Is Data the Future of the Vibrant Web?

  • Comments posted to this topic are about the item Is Data the Future of the Vibrant Web?

  • I'm happy, but not really, that you say it's confusing. A couple weeks ago I was doing some "pre-retirement" searching using my phone's browser and within minutes I was getting solicitation and robo calls. I don't know what site I hit but it was the wakeup call I needed to say "woah" but reading opt out clauses is really not easy. In fact, pretty creepy that they got my phone number from somewhere. Let's hope the future truly is "do no evil".

  • The core of the problem is "ownership". This is the knife plunging in the back of privacy.

    My data is mine--or is it? Take Google for example. Would you agree they have the right to place a cookie on your machine? There are benefits, YouTube for example can then show you videos you're interested in on the front page for instance.

    And nobody really doubts the cookie belongs to Google, right? They made it, you agreed to it, it's theirs. Which means if they want to share it with their advertisers, they have a right to do so. It's theirs.

    The data in it is theirs too. So you can't complain when they do what they do with it. Because it's theirs. They made it. They collected it. You agreed to its presence. So while it's creepy as all get out you have no room to complain, right?

    However.

    There are times I want privacy. I want to be able to look up stuff without anyone knowing because it's none of their concern. Since I DO NOT consent to having them look over my shoulder they damn well WON'T.

    How do you balance these two?

    Me, I use a trio of browsers. My daily driver is (gasp) IE 11 and it's locked down so hard it barely functions. No cookies, no third party stuff, most ad sites are blocked by DNS, etc. Gives me a nice quiet reading experience for the vast majority of my browsing.

    I use Edge exclusively for YouTube and sites that just refuse to support IE (which isn't that many, actually). With Edge I let them use cookies and ads and all the rest. I don't care, because it's basically the equivalent of going to the movies. They have to make a living just like me.

    Then for the super-private stuff I use Firefox, with encrypted DNS, and everything I can turn off turned off.

    It's a pain, but given the realities of ownership it's really the only answer. GDPR is an idealist's dream--but denies half the population their ownership rights.

    Take names and addresses, for instance. Companies work hard to assemble customer info, it's given to them so it's theirs. Now, that isn't to say they can't be intrusive and ask for stuff they really don't need to sell me something, and the cure for that is go to somebody else.

    Money talks, yes?

    In my opinion GDPR goes too far and becomes theft. But then again, the EU likes armed theft (err, issuing fines backed by the threat of thugs (er, law enforcement) and ultimately death (err, military enforcement)).

    But the EU isn't alone in that perversion...it's pretty much universal among governments. Power and greed, two of the seven deadly sins.

    Plus, there's reality to consider. Do not interfere in the affairs of government, for you are crunchy and go well with ketchup...

  • Back in the 1980's, most US states passed versions of the "Library Privacy Act" and "Cable TV Privacy Act" - and those laws are still on the books. Folks were understandably concerned about the potential for corporate America, snoops and Big Brother to abuse records about what individual were reading or watching on TV.

    But those concerns are quaint in comparison to what Google, FaceBook, and Amazon are allowed to get away with today.

    I reject the notion that the internet is a special place where the usual rules that govern society don't apply or somehow need to be re-invented from scratch. I mean, the Founding Fathers recognized that at least some rights are "self evident" and "inalienable", so they should be considered valid everywhere (at home, in cyberspace, in outer space) and they can't be discarded simply by clicking a box on a 120 page TOS agreement.

    Decades from now, our grand children will look at 1990 - 2020 as the era of unregulated data smoke stacks and digital robber barons.

    "Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho

  • I agree to the author; we don't know what's being shared from us, and how its being used, how it could impact us.

    To make it little better for the user, there are couple of good tools on the internet:

  • cpetrides wrote:

    I'm happy, but not really, that you say it's confusing. A couple weeks ago I was doing some "pre-retirement" searching using my phone's browser and within minutes I was getting solicitation and robo calls. I don't know what site I hit but it was the wakeup call I needed to say "woah" but reading opt out clauses is really not easy. In fact, pretty creepy that they got my phone number from somewhere. Let's hope the future truly is "do no evil".

    WOW, that's scary.

    Kindest Regards, Rod Connect with me on LinkedIn.

  • I don't sign into websites using my Google or LinkedIn ID, and I also I don't browse the web while logged into these things. I try to log out from my profile as soon as I'm finished using it. Signing into something like a banking or healthcare app using Facebook is about like introducing your financial planner or therapist to your nosy aunt at a backyard BBQ - the risk isn't worth the value. It would be great if there were a single sign-on provider out there that isn't also a social media platform or data broker.

     

    "Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho

  • "Do no Evil" is a vague statement with unexpected outcomes.Meaning you are on your own. You are sole responsible so think twice before giving anything to the internet.

    At some point we all have to give too much to the internet just because if you do not you forgo essential segment of modern life.

    I am not going to go hermit in a far north cabin, I need Internet, I need services so i will have to give up some privacy and i will be the ultimate bearer of responsibility.

    If they screw up and apologize for it, I will still be impacted and I yet have to see any metrics about what apologizes and prayers have achieved for anyone impacted.

    PA

    Philippe

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