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Facebook, Google, and Microsoft Use Design To Trick You Into Handing Over Your Data, Report Warns (gizmodo.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: A study from the Norwegian Consumer Council dug into the underhanded tactics used by Microsoft, Facebook, and Google to collect user data. "The findings include privacy intrusive default settings, misleading wording, giving users an illusion of control, hiding away privacy-friendly choices, take-it-or-leave-it choices, and choice architectures where choosing the privacy friendly option requires more effort for the users," states the report, which includes images and examples of confusing design choices and strangely worded statements involving the collection and use of personal data.
Google makes opting out of personalized ads more of a chore than it needs to be and uses multiple pages of text, unclear design language, and, as described by the report, "hidden defaults" to push users toward the company's desired action. "If the user tried to turn the setting off, a popup window appeared explaining what happens if Ads Personalization is turned off, and asked users to reaffirm their choice," the report explained. "There was no explanation about the possible benefits of turning off Ads Personalization, or negative sides of leaving it turned on." Those who wish to completely avoid personalized ads must traverse multiple menus, making that "I agree" option seem like the lesser of two evils. In Windows 10, if a user wants to opt out of "tailored experiences with diagnostic data," they have to click a dimmed lightbulb, while the symbol for opting in is a brightly shining bulb, says the report.
Another example has to do with Facebook. The social media site makes the "Agree and continue" option much more appealing and less intimidating than the grey "Manage Data Settings" option. The report says the company-suggested option is the easiest to use. "This 'easy road' consisted of four clicks to get through the process, which entailed accepting personalized ads from third parties and the use of face recognition. In contrast, users who wanted to limit data collection and use had to go through 13 clicks."
Google makes opting out of personalized ads more of a chore than it needs to be and uses multiple pages of text, unclear design language, and, as described by the report, "hidden defaults" to push users toward the company's desired action. "If the user tried to turn the setting off, a popup window appeared explaining what happens if Ads Personalization is turned off, and asked users to reaffirm their choice," the report explained. "There was no explanation about the possible benefits of turning off Ads Personalization, or negative sides of leaving it turned on." Those who wish to completely avoid personalized ads must traverse multiple menus, making that "I agree" option seem like the lesser of two evils. In Windows 10, if a user wants to opt out of "tailored experiences with diagnostic data," they have to click a dimmed lightbulb, while the symbol for opting in is a brightly shining bulb, says the report.
Another example has to do with Facebook. The social media site makes the "Agree and continue" option much more appealing and less intimidating than the grey "Manage Data Settings" option. The report says the company-suggested option is the easiest to use. "This 'easy road' consisted of four clicks to get through the process, which entailed accepting personalized ads from third parties and the use of face recognition. In contrast, users who wanted to limit data collection and use had to go through 13 clicks."
a target.
This info has been out there for years yet no one is listening and/or cares. The mantra of people seems to be "it's free" so why not. I have long ago seen this coming. Use Fedora Linux or Debian. Use an iPhone over Android despite Apple having some issues. Use P2P apps in lieu of things like Skype. Own your own domain and use that for email. It's cheap and you have control of your user name and domain name. Tie that domain name to a privacy-respecting service like Fastmail.
Don't use spy devices like Alexa or Google Home. These exist not to help you but to harvest your data 24/7. Roll your own solutions, especially if you're technical or in IT. Use your own skills. Run a Pi-hole, block and defund the ad companies and tracking companies. Like drugs, just say no...
I just can't believe that companies like Microsoft or Facebook or Google would ever do anything underhanded or manipulative! I mean, it's not like have years of history of doing this, right? Right?
(As someone else posted, opting out probably gets you scrutinized even more, perhaps as a test subject for even trickier under-the-radar manipulation.)
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
1) You grant app from vendor X the right to some data Y.
2) You *think* you've granted the *APP* access, but because network access permission is on by default, you've actually granted the *company* that made the app permission.
3) All your private data is slurped up regularly and sold to data brokers.
They rely on you confusing the app they're giving permission to, with the company that made the app, they're *actually* giving permission to.
Of course when it comes to Google, all of this never happens, Google simply grabs permission by default, and you log into Google's site to disable Google examining data it *already* grabbed from your device.
e.g. on and Android phone, go to Settings, Apps, Google, look at permissions lower down, it will already have been granted access to your contacts, calendar, location, SMSs, microphone, and telephone. You didn't grant those permissions, Google granted themselves those permissions. Notice that "Network access" isn't a permission here, it's granted as a default to everything.
