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> "Meyer also says that Ghostery users are presented with clear disclosures about how the company uses their data if they opt in." Really? Here's the text you

> "Meyer also says that Ghostery users are presented with clear disclosures about how the company uses their data if they opt in." Really? Here's the text you see by default: >"Help support Ghostery by sending anonymous statistical data back to Ghostery HQ. > When you enable Ghostrank™, Ghostery collects anonymous data about the trackers you've encountered and the sites on which they were placed. This data is about tracking elements and the webpages on which they are found, not you or your browsing habits. >...See more" From this explanation it's unclear what Ghostery is doing. It makes it sound like there's no data being collected from you, only from the sites. Even the "see more" text only hints at the data's use, and you have to click through from that to get the full story. The FAQ is very carefully worded in terms of what they do/don't say and how it's phrased to sound as non-threatening as possible, and you have to read between the lines: https://www.ghostery.com/en/faq https://www.ghostery.com/en/faq It seems to me that Evidon is intentionally obscuring their use of the data, and users who opt in probably don't know what their data is being used for.

sp332 12y ago
Isn't that just what the article says they use it for? What part of your browsing habits to they sell?
smorgasbord 12y ago
https://purplebox.ghostery.com/post/1016023438 https://purplebox.ghostery.com/post/1016023438
zorbo 12y ago
> It makes it sound like there's no data being collected from you, only from the sites. And when you click through, that's exactly what they say they do. What they list under "See more" is an accurate summary. Of course they could be lying, but I find your claim of them intentionally obscuring their use of the data unfounded.
bryans 12y ago
I think you're making this out to be something it's not. I don't see how Evidon is under any obligation to explain exactly what analyses they perform on the data or what the companies they sell it to do with it. They would be divulging their own trade secrets if they did, which is ludicrous to demand of them. In fact, they're more forthcoming about what they collect than the vast majority of companies who sell data. They list every piece of information collected right in the FAQ, and they discuss it in depth in a blog post linked to from the FAQ. https://purplebox.ghostery.com/post/1016023438 https://purplebox.ghostery.com/post/1016023438 The reality is that Ghostrank is opt-in functionality. If you don't like it or are confused by the verbiage, then don't turn it on. If you're still paranoid, don't use Ghostery at all. But don't pretend that they're being unclear, disingenuous, or nefarious just because you had to click your mouse button twice to find the information.
- crpatino 12y ago
  >I don't see how Evidon is under any obligation to explain exactly what analyses they perform on the data or what the companies they sell it to do with it. Given that Ghostery provides a service that blocks companies tracking data, it has every obligation to explain why it's Ghostrank program is any different from the very thing you are expecting them to protect you from. Otherwise, it is like a sugar substitute that makes you fat anyways. Theoretically there is a legitimate use case (insulin dependent patients) but for their average customer (people who want to loose weight) it is borderline fraud.
  - fixanoid 12y ago
    Its explained in many places, such as our website, our FAQ, our support board, all the store listings, and finally in the extension itself. Ghostrank is not a tracking service of the user, its a way to measure the ecosystem of trackers in the webbernets.
fixanoid 12y ago
No one is intentionally obscuring anything. If you have a better idea of how to explain what we do, by all means, please tell me and I shall make it happen. What happens is straight forward tho. Ghostery collects tracker data as you browse and sends it to us if you've allowed us to collect the data by enabling Ghostrank. We take the data in, strip it of anything that may point it back to any user and sell it in packages to anyone interested in these reports. Heres what some of the reports purchased from us looks like: https://purplebox.ghostery.com/misc/trackermap/2.html https://purplebox.ghostery.com/misc/trackermap/2.html or https://purplebox.ghostery.com/misc/trackermap/5.html https://purplebox.ghostery.com/misc/trackermap/5.html

sp332 12y ago

Isn't that just what the article says they use it for? What part of your browsing habits to they sell?

smorgasbord 12y ago

https://purplebox.ghostery.com/post/1016023438 https://purplebox.ghostery.com/post/1016023438

zorbo 12y ago

> It makes it sound like there's no data being collected from you, only from the sites. And when you click through, that's exactly what they say they do. What they list under "See more" is an accurate summary. Of course they could be lying, but I find your claim of them intentionally obscuring their use of the data unfounded.

bryans 12y ago

I think you're making this out to be something it's not. I don't see how Evidon is under any obligation to explain exactly what analyses they perform on the data or what the companies they sell it to do with it. They would be divulging their own trade secrets if they did, which is ludicrous to demand of them. In fact, they're more forthcoming about what they collect than the vast majority of companies who sell data. They list every piece of information collected right in the FAQ, and they discuss it in depth in a blog post linked to from the FAQ. https://purplebox.ghostery.com/post/1016023438 https://purplebox.ghostery.com/post/1016023438 The reality is that Ghostrank is opt-in functionality. If you don't like it or are confused by the verbiage, then don't turn it on. If you're still paranoid, don't use Ghostery at all. But don't pretend that they're being unclear, disingenuous, or nefarious just because you had to click your mouse button twice to find the information.

crpatino 12y ago
>I don't see how Evidon is under any obligation to explain exactly what analyses they perform on the data or what the companies they sell it to do with it. Given that Ghostery provides a service that blocks companies tracking data, it has every obligation to explain why it's Ghostrank program is any different from the very thing you are expecting them to protect you from. Otherwise, it is like a sugar substitute that makes you fat anyways. Theoretically there is a legitimate use case (insulin dependent patients) but for their average customer (people who want to loose weight) it is borderline fraud.
- fixanoid 12y ago
  Its explained in many places, such as our website, our FAQ, our support board, all the store listings, and finally in the extension itself. Ghostrank is not a tracking service of the user, its a way to measure the ecosystem of trackers in the webbernets.

fixanoid 12y ago

No one is intentionally obscuring anything. If you have a better idea of how to explain what we do, by all means, please tell me and I shall make it happen. What happens is straight forward tho. Ghostery collects tracker data as you browse and sends it to us if you've allowed us to collect the data by enabling Ghostrank. We take the data in, strip it of anything that may point it back to any user and sell it in packages to anyone interested in these reports. Heres what some of the reports purchased from us looks like: https://purplebox.ghostery.com/misc/trackermap/2.html https://purplebox.ghostery.com/misc/trackermap/2.html or https://purplebox.ghostery.com/misc/trackermap/5.html https://purplebox.ghostery.com/misc/trackermap/5.html