Welcome to the EU web:
@gruber These cookie prompts ruined the web.
@simonbs @gruber and they didn’t have to. Cookie banners are intentionally designed to get people to click “accept”. The _ethically_ correct thing is to not collect identifying data at all until it is required for your user, then ask. Instead we get this. I spend part of my professional life helping companies suck less in this area. It’s an uphill struggle. Most don’t _want_ to understand. Easier to throw a cookie banner at it and pretend you’ve acted ethically. #privacy #consent

@bratling @simonbs @gruber Because it's kind of important to track people's sign up flows and understand what they're doing? Or run targeted ads to actually fund the newspaper?

It's not like they're running a personal blog here.

@yury_mol @bratling @simonbs @gruber you don't automatically charge someone's credit card when they visit your website, so why would automatically tracking them be okay?

It's not because we got used to it that it was a good business model.

@xavez @yury_mol @simonbs @gruber user tracking on the web is based on exploiting design flaws of the web. Nobody has a right to user tracking.
@bratling @xavez @simonbs @gruber Nobody has a right for free software and content.
@yury_mol @xavez @simonbs @gruber we don’t disagree on that. I don’t have a right to your VC-funded clients’ products and services, and they don’t have a right to track me without my consent.

@xavez @bratling @simonbs @gruber Arguing via parallels is bad faith because people always construct a situation where their argument wins.

Tracking is OK. Show me any example of harm experienced by anyone involved. For the fact they’re getting content and services for free.

@yury_mol @bratling @simonbs @gruber I invite you to find a parallel where your argument wins.
@xavez @bratling @simonbs @gruber I don’t need a parallel for this. Targeted advertising has enabled countless free services available to anyone worldwide with the Internet. Old entitled white men in the US like to say they’d rather pay for everything. But I didn’t have a credit card when I was a teen. The only reason I was able to learn a lot of things and connect with friends is through ad-funded free services.

@yury_mol @bratling @simonbs @gruber that business model existed without targeting, it was partly subsidised, partly (contextual) ads, partly paid by subscribers.

None of these things require tracking every webpage you visit across the internet.

@xavez @bratling @simonbs @gruber Targeting is quite old (comparatively). Remarketing was launched in AdWords in 2010. This already imlied tracking.

Your entire argument is based on hypotheticals, not our reality.

@yury_mol @bratling @simonbs @gruber let’s say you’re right for a minute. What are you trying to say? That targeted ads aren’t harmful? That’s wrong. Or that collecting privacy sensitive information without user consent isn’t harmful? That’s also wrong. Either you’re unaware of these well known facts, or you’re wilfully ignoring them and arguing in bad faith.

On top of that I’m afraid you’re mistaken. There are current ad based business models that don’t require identifying and tracking users.

@yury_mol @xavez @simonbs @gruber tracking is not ok. The fact that you CAN do something doesn’t not make it ethically correct.
I can send you an email with a tracking pixel and know when you open it, where you are, what device you use. That does not make it ok for me to do so.
If you are under the impression that it is acceptable, I can’t change your mind, but I hope you will at least think about why you feel you are entitled to do this.

@yury_mol @xavez @bratling @simonbs @gruber

If you let people do what they want ... guess what? They do what they want. Narcissistic ShittyPeople have a heyday.

The effect on UK is profound. Was it just Cambridge Analytica? It only took 2% to change the outcome.

E.G.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook–Cambridge_Analytica_data_scandal

Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal - Wikipedia

@gsymon @xavez @bratling @simonbs @gruber I don't understand what your point is. Also, the entire Cambridge Analytica debacle was a sham that didn't mean to anything.

1. People wanted Facebook to be more open, it closed down as a response to this.
2. Now only Facebook itself processes your data.
3. The data those "scientists" collected was useless for pretty much anything, as confirmed by the UK itself later. But it caused a large scandal and became a scapegoat for years.

@yury_mol @xavez @bratling @simonbs @gruber

Facebook paid a $725m settlement, so I guess they thought there was something there.

Your third point is simply naive. Why on earth do you think those people spent so much time/money/effort to access and use that data? You think they were just a bit dumb or something? Maybe you should look a little deeper, with an open mind.

@yury_mol @simonbs @gruber this is a false dichotomy. Data privacy and effective digital marketing are not mutually exclusive, but it is in the interest of Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc that you and me believe they are. Please understand that my work relies on data about user behavior; I just insist we do this openly and ethically. (Also, I’ve seen precious little evidence that behaviorally targeted ads work better than contextual ads.)

@bratling @simonbs @gruber I see you’re one of the “Meta is just lying their ads work” crowd.

The reason they won over the old contextual ads is because they’re better. Because Meta or Google know that I looked at that camera strap and then they’d show it to me in a feed. What other context do they have in a feed? Posts around it?

@yury_mol @bratling @simonbs @gruber have I understood this correctky?

You’re saying newspapers should be allowed to gather data about their users, without consent, because that’s the only way they can generate sufficient funding (targeted ads)?

Why Privacy Is Overrated

I’m not against privacy, and I understand why people might not want someone to track web pages or apps they use. But it’s important to remember that there’s a trade-off and be prepared for the outcome.

@yury_mol @nick_tune @bratling @simonbs @gruber

no, ads are not fine, ads are torture and needs to be destroyed

if your product isn't viable without manipulation and exploitation it doesn't deserve to exist

@troglodyt @nick_tune @bratling @simonbs @gruber Can you say one coherent statement without false language used to prove your point on an emotional level?

You probably can't.

@yury_mol @nick_tune @bratling @simonbs @gruber

right, so you prefer death to life, emotionless is the obvious ideal existence to you

f off

@yury_mol @nick_tune @simonbs @gruber oh. Shit. You a tech VC bro. You have a financial stake in not understanding the harms you are advocating.

Nevermind. I definitely won’t convince you. You’d have to find a new line of work if I did.

@bratling @nick_tune @simonbs @gruber I see your capacity to read and process information is quite diminished to the point only an ad hominem attack works for you ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@yury_mol heh. it’s more a case of choosing one’s battles. I really believe that you and I will never find common ground on this topic. it’ll just annoy us both. BUT: Although I didn’t intend a personal attack on you; re-reading my own post, it did have that feel. That’s my error and I apologize to you for it.

(i chuckled at ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ because that’s my favorite ascii emoji too. i have an auto-replace for “shrug”.)

@bratling I have the same, it's very difficult to type otherwise :)

@yury_mol ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Also, I’ve decided I ought to follow you. I need more of my philosophical opposites in my feed to keep from being too much in an echo chamber!
ᕕ(⌐■_■)ᕗ ♪♬