You *think* you're granting a Google app the right to search your calendar for upcoming events, but actually that data is slurped to Google and the search is done there, both for searches you do, and for searches that Google can do within it's own interpretation of it's own unread privacy EULAs.
i know you can live without facebook (i just helped someone sort out their facebook settings. after digging through the fucked up ui, they just opted to deactivate and opt out of further emails instead), without google, without amazon or apple.
but many can't do without windows. and the more privacy-friendly win7 is eol in 19 months. even if you lock down windows 10 with something like shutup10, it still leaks your data like a mofo and sucks your bandwidth like a lot lizard in heat. a sub for 'enterprise' is not a solution. so what are we supposed to do in this fucked-up 'take it or leave it' scenario? where you have no choice but to use windows 10, for whatever reason (work, gaming, lack of skill set for proper linux setup and use, etc)...
and many can't do without a wireless phone, even a flip phone gives the same location data and shit to carriers, unscrupulous merchants and others using cell repeaters or bluetooth or wifi radios to track people, the feds, etc... 'smart phones' are the worst offenders here in all this, locked down hardware, no control over hardware, hidden or unavailable settings, no disclosure, poor security, rogue apps siphoning off data, you name it.. it happens... basically everything microsoft wants for for windows 10 (even the fucked up security).
where are the fucking lawsuits on this already.
YouTube Red: "Try it now" or "Not now" buttons only. No "Never" button to avoid being asked on every single video.
Google Photos on an iPhone copies your photos to Google servers, then the app offers to "Delete photos from your device to free up space? They have been safely backed up to your Google account" ; doing so makes you even more dependent on Google.
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
Not a valid comparison: Many people are not really aware that there are alternatives to FB/MS/G. Many people have their choices dictated by their circumstances or by their employers.
And perhaps you really don't know that smokers generally pay higher insurance premiums?
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
Say what? You're hitting an if-I-stick-my-head-in-the-sand-nobody-can-see-me level of stupid yourself, friend.
Think you can't be tracked if you don't allow ads (or cookies, for that matter)? Guess again.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
The only way this gets fixed is by nullifying EULAs and have the relationships be governed by norms and reasonable expectations of average users. Unfortunately mealy mouthed EULAs masking what companies are really collecting and doing from normal users. A perfect example is the sleazy Unroll Me which pitches to users that they'll unsubscribe users from mailing lists however its business model is selling the contents of your email which is entirely disconnected from the user's expectations of the service.
Don't you get it yet?
... Once you type or photograph it with a live Interwebs connection; it's public forever.
Anything you post on the Internets is available to the whole world.
Your government, their enemies, your ex, their PI, your friends, your children, you mother, your future self
Anyone who doesn't understand this is in need of a serious lesson in how the world works.
Do not meddle in the affairs of geeks for they are subtle and quick to anger
"Another example has to do with Facebook. The social media site makes the "Agree and continue" option much more appealing and less intimidating than the grey "Manage Data Settings" option".
That's a bit rich for /. to post that. This site does the very same thing. At least in Europe it does. When opening the site we get the "We value your privacy" pop-up asking us to agree to all the advertising shenanigans. Oh look, the big "I agree" button is all coloured and in green, the universal colour for go, good or safe. The opt-out is just plain boring white.
Google makes opting out of personalized ads more of a chore than it needs to be and uses multiple pages of text, unclear design language, and, as described by the report, "hidden defaults" to push users toward the company's desired action.
In other words, tactics that Google learned from Microsoft, the only difference being that for Microsoft it was not ads. Google is a good student. Google is a fast follower. Google is the new evil.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
do I have to create an account? do I want to create an account? Generally no!
:)
I really hate the youtube issue with prove your age. right I am required to give them info because they are restricting content based on age. like I cant watch a game of thrones clip. easy to get around but still annoying.
Just my 2 cents
Windows 10 greets me with a security warning every month, because I have switched off the option of submitting code samples for virus protection.
I develop my own software and I do *not* want it to go to Microsoft.
Every month I have to re-affirm that I have opted out of delivering my software to them. Stop that sh*t!
To Terminate, or not to Terminate, that's the question - SCSIROB
He said targeted, not tracked.
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
Doesn't one imply the other?
(Let's not forget that, if you don't have a Facebook account, once FB becomes aware of your existence, they create one for you anyway.)
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
Not necessarily. How can an ad you aren't seeing target you? Now yes, targeting does imply tracking, but not the other way around. I keep track of my wallet, keys, and phone, but rarely target them.
