that I went there. Safeway probably shares my purchasing history with all sorts of companies. The assumption that your web site visits are private isn't based on any analogue in the physical world. If the government thinks it's a good idea to inform people of the supposed dangers of letting internet advertisers accumulate information amount them and ways to prevent it, that's fine with me. Making it illegal or imposing onerous regulations on tracking cookies is silly and unnecessary. If this guy gets his way, every website is going to have some annoying interstitial that asks you to opt in to their tracking cookies, and you'll get them every time your cookies get cleared or expire. That would be extremely annoying. It would also likely be the end of free, advertising supported services on the internet.
    - Tichy 17y ago
      I have read the article again, but I must have missed the parts where he recommends the actions you say he recommends (ie regulation, outlawing of cookies). I only saw the bit about stopping Microsoft (personally I thought it was wrong to call Microsoft a monopoly and attempt to smash it by law, but obviously people have different opinions on that). He seems to be right in pointing out the problem. Whether we have a right or even a hope to privacy is another matter.
      - natrius 17y ago
        "Clearly, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft should opt you out [of tracking cookies] by default." "They must be regulated and restrained by law so we can sleep at ease even though we know we cannot trust them." Tracking cookies don't strike me as much of a problem. All the author says is that Google tracks us on the internet. So what? "Search engines like those of Google, Yahoo and Microsoft can provide the companies that own and manage them with detailed information about many aspects of our lives, including our intimate, personal lives." He doesn't elaborate on this point. What data about my personal life do tracking cookies give those companies? Oh no, Google knows how much I futilely try to disprove Rule 34. Google does have my email and calendar, which could be a problem, but I'm more afraid of the government subpoenaing or PATRIOT Act-ing my data than Google misusing it, and the government can get it no matter who has it. In fact, Google's sheer size increases the financial incentive they have to not misuse my data. Their reputation is incredibly valuable.
        Tichy 17y ago
        He does not elaborate on the regulations that should be in place in his opinion. Your way of quoting him makes it sound as if he wants to outlaw cookies, but I don't think that is what he is saying. I am not sure what kinds of regulations could be useful, but I am also not sure that there are no useful regulations at all. As for privacy, and the data tracking cookies provide: it would depend on the web sites you visit, wouldn't it? I think in the average case, it would provide pretty much every bit of information about you imaginable (for example illnesses in your family).

I kept hoping this was satire.

spectre 17y ago

You have to understand something to satire it. This guy obviously didn't understand.

Tichy 17y ago
What did he not understand?
- natrius 17y ago
  Copyright law, the DMCA's Safe Harbor Provision (and its European analogues), whether people should have an expectation of privacy on public streets, and what the solution to the tracking cookie problem should be. I'll assume the first three misunderstandings are self-evident. The last one I'll explain. Cookies are sent by your computer, which is under your control, to Google and other advertising companies. The solution isn't regulation. The solution is browsers that make it easy to control the information that you're providing. Every existing major browser is produced by an internet advertising company or is paid by an internet advertising company, so there's a bit of a conflict of interest at the moment. If governments want to solve this problem, it would be cheaper to create a browser extension that achieves their goals, or publicize an existing one. What expectation of privacy should one have on the internet in the first place? If I patronize some establishment in the real world, there's no guarantee that they won't tell anyone else that I went there. Safeway probably shares my purchasing history with all sorts of companies. The assumption that your web site visits are private isn't based on any analogue in the physical world. If the government thinks it's a good idea to inform people of the supposed dangers of letting internet advertisers accumulate information amount them and ways to prevent it, that's fine with me. Making it illegal or imposing onerous regulations on tracking cookies is silly and unnecessary. If this guy gets his way, every website is going to have some annoying interstitial that asks you to opt in to their tracking cookies, and you'll get them every time your cookies get cleared or expire. That would be extremely annoying. It would also likely be the end of free, advertising supported services on the internet.
  - Tichy 17y ago
    I have read the article again, but I must have missed the parts where he recommends the actions you say he recommends (ie regulation, outlawing of cookies). I only saw the bit about stopping Microsoft (personally I thought it was wrong to call Microsoft a monopoly and attempt to smash it by law, but obviously people have different opinions on that). He seems to be right in pointing out the problem. Whether we have a right or even a hope to privacy is another matter.
    - natrius 17y ago
      "Clearly, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft should opt you out [of tracking cookies] by default." "They must be regulated and restrained by law so we can sleep at ease even though we know we cannot trust them." Tracking cookies don't strike me as much of a problem. All the author says is that Google tracks us on the internet. So what? "Search engines like those of Google, Yahoo and Microsoft can provide the companies that own and manage them with detailed information about many aspects of our lives, including our intimate, personal lives." He doesn't elaborate on this point. What data about my personal life do tracking cookies give those companies? Oh no, Google knows how much I futilely try to disprove Rule 34. Google does have my email and calendar, which could be a problem, but I'm more afraid of the government subpoenaing or PATRIOT Act-ing my data than Google misusing it, and the government can get it no matter who has it. In fact, Google's sheer size increases the financial incentive they have to not misuse my data. Their reputation is incredibly valuable.
      - Tichy 17y ago
        He does not elaborate on the regulations that should be in place in his opinion. Your way of quoting him makes it sound as if he wants to outlaw cookies, but I don't think that is what he is saying. I am not sure what kinds of regulations could be useful, but I am also not sure that there are no useful regulations at all. As for privacy, and the data tracking cookies provide: it would depend on the web sites you visit, wouldn't it? I think in the average case, it would provide pretty much every bit of information about you imaginable (for example illnesses in your family).