Online Privacy Worth Less Than Marshmallow Fluff Six Pack

nonprofiteer writes "With a program called Screenwise, Google is offering a total of $25 in Amazon gift cards to anyone willing to install a Chrome browser extension that will let the search giant track every website the user visits and what they do there over a year-long period. Google says it will study this in order to improve its products and services. Forbes points out that $25 in Amazon credits isn't quite enough to buy a six pack of Marshmallow Fluff ($26.75)." The money isn't much as a pure trade for privacy, but I suspect that many people would like to have their preferences be among those that shape how Google — and other companies, too — actually organize their interfaces. (Note that the tracking can be selectively turned off by the user.)

Comments

Yes

[Anrego]

This is one of those statements we need to hear from time to time to shock is into realizing that the vast majority of people out there do not value online privacy to the degree that the Slashdot crowd generally does.

The vast majority of people out there probably rank "letting a company mine my browsing history" somewhere around "filling out a survey".

Re:Yes

[eln]

I'm surprised they even bothered to offer the gift cards. Most people will gladly give up their privacy for free.

Re:Yes

[TheRaven64]

I'd happily do this. Of course, I don't actually use Chrome, so after the extension was installed they wouldn't get very much useful information...

Re:Yes

[Anrego]

I don’t equate it to stupidity. It’s not that people don’t understand the implications of this. It’s made fairly clear.. “every site you visit will be known to us”. It comes down to having different priorities.

The Slashdot crowd is privacy sensitive. It’s important to us. The fact that it’s not important to others is something we have to learn to accept. We can’t always write it off as “well, they are just stupid.. if only we could explain it to them in the right way..” because they have a valid opinion. They’ve chosen to live a certain way, and privacy is not a priority to them.

Re:Yes

[gparent]

The vast majority of people might just do less weirdo shit on their computer than you? What exactly is wrong with Google having access to my entire search history with my consent? Microsoft Windows has a similar feature where you can turn on performance counters in the OS and aggregated data is then used to make features shaped more like the user wants them.

It's not like they're saying "We'll read your entire search history, tough shit", they're offering people to willingly give them that information, and for the bother, they are compensated with a minor bonus.

Re:Yes

[Hatta]

âoewell, they are just stupid.. if only we could explain it to them in the right way..â because they have a valid opinion. Theyâ(TM)ve chosen to live a certain way, and privacy is not a priority to them.

We can tell this is not the case, because when people get bitten by the obvious consequences of surrendering their privacy, they complain. If they knew and expected those consequences, they wouldn't be bothered when it happens. And yet we still hear stupid people complain about how facebook shared their data in a way they don't approve of. Tough shit, that's what you signed up for.

Re:Yes

[Anrego]

And yet we still hear stupid people complain about how facebook shared their data in a way they don't approve of.

I actually don't see this happening. Not saying it hasn't, I've just never really seen it. Occasionally I'll hear one of my non-geek friends state "ya know, facebook owns everything you put there" .. but it's stated in more of an "interesting trivia" manner than a outraged "stop using facebook" manner (for the record, I'm the stubourn friend without the facebook/twitter/etc in my social circles).

The only people I hear complaining about facebooks no-privacy privacy policy are like minded geeks who know better and as you said, if they sign up anyway, they have no right to complain.

Re:Yes

[CastrTroy]

This is what I was thinking. Install the tool bar on a virtual machine version of chrome. Maybe even bring it up from time to time and browse some crazy mix of sites to screw around with their data. Do they send you the gift cart as soon as you install it? $25 may be a case of marshmallow fluff, but it's also 2 or 3 paperback books, or many other useful things. Sign up under 4 different aliases and you could probably easily have yourself $100.

Re:Yes

[meerling]

I'm tempted to sign up for it, I'd like $25 gift card, I could get a book or two I want with that.
Of course, it wouldn't be my actual desktop it would be installed on. It would either be one of the junker laptops I rarely use, or a virtual machine that is carefully monitored. Either way, it would see a totally boring, and possibly scripted, tour of common news and corporate websites as if it were done by a paranoid person who know they're being tracked.

If this throws off their data, I would feel happy that I got paid enough to take my daughter out to lunch just by demonstrating their flaws.

Re:Yes

[GameboyRMH]

Chrome doesn't send any extra info to Google. Like many other browsers it sends search queries as you type them to use search autocomplete features.

