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Privacy

outreacher

outreacher

Respect Nature
Patron
Joined
Apr 11, 2004
Messages
15,469
Location
Twickenham
The internet is becoming unbearable, every site you visit wants you to decide between accept all cookies or reject on a site that has that option.
Other sites want you to tick off cookies and tracking spyware which is an absolute pain in the ass.

Just installed another windows update, that installed over 17k, register changes, and analysis tools, although simple to remove, they will reinstall every time you reboot.

Is that what the world has become, use the internet and use a site, and they install tracking cookies, for what? So they can direct advertisements to flood you full of shit.

Companies like google make their billions from selling your details to everyone worldwide, what a fucking shitshow these wankers have created. Once upon a time the internet was there to share information and as a platform for people to publish ideas and share information news, educational interests and learning and publishing.

Now it is about tracking and gathering your details. It gets worse daily, people like that wanker from facebook, made billions from selling peoples information, I used it for about a month 20 years ago, yet every site you visit offers you the option to sign in with Google, Facebook Twitter, and I decline the lot as I don't subscribe to any apart from Twitter for the ability to read tweets on websites, but I don't follow or post. The google beast I have to have an identity to make it possible to use the android system on a mobile, then I immediately turn off every google function.

Problem being they have there apps blocking content I wish to read on a web page, nothing more annoying than the app icons covering what I wish to read. I never log into Windows because I don't use any of their software apart from the operating system, which I paid for, but I don't want their search engine or the reminders. Oh for the days of Windows 98, when you paid for an operating system and not a fucking mega information gatherer.

Rant over...
 
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The good thing is this, because sites ask for your permissions all the time, that means they also allow you to reject certain permissions. That wasn't always the case, they would just do it.

For that reason I can deal with sites and cookies/tracking, what I cannot stand is companies selling my phone number on to third parties who then sell on my phone number to a fourth party, by which point I've got scammers calling me up.
Every company must be doing it, from telecare companies who are supposed to promote safety to the Sheins and Alibabas who couldn't care less. It's wrong, it's wrong that companies that make billions still feel the need to make an extra few pennies by invading a person's privacy.
 
daddyman16 said:
The good thing is this, because sites ask for your permissions all the time, that means they also allow you to reject certain permissions. That wasn't always the case, they would just do it.

For that reason I can deal with sites and cookies/tracking, what I cannot stand is companies selling my phone number on to third parties who then sell on my phone number to a fourth party, by which point I've got scammers calling me up.
Every company must be doing it, from telecare companies who are supposed to promote safety to the Sheins and Alibabas who couldn't care less. It's wrong, it's wrong that companies that make billions still feel the need to make an extra few pennies by invading a person's privacy.
Click to expand...

The sites that do not give you the option to reject all are the dodgy ones, just out there to gather your info, almost like keyloggers, track your every move, and what you click on, main newspapers that do that are the trash ones. The Daily mail is about the worst I use, took me 15 minutes this morning to disable their trackers, they sell to information gatherers worldwide, even to China.

That's the problem with updating windows operating system and then clearing the trash they install. You then have to reclean all the shit from sites you have alreadt cleared, but become active again because once you clean your register and cookies,when you revisit a site, you have visited before you cleaned the trackers, you have to make choices again. It should be law, a simple disable tracking cookies, yes or no. Honest sites do that with reject all, but the sharks don't, they make you disable all trackers one by one, with Daily mail it amounts to somewhere close to a hundred, that's why when you visit their site, lots of videos start running, click them off and they popup again if you switch pages, watch them and they place a tracker to follow everything you click on.
It's so easy to gather everything you do, like google, if you turn on location, you then get texts or emails asking you what did you think of Sainsburys, or Wickes, they have your email, telephone number, name and they sell it.

Google and Facebook didn't get rich by offering you free searches and posting images, they get rich by selling all your details to anyone that will pay for your information, and pointing advertisers directly to you.
 
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outreacher said:
It's so easy to gather everything you do, like google, if you turn on location, you then get texts or emails asking you what did you think of Sainsburys, or Wickes, they have your email, telephone number, name and they sell it.
Click to expand...

That's like phone permissions, unless you physically go into your permissions and turn off the location, storage, camera and mic permissions then you'll be surprised at what uses/can use your mic.
 
daddyman16 said:
That's like phone permissions, unless you physically go into your permissions and turn off the location, storage, camera and mic permissions then you'll be surprised at what uses/can use your mic.
Click to expand...

I don't use my mobile for anything but alarms, calls and texts, the rest is turned off, I don't even like using an Android Phone because it is Google but I do, 2 choices,,Apple or Google, and because I rarely use it I go for the cheapest option. .
 
outreacher said:
I don't use my mobile for anything but alarms, calls and texts, the rest is turned off, I don't even like using an Android Phone because it is Google but I do, 2 choices,,Apple or Google, and because I rarely use it I go for the cheapest option. .
Click to expand...
I use whatever phone my kids had before their latest upgrade :)

S20 right now
 
There are perks though, because Facebook knows I live in Preston an advert for some Preston skyline socks came up, they're made by a company who donate a new pair of socks for every pair of socks bought from their website.
I also ended up buying some non-chafing boxers after seeing an Instagram ad once, so there are some positives but they are relatively few.
 
