4 ms·

I think the tension between us is that you think 'private' means 'visible only to me', and I think private means 'never displayed to any other user, or on a pub

I think the tension between us is that you think 'private' means 'visible only to me', and I think private means 'never displayed to any other user, or on a public page'. There are a thousand routine tasks that require me to have unrestricted access to bookmarks and URLs. I try to be as uninvasive as I can about it, but you have no way of verifying that. If you want something to remain truly private to you—and I say this in full sympathy to your feelings—don't put it on a stranger's computer. Where there's a server, there's an admin.

sillysaurus3 12y ago
It seems like "private" could be defined as, "This is my stuff, and if you want access to it, then come ask me. It's okay if you accidentally access it, but if you want to intentionally look through it, ask me first." It seems hard to argue that most people wouldn't feel that way about their own private stuff. I fully understood the implications of giving you the data. I'm a fan of your work and your writing, and I had full confidence in your stewardship of my data. Essentially, I was totally okay with you being the admin, or anyone you decided to hire, and I trusted you to take reasonable steps not to look through your users' private data unless it was to track down some bug, test some new feature, or some other incidental task that was unrelated to analyzing that private data. What I didn't expect was that you'd specifically and intentionally create a program whose sole purpose was to analyze private user data and report on the results. Why didn't I expect that? The only answer is that I should have expected that. I just didn't realize you were that type of developer. It was a bit shocking that someone who has trumpeted the benefits of sticking with businesses that haven't taken VC investment would explicitly break their users' trust like this. In this case, you have both the legal right and the moral high ground. But intentionally seeking through your own users' private data without getting consent isn't something that can easily be forgotten.
- tptacek 12y ago
  You are on tilt. You lost it, completely, when you wrote "specifically and intentionally create a program whose sole purpose was to analyze private user data", a statement that is not only self-evidently false but deceptive. You've gone from "aggressive good-faith commenter whose points I often do not get" to "alarming and hostile" all in the span of a single comment thread. Re-evaluate. You can often dig your way out of these stupid message board holes by simply apologizing. It's worked for me repeatedly.
  - sillysaurus3 12y ago
    You're right. I apologize. Both to you, for getting heated, and to Maciej, for misrepresenting his actions in this matter. The misrepresentation was accidental, but it happened nonetheless. My comments were also extremely disrespectful and totally uncalled for. I'm truly sorry.

sillysaurus3 12y ago

It seems like "private" could be defined as, "This is my stuff, and if you want access to it, then come ask me. It's okay if you accidentally access it, but if you want to intentionally look through it, ask me first." It seems hard to argue that most people wouldn't feel that way about their own private stuff. I fully understood the implications of giving you the data. I'm a fan of your work and your writing, and I had full confidence in your stewardship of my data. Essentially, I was totally okay with you being the admin, or anyone you decided to hire, and I trusted you to take reasonable steps not to look through your users' private data unless it was to track down some bug, test some new feature, or some other incidental task that was unrelated to analyzing that private data. What I didn't expect was that you'd specifically and intentionally create a program whose sole purpose was to analyze private user data and report on the results. Why didn't I expect that? The only answer is that I should have expected that. I just didn't realize you were that type of developer. It was a bit shocking that someone who has trumpeted the benefits of sticking with businesses that haven't taken VC investment would explicitly break their users' trust like this. In this case, you have both the legal right and the moral high ground. But intentionally seeking through your own users' private data without getting consent isn't something that can easily be forgotten.

tptacek 12y ago
You are on tilt. You lost it, completely, when you wrote "specifically and intentionally create a program whose sole purpose was to analyze private user data", a statement that is not only self-evidently false but deceptive. You've gone from "aggressive good-faith commenter whose points I often do not get" to "alarming and hostile" all in the span of a single comment thread. Re-evaluate. You can often dig your way out of these stupid message board holes by simply apologizing. It's worked for me repeatedly.
- sillysaurus3 12y ago
  You're right. I apologize. Both to you, for getting heated, and to Maciej, for misrepresenting his actions in this matter. The misrepresentation was accidental, but it happened nonetheless. My comments were also extremely disrespectful and totally uncalled for. I'm truly sorry.