4 ms·
these practices are converging on something like a 21st century version of redlining, and i hope consumer advocates will work to expose and address these modern
by justcommenting 12y ago
these practices are converging on something like a 21st century version of redlining, and i hope consumer advocates will work to expose and address these modern forms of opaque price discrimination.
some may claim that these practices can benefit consumers, but unless it's done transparently in ways that consumers know and understand, it primarily serves to increase information asymmetry.
- altern8 12y agoThe only excuse they could give if they're exposed is that they're doing A/B testing with pricing (at least that's what I'd say), but it would be pretty bad.
- cpeterso 12y agoTime to remove OS information leakage from user agent string? Sites could still profile users by browser (e.g. Safari), though.
- justcommenting 12y agoI would encourage people to 1) collect data and submit written complaints to regulators like the FTC if they believe they've identified unfair or deceptive business practices 2) boycott companies that engage in these practices, and ask your friends to do the same 3) consider technical mitigations like the de-identifying properties that using the Tor Browser Bundle offers
- ryan-c 12y agoIt's not difficult to get figure out what operating system you're on without looking at the user agent string.