Re:Yes

[jc42]

Itâ(TM)s not that people donâ(TM)t understand the implications of this. Itâ(TM)s made fairly clear.. âoeevery site you visit will be known to usâ.

Well, I was surprised by this story, because I've always just assumed that Chrome sends a log of what I do back to the Mother Ship at Google. I don't have the source code, so that's what I'd suspect. And even with this story out, I still suspect that it's reporting my surfing to someone I don't know of. It'd be easy enough for them to hide this among all the auto-refresh traffic, and so on.

I don't use Chrome for online banking, mostly for this reason. There are several open-source browsers available that are much more trustworthy (though they're worth keeping an eye on ;-).

So why would any sensible person think that their browser isn't sending their surfing history out to someone back home?

I don't use Chrome for online banking for this reason.

Maybe Google can get my age and gender right

[sandytaru]

Since they got it so very wrong, wrong, wrong on the first go round.

Re:Maybe Google can get my age and gender right

[Oswald McWeany]

Sorry, I trust google more than some random person on the web. How do you know you're not wrong about your age and gender?

I think you should accept the fact that you're not what you think you are.

If they tracked me via Chrome...

[Rockoon]

If Google tracked me via Chrome, they would see 100% of all websites visited are *.netflix.com/*

Yeah, thats all I use Chrome for.

It's not just the Amazon Gift Cards...

[Sedated2000]

They also pay you $100 up front and $20 dollars a month for up to a year. For a low income family that could nearly cover the cost of their broadband internet.

Alternate headline

[sootman]

"Online Privacy Worth More Than Marshmallow Fluff Five Pack"

See? It's a glass half full/half-empty kinda thing.

Great idea

[Megahard]

I'm installing it on the wife's computer.

Re:Great idea

[Oswald McWeany]

Install it on the library computer.

Re:Great idea

[Anonymous Coward]

I've already been tracking your wife's computer usage, screenshots, webcam, etc - for years.

And she seems to enjoy watching midgets shit on old people.

Re:Surf's not up

[elrous0]

Your Wolf Pack doesn't scare me, bra. I'm as good as ANY of you!

Bullshit

[dcollins]

"The money isn't much as a pure trade for privacy, but I suspect that many people would like to have their preferences be among those that shape how Google — and other companies, too — actually organize their interfaces."

Here's my proposed experiment. Make 2 offers:
(A) We track what you watch for a year, we will NOT use it to shape any interfaces, you get $25.
(B) We track what you watch for a year, we WILL use it to shape any interfaces, you get $0.

My bet would be that the ratio of acceptances would be at least 10:1 in favor of (A).
I only see "being tracked is great as long as I get more targeted advertising" as a claim from Slashdotters.

Re:Who buys marshmallow fluff?

[Oswald McWeany]

That's less than one beer every 15 days for having google spy on you.

Re:If any google employee can stomach what I surf

[Joce640k]

The real question is ... What the hell is "marshmallow fluff"?

I hate this trend!

[governorx]

Dear Google,

I am not the average user. I am a technical user that is intelligent and values privacy. Please make me a google that gives relevant technical results for my queries instead of the hodge-podge that the average illiterate user can understand and click-through. xxx-answer or some similar should never be a result.

The results from the 25$ incentive will most likely be skewed in an unfavourable direction when compared to the search results I am looking for - due to the demographic (which I foresee) partaking in this research experiment. Please reconsider.

Signed: The guy that is always finding google harder and harder to use.

PS - Give me the option to search using an older algorithm.

Re:If any google employee can stomach what I surf

[Oswald McWeany]

Google would show good humour if "marshmallow fluff" were the name of the next Android OS release.

Re:If any google employee can stomach what I surf

[Anonymous Coward]

Hope you guys like watching a lot of midgets shitting on grannies. And I mean a *LOT* of midgets shitting on grannies.

It's people like you that will completely skew the results and ruin the Internet.

When I search for Mickey Mouse I don't want to come up with Debbie Does Disney, I want some family-friendly, pre-censored search results. And I don't want any Catholic priests or evangelical preachers signing up just for the 25 dollar giveaway. There is enough perversion on the Internet without search results being based on the sexual fantasies of religious leaders.

Re:If any google employee can stomach what I surf

[GrumpySteen]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshmallow_creme

And one of the reasons it's popular:
http://www.marshmallowfluff.com/pages/fluffernutter.html

As long as they accept others value their privacy

[91degrees]

It's a pretty subjective thing. I'll willingly tell anyone who really wants to know all sorts of things that others consider private (the colour of my underwear, various sex related things), but feel a little protective of all sorts of things. I'll rarely share my Slashdot username with anyone who knows my real name and vice versa.

