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Google Accused of Bypassing Safari's Privacy Controls
DJRumpy points out an article (based on a possibly paywalled WSJ report) describing how Google and other ad networks wrote code that would bypass the privacy settings of Apple's Safari web browser. 'The default settings of Safari block cookies "from third parties and advertisers," a setting that is supposed to only allow sites that the user is directly interacting with to save a cookie (client side data that remote web servers can later access in subsequent visits). ... The report notes that "Google added coding to some of its ads that made Safari think that a person was submitting an invisible form to Google. Safari would then let Google install a cookie on the phone or computer.' Google says this mischaracterizes what the code does, claiming it simply enables 'features for signed-in Google users on Safari who had opted to see personalized ads and other content — such as the ability to “+1” things that interest them.' Google adds that the data transferred between Safari and Google's servers was anonymized. John Battelle writes that the WSJ's story is sensationalist, but that it raises good questions about the practices of ad networks as well as Apple's efforts to stymie industry-standard practices.
Man. if this is the stretch people have to go through to blame Google for something, Google must be doing pretty damn good.
Seriously, this is, yet again, another NTSH article about Google. They are doing what the user opted in for them to do.
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But on a locked down machine, nothing should be able to be installed without the admins knowing about it. Period. Google found a way around that. Also chrome has add ins that allow people around more things on a locked down machine. We had a professor that wanted google chrome for a classroom pc. This professor also hated not being an admin on the classroom machines, he complained every chance he got. After chrome was installed he stopped complaining. That machine started to have different settings. The background was changed, screen saver was changed. The registry was totally screwed up. The professor got added to the admin group. We re-imaged the machine. Everything was fine until that same professor went in that room. Then he was admin again. Again we imaged the machine. No chrome. No issues, well, besides his complaining. We now have a no chrome policy on the domain machines. Granted this professor has connections with google, so he may have more insight then other people. He cannot crack the machine without chrome. He tries. We watch him trying to boot the machines off of a USB or CD all the time. That is locked down to. He has said he is going to cut the lock keeping the machine case shut. He is determined, I'll give him that.