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
First, are you and your family members willing to pay $4.99/month to exchange your gossip and photos? If you were, I am sure experience would be quite different. Also lets get some perspective. Unlike Comcast, nobody is making you spend an hour on the phone to opt out. It's still just a few clicks. If we are too cheap and lazy to protect our privacy, how can we expect others to do it for us?
Lots of things that you're not seeing are capable of tracking you.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
Isn't that part of the reason why the GDPR includes the requirement for privacy by default?
Not that the companies are following that yet.
While Facebook is avoidable good luck avoiding Microsoft and Google if you're not a member of the zombie Steve Jobs fan club...that said, whatever they extract is far less damaging than the Equifax breach, after that I'd say cell phone carriers and all of the historical gps data they share with third parties without your consent. Just like the instigators of the 2008 global financial meltdown the penalties = zero dollars.
And we're talking about ads targeting you. Not tracking. Please, do try to keep up.
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
You seem to be keeping your gaze too low. You are not just a target for buying stuff; you are also a target for modifying your opinion and behaviour in politics and other questions.
You can be targeted through other vectors than traditional ads, e.g. notification flows, news flows, ads-or-propaganda-disguised-as-news, product placement, insurance company policies, employability, police knocking on your door, ...
As an extreme, think China. The view we outsiders get is that if they collect the wrong data about you, they will *target* you in a way that no ad-blocker will stop.
Some humiliation porn...
Ezekiel 23:20
Have you ever read their EULA?
"When you upload, submit, store, send or receive content to or through our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content. "
"You can be targeted through other vectors than traditional ads" - you can, but it doesn't seem to happen a lot. The main motivation is ads, this is where money presently are. If you block all ads, tracking you is a waste of time.
Opinion manipulation is frowned upon after Cambridge Analytica. No legal protection though. Still, if you are not using platform that customizes news for you, you are immune.
VPN is cheap. Pretend you are from Netherlands, get GDPR protection. It might still be technically possible to track you, but it is much more difficult and results are less reliable. With 99% of population ignoring privacy completely no one will care to track you.
what can be attributed to three companies who are some of the worst offenders of screwing up general UI design.
Who the hell cares about my privacy settings when I can no longer safely use maps for navigation due to its shitty settings of minimising into a useless picture in picture everytime there's a hiccup on my phone and has removed the option to force audio output throught the speaker meaning I can't hear it with bluetooth on either.
Who the hell cares about privacy settings on a website that makes it borderline impossible to easily scroll through past messages, or whose mobile app doesn't let you post pictures because it ends up in a select picture loop.
And as for Microsoft, one word... err two words: Start Menu *raises middle finger*
>> Facebook, Google, and Microsoft Use Design To Trick You Into Handing Over Your Data, Report Warns
No shit sherlock !
You use services that take ownership of your data and you expect privacy ? Not gonna work!
Just don't use them !
Don't give your data to some random corp.
aaaaaaa
Add amazon to that list please
While Facebook is avoidable good luck avoiding Microsoft and Google if you're not a member of the zombie Steve Jobs fan club
I use Linux for my desktop. I use Android for the smart phone, but I don't use any of Google's services and did not sign up for a Google account on the phone.
You sound like a Google employee. There's no doubt about Google tracking. At least DuckDuckGo has a stated policy of not tracking, and is an alternative to the Google Goliath.
I think a lot of people also don't realize how much it costs to provide a service like Gmail because it's all electronic, and so they don't apply the 'nothing is for free' maxim to it.
"What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Ralph Waldo Emerson
it's an indicator to tell you how much your personal information is worth to a company, if you can easily disable these features with one click then it's probably not all that important to them and they probably don't use it for much. if it takes 13 clicks to disable, you can be sure that is really, really important for them to have your personal (private) information. all the more reason to persist and turn it off.
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
You can split hairs all you want, but a difference that makes no difference is no difference.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
Exactly. Don't use facebook, easily avoidable. Don't use windows, so ms products are easily avoidable. Android got me a google account, but it see little use. I know they read gmail, so I use gmail only for communication with google. (I.e. password resets.) For all other uses, I have other email accounts. Mail is supposed to be confidential. Spy agencies may snoop - it is a cleartext protocol - but certainly not corporations.
As for searching, I try using a variety of services. Sometimes google, sometimes duckduck. And ublock keeps the ads out - so little benefit in whatever tracking they succeed in doing.
The main motivation is ads, this is where money presently are.