I'll readily accept that some people really genuinely don't care at all about being spied on, and as long as they accept that I do, I have no quarrel with these people. I also understand that some people object vigorously to what I might consider some fairly minor infringements. I respect that as well, and feel that there should be no collection of personal information without a very compelling reason.

However, if people willingly give it away, and the deal can be clearly considered an honest and open agreement then who are we to tell them they shouldn't.

Marshmallow Fluff? All it takes is chocolate

[oneiros27]

Am I the only one who remembers the study that found people would give up their passwords for a chocolate bar?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3639679.stm

(and that a good percentage didn't even need the chocolate)

Re:If any google employee can stomach what I surf

[windcask]

Perhaps "Height-disadvantaged persons defecating above the long-lived?"

Re:Of course

[forkfail]

Funny thing, though - a lot of people would whip out the shotgun if someone was peeping in their window or reading their private journals.

Re:What if I don't surf with Chrome?

[forkfail]

Already way ahead of your.

I've got a pool contractor who will take credit at Amazon, and I'm buying enough Marshmallow Fluff to fill my new pool and go swimming in it.

Re:You're looking at this wrong

[forkfail]

Sadly, though, the $25 is not enought to buy even a gallon of the rich, creamy, life giving ambrosia known as Tuscan Whole Milk, 1 Gallon, 128 fl oz.

That would be a different story altogether.

Re:If any google employee can stomach what I surf

[cayenne8]

I'm still trying to figure out what the hell marshmallow fluff is...??

It comes in a six pack...doesn't seem to be any type of beer I've heard of....

New nomenclature

[StripedCow]

Since the big corporations have, wrongly, labeled copyright infringement with "piracy", perhaps we should consider to label corporate privacy intrusion with the term "voyeurism" or something similar.

Re:If any google employee can stomach what I surf

[meerling]

I like to think of it as what you remove from the lint catcher after you run a bag of marshmallows through your drier.

Since we're on the subject, do you have a young child? I do. At least she hasn't put a grilled cheese in the vcr, but she did contemplate putting a pancake in the dvd.

Re:If any google employee can stomach what I surf

[Hoi Polloi]

...and is there a porn site that uses it?

Think bigger

[Rogue Haggis Landing]

Marshmallow Fluff? If you're going to give yourself up to Google like this you need to think big. For $25 you could buy 2500 (24x36) The Godfather Movie (Dollar Bill) Poster Prints from Poster Revolution via Amazon. Not only do you exchange your measly $25 for $2,500, you also wind up with enough posters to cover 16722 square meters. That's over four acres. You'll never have to buy wallpaper again!

And better yet, those (24x36) The Godfather Movie (Dollar Bill) Poster Prints look sort of like real money, so maybe Amazon will accept them as legal tender, and you can exchange your $2500 for 250000 (24x36) The Godfather Movie (Dollar Bill) Poster Prints, then exchange those for 25000000 (24x36) The Godfather Movie (Dollar Bill) Poster Prints, exchange those for 2500000000 (24x36) The Godfather Movie (Dollar Bill) Poster Prints, exchange those for 250000000000 (24x36) The Godfather Movie (Dollar Bill) Poster Prints, exchange those for 25000000000000 (24x36) The Godfather Movie (Dollar Bill) Poster Prints, and suddenly you've got enough (24x36) The Godfather Movie (Dollar Bill) Poster Prints to cover the Earth with a layer of (24x36) The Godfather Movie (Dollar Bill) Poster Prints almost four (24x36) The Godfather Movie (Dollar Bill) Poster Prints deep. Thanks to Google and Amazon/Poster Revolution, all of your mad genius-destroy-the-Earth desires can be realized!

Re:If any google employee can stomach what I surf

[steveg]

Are you referring to necrohippoflagilism?

Solution

[guttentag]

1. install the Chrome browser extension
2. Create the following AppleScript and use a cron job to run it once a month or so:

tell application "Google Chrome"
set URL of active tab of window 1 to "http://www.google.com"
activate
quit
end tell

3. Make Firefox your default browser
4. Profit!
5. Repeat steps one through four on another computer

Why does this seem oddly like mining bitcoins...

Re:If any google employee can stomach what I surf

[elrous0]

Lots of fiber.