You seem to be haunted by bad web experiences?

For the most part, if you browse in incognito mode, use CCleaner, and use an ad blocker, you'll escape most clutches.

Also, Google Analytics has evolved now - stopped using cookie placement in favour of machine learning. And the latest GA4 doesn't use cookies at all. Which is mostly bad news & very inconvenient for businesses and advertisers.
 
pnewortham said:
You seem to be haunted by bad web experiences?

For the most part, if you browse in incognito mode, use CCleaner, and use an ad blocker, you'll escape most clutches.

Also, Google Analytic has evolved now - stopped using cookie placement in favour of machine learning. And the latest GA4 doesn't use cookies at all. Which is mostly bad news & very inconvenient for businesses and advertisers.
Click to expand...

I use CCleaner and Adblocker, my PC is secure enough really, the phone to me is just a phone and receiver of texts, nothing more really, unless I want to track TFL times, then I might activate a tracking feature..but even that is dormant most of the time, I have only used a bus once in months.

I understand people have to use phones continuously if you are still working and are reliant on them for business, but I cancelled all my social media stuff ages ago. I built a few websites for some friends and was quite reliant on Google Analytic, which was the reason I became aware of the extent of privacy invasion. None of it really matters as the NSA invaded all our privacy long time ago.

I doubt there is an email sent by me or you that isn't stored somewhere in the Meta-Data world.
 
I`m careful with privacy, and use Ublock Origin and Privacy Badger on Firefox . I also log in each time for Google and Facebook, and only allow essential cookies. It's slower, but works well enough. I also avoid any sites that don`t make it easy to `Reject All`, and am particularly careful if I have to visit sites such as the Daily Mail, Express, etc. Youtube I only sign into rarely..as it also enables Google, the owner of YT, to track you. Finally, I delete all history and cookies regularly on Facebook and Google. And have 3 different disposable email addresses. Anywhere I go that might be dodgy , or to research something I consider very private, is done using a VPN .

It all sounds like a lot of work, but isn`t once you have a routine.

I started to be more careful years ago when, without any protection, I read up on new Hair Loss treatments. For weeks afterwards Facebook and Google sites were festooned with ads for `Rogaine` and other hair loss products. It became a standing joke in my house, the family thinking it hilarious.

So I turned off all security software, signed into Google and Facebook, and searched for every online retailer I could find that sold high class lingerie! Success! Everywhere I went for weeks afterwards my pages were adorned with beautiful scantily clad women..Victoria's Secret were particularly active!

Wifey stopped mentioning the receding hair.... :)
 
anubis said:
Am currently using an iPhone 7 that my 12 yr old granddaughter discarded when she upgraded.
Bloody ridiculous 🤓
Click to expand...

So it was your daughter's then your granddaughter's then it was yours?
They look after their phones well, usually these phones pack up after two years.
 
outreacher said:
I use CCleaner and Adblocker, my PC is secure enough really, the phone to me is just a phone and receiver of texts, nothing more really, unless I want to track TFL times, then I might activate a tracking feature..but even that is dormant most of the time, I have only used a bus once in months.

I understand people have to use phones continuously if you are still working and are reliant on them for business, but I cancelled all my social media stuff ages ago. I built a few websites for some friends and was quite reliant on Google Analytic, which was the reason I became aware of the extent of privacy invasion. None of it really matters as the NSA invaded all our privacy long time ago.

I doubt there is an email sent by me or you that isn't stored somewhere in the Meta-Data world.
Click to expand...

On the flip side, does it really matter to most ordinary folk? Having our browsing history tracked so that advertisers can shove their banner ads at us, what's the issue? And as long as you keep your passwords secure and regularly changed, just crack on.

Tesco Clubcard started doing it 25 years ago, tracking our habits, and marketeers have been trying to pigeon hole us for ever.

No reason for 99.9999% of the population to worry.
 
pnewortham said:
On the flip side, does it really matter to most ordinary folk? Having our browsing history tracked so that advertisers can shove their banner ads at us, what's the issue? And as long as you keep your passwords secure and regularly changed, just crack on.

Tesco Clubcard started doing it 25 years ago, tracking our habits, and marketeers have been trying to pigeon hole us for ever.

No reason for 99.9999% of the population to worry.
Click to expand...
It matters to me, companies getting rich by selling details, shopping habits, whereabouts, age, preferences, and whatever they can mine from tracking. I am against massive corporates taking control of the world. Companies like Google put smaller companies that could offer the same services out of business, or buy them out, dodge tax and generally do as they wish.

They still owe me £68 by the way from 'Google Ads' they just ignore any emails I send to them.
 
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