In my country that is probably true, but I would guess not in a country with a totalitarian regime. I may be in a minority, but I am not really very bothered by the ads being targeted. I can ad-block most of those, and anyway, if I am happy buying a certain brand of $STUFF then it doesn't matter that much whether my happiness is based on whether it was a company, a friend or my own experience that formed the opinion.
Still, if you are not using platform that customizes news for you, you are immune.
Ahh, but how do you know? I am not even sure that I see the same front page or contents of Slashdot as you do.
Pretend you are from Netherlands, get GDPR protection. It might still be technically possible to track you, but it is much more difficult and results are less reliable.
I already live in the EU. I would be surprised to learn that the global information players collect substantially - if any - different information about me than about a person from/in USA or Zimbabwe.
id rather have gigabytes recorded about me, than be invisible as if I did not exist, at least in 100s of years in the future, I will be part of history, not deleted.
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
Are...are you even a real person?
I'm pretty sure you're a poorly programmed spam bot.
Admit nothing. Deny Everything. Make Counter-accusations.
Also your software sucks and is very clearly malware.
If I could report you to the police I would.
Stop trying to spread malware.
Admit nothing. Deny Everything. Make Counter-accusations.
Worth asking why GNU/Linux, Diaspora and DuckDuckGo are not a viable alternative.
The assorted Linux distros vary in their usability. Mint and Kubuntu are pretty good, but there is no shortage of areas of inconsistency. A user with KDE isn't going to be able to have a useful discussion with a user running Cinnamon in the same way users share tips and tricks about using their iPhones. Most people have one or two pieces of software or hardware they use regularly that are Windows/OSX-only, with no FOSS alternative. If they don't, it's because they're used to Chromebooks, which are viable primarily because they are direct lines to the Google ecosystem.
Diaspora isn't a viable alternative to Facebook because of the network effect: Nobody is on it because nobody is on it. A quick search on my iPhone didn't show a mobile app for it either, making it far less accessible than Facebook or Instagram.
Duck Duck Go is the closest one in this list to being a viable alternative. Its search results aren't bad for garden variety internet searches, but they do have trouble with the local stuff (e.g. "sushi near me"). Additionally, DDG doesn't offer e-mail service, browser-based document creation and management, a mobile app for driving directions, or other aspects of Google's portfolio that lots of people still use daily.
It is possible to use the things you describe. It does, however, take lots of effort for most people. The article summary is about how Microsoft and Facebook make choosing the privacy-conscious options less apparent to end users and that being a problem for them. The people who are fooled by color contrasts and dimmed light bulb icons are the ones who are not going to lobotomize their workflows and make things far more difficult for themselves in order to stick it to The Man.
Thanks for the suggestion. I've used this kind of social engineering for a long time, but I haven't gained much traction, probably my alternative names tend toward abrasive profanity. I like your more restrained approach, and from now on I will refer to 'Facebook' as 'Spybook'.
Call it "Spybook" from now on. I honestly believe this is one way we can actually make a difference: give them a nickname that sticks and hopefully makes it all the way to pop culture. "Spybook" says everything that needs to be said about this company in a single word. You don't even need to explain anything -- just say "Spybook", and they'll be forced to actually think.
'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
Information such as my name, address, and telephone number are public record thanks to the government and easily obtainable via any number of websites. Something like my bank account number, credit card numbers, pin codes, and passwords I would consider "private data". The anonymized information that companies like Microsoft gather I do not consider private. I am glad if Microsoft knows that there software crashed or that I use Chrome instead of Edge 99.99999% of the time.
I would like to see one of these idiots that are OUTRAGED by metrics actually point out what specific data they disagree with that is being collected.
-==- Buy a Mac and leave me alone!
+1 insightful, I was about to post the same thing. If the setting is called "Tailored experiences with diagnostic data" then obviously the "off" setting is going to be the dimmed bulb.
#DeleteFacebook
Don't use windows, so ms products are easily avoidable.
Is there a good way to buy a PC without Windows other than A. buying a Mac, B. buying a GNU/Linux laptop sight unseen in the limited set of form factors offered by System76 and other GNU/Linux specialists, or C. building a desktop instead of a laptop and being stuck at home or at the office while you use it? I broke down and bought a Dell laptop with a Windows license and wiped and Linuxed it, but that's still buying a Windows license.
I turned off targeted ads and news articles when I recently setup a new device. Wow. The breadth of things I've been missing are amazing.
I've been seeing headlines for in depth reporting on the trials and tribulations of the Royal Family (and I live in the USA). Important {other gender} products. News articles about things Other than Microsoft/Google/Facebook.
It's kind of amazing actually how narrow my information funnel has been. While commentators have warned of this happening and the potential pitfalls, it's very interesting to see what information I've been unaware of.
Although - even when I turned off ad targeting, the number of attractive women in the ads increased.. I expected a normalization. But I guess pretty faces sell everything to everyone.
Yes. Buy from System76 or Dell will allow you to buy computers with Ubuntu pre-installed. My employer does this to save money. We then put the dreaded Windows crap on there with a WDS server. If you open a small business account with your name, you can buy servers from Dell with no OS. I've done this. Just tell them you are a consultant and your company name is your name. I bought a Dell PowerEdge to use as a more powerful home machine. It got Fedora put on it the day it arrived.
the entire system is set up to spy on users. Sell a product thats not spying on people all the time and your brand will be trusted again.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
You can be targeted through other vectors than traditional ads, e.g. notification flows, news flows, ads-or-propaganda-disguised-as-news, product placement
And all of those are ads for one thing or another; products, events, political candidates... If we're avoiding these platforms, we aren't seeing them.
insurance company policies
You mean the way the insurers share information behind the scenes so you can't file a claim with one and jump to another to drop your rate (e.g. insurance fraud)? Or are you talking about them scraping Facebook and other social media (e.g. one of the platforms we avoid)?
employability
Same.
police knocking on your door
Well, I mean, if you give an immature internet troll your address or you're making terrorist threats... Got any examples where that wasn't the case?
As an extreme, think China. The view we outsiders get is that if they collect the wrong data about you, they will *target* you in a way that no ad-blocker will stop.
In that case, "they" is the government. Here, they still have to validate that data in some way or another to do any more than investigate you (which they're constantly doing anyway), and I only see that becoming stronger as more and more data is gathered. If that weren't the case crime would no longer be a problem and we'd see people being arrested by the feds for visiting places in the same parking lot as marijuana dispensaries because that's still federally illegal and, near as they can tell, that's why you parked in that lot; we don't have that situation and we're not going to get there as long as we maintain our 2nd.
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
I just explained the difference 2 posts up, it's not my fault you don't get it. Maybe this will help:
track
trak/
verb
1. follow the course or trail of (someone or something), typically in order to find them or note their location at various points.
target
tärt/ verb
1. select as an object of attention or attack.
If we're all being tracked, none of us have been selected, so the tracking we are discussing here isn't targeting anyone. The information collected is used to target ads, which don't get to me, ergo I am not being targeted, though I am being tracked. Hell, I'm even being tracked with the intent to target me with ads and other offers but, at least today, I still maintain control of whether I'm actually targeted or not. Might that change in the future? Not while Facebook, Twitter, and the like remain the minority; so let's ensure that they do.
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
I never realized this was happening until I was on a road trip and I got a actual call spamming a vacation spot I passed. Of course, raping your privacy and selling your private info is "good for business" so it's legal.
How can an ad you aren't seeing target you?
Targets are often missed.
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
buying a GNU/Linux laptop sight unseen in the limited set of form factors offered by System76 and other GNU/Linux specialists
Yes. Buy from System76 or Dell will allow you to buy computers with Ubuntu pre-installed. My employer does this to save money.
I don't see how it saves money. System76 laptops tend to be almost as expensive as Apple, and there's no 11.6" option (hence "limited set of form factors"). Nor can I try the keyboard or screen before buying (hence "sight unseen").
WTF? Dude, Microsoft is practically invisible and I have to read Slashdot to be reminded that they still exist. They're even easier to avoid than Facebook.
The ONLY way anything is going to change is if people stop using Social Media entirely. Even if the majority won't, you should do what you can to protect yourself and get off Social Media entirely.
Cowards who will say "There's no point don't bother" need not comment; I don't want to hear your pussy-ass whining, either be part of the solution or be judged as part of the problem!
Diaspora isn't a viable alternative to Facebook because of the network effect: Nobody is on it because nobody is on it. A quick search on my iPhone didn't show a mobile app for it either, making it far less accessible than Facebook or Instagram.
You already have an app for it preinstalled. On your iPhone, I believe the app is called "Safari".
So you're a Blackberry user or running whatever failed Linux thing Nokia was trying to do? I do sympathize, my last phone ran a full Linux distro (in a VM). That said, it won't prevent any of the things I said. That's the cell carrier. It has nothing to do with your phone other than it being turned on. Giving your GPS data to third parties is definitely shady but sans laws I don't see what you can do about it other than not bringing your phone (if you own a modern car you are pretty much bringing your phone, be it OnStar or whatever the Toyota/BMW/Mercedes/Tesla/etc versions are called) so even that isn't going to cut it.
I did not mean that, just that it prevents those companies listed from knowing as much about you. Google isn't even shy about it anymore. If I go to a restaurant I get a notification asking for a review. So not only my cell carrier knows my location history, so does the Google...along with any other Android user that I may contact. That's serious 4th amendment BS except that they're a private company and therefore exempt (while archiving data that law enforcement officers and pretty much anyone else can access sans warrant) That affects you whether your using an iPhone or not.
A profound lack of data around a single subject. ... inspires people to dig deeper...These will be the target data set because they have the most to gain by spending time/effort there
No. The type of people who are most likely to block ads are the very same people who would be less influenced by them if they did see them.
Buy one with Windows pre-installed, then overwrite it with Linux, BSD, etc. Or... repartition so you keep Windows for games but do all your web browsing and work on Linux.
At work though you're usualy screwed, you use what the bosses tell you to use, but at least you're being compensated for it.
Don't use windows, so ms products are easily avoidable.
Is there a good way to buy a PC without Windows other than A. buying a Mac, B. buying a GNU/Linux laptop sight unseen in the limited set of form factors offered by System76 and other GNU/Linux specialists, or C. building a desktop instead of a laptop and being stuck at home or at the office while you use it?
There are companies that will sell you a blank desktop or laptop, but you need to search for them as they are not in the high street (which is why Joe Sixpack doesn't bother). Not a question of "desktop instead of a laptop" as I have both, and I expect that most people with a desktop have something portable as well. As long as you are in a fixed place there is nothing nicer to work on than a desktop.
I have had nothing to do with Microsoft for a long time, apart from having a website that criticises them, and never anything to do with Jobs.
I turn my phone off in a restaurant, and wish that other people would too. In fact I only turn it on occasionally to check for messages or missed calls..
a Dell laptop with a Windows license and wiped and Linuxed it, but that's still buying a Windows license.
Buy one with Windows pre-installed, then overwrite it with Linux, BSD, etc.
That's still buying a Windows license. PC makers can and do require returning the entire PC in order to qualify for a refund on the Windows license.
That's your call. If you do production support or have kids, not so much. I am the last person to (in general) say "there ought to be a law" but in this case hell yes. That's the only way this will change
Generally I've found that the price is identical with or without windows.
Why on Earth would you need that for Linux compatibility? While it was once a driver crapshoot with laptops (and required plenty of config file edits) it's pretty good these days. I mean, unless things have gone incredibly badly in the past few years. The only "exclusive" OS is the Mac platform and only because they only have drivers for their official hardware. That doesn't stop bootleg installs entirely but it definitely limits them.
We get it Pete. You're very happy literally living in your moms basement and spamming your 1990s era "program". Good for you bro. As a wise man once said, don't reach for the stars; you'll never grasp them. Just reach for a beer; it's right there.
The information collected is used to target ads, which don't get to me, ergo I am not being targeted
While I agree with most of what you've written ... since you're being rather pedantic, two can play at that game: you ARE being targeted, but the ads are missing you.
Like if I pick up a rifle and aim it at you, I am targeting you. If you have a magic BulletBlock script which stops my shot from getting to you, that doesn't mean you weren't targeted. Just means you didn't get shot.
Evidence ? Or pure faith ?
Bingo Dictionary - Pragmatist, n. A myopic idealist.
The ads are targeted at the time of the request. If my ad blocker prevents the request, the targeted ad was never generated (the ad network never had me in its sights) and I was not targeted.
To use your own analogy, if you never see me, you never pick up the rifle to target me, even if you might have a file on me that details my past whereabouts and activities.
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
The ads are targeted at the time of the request. If my ad blocker prevents the request, the targeted ad was never generated (the ad network never had me in its sights) and I was not targeted.
That's ... actually probably a fair point.
I was going to say that the code to request the ad is in the page and your browser is just ignoring it ... but you're probably right, the actual "targeting" most likely isn't in that blob of code; it happens after your browser runs it. I'm not intimately familiar with how exactly advertisements are generated, but that seems like the most likely scenario.
Well played. I rescind my previous objection.
Hey, I'm just glad there was a gun analogy where nobody died. Good on you for that, sir.
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
tee hee, you're so easy man.
Admit nothing. Deny Everything. Make Counter-accusations.