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Google’s FLoC Is a Terrible Idea

(www.eff.org)
604 points wyldfire | 1 comments | 04 Mar 21 15:59 UTC | HN request time: 0.236s | source
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dleslie ◴[04 Mar 21 16:49 UTC] No.26344736[source]▶
This captures my feelings on the issue:

> That framing is based on a false premise that we have to choose between “old tracking” and “new tracking.” It’s not either-or. Instead of re-inventing the tracking wheel, we should imagine a better world without the myriad problems of targeted ads.

I don't want to be tracked. I never have wanted to be tracked. I shouldn't have to aggressively opt-out of tracking; it should be a service one must opt-in to receive. And it's not something we can trust industry to correct properly. This is precisely the role that privacy-protecting legislation should be undertaking.

Stop spying on us, please.

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grishka ◴[04 Mar 21 19:27 UTC] No.26346976[source]▶
Any new feature that is added to the user agent should serve or empower said user — not any other parties, including the browser maker and the advertisers. That simple.
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1. xxpor ◴[05 Mar 21 01:36 UTC] No.26351299[source]▶
That's the thing: Chrome did empower users, that's why everyone uses it! Users just want things to work, and Chrome worked better than IE and FF at the time. FF didn't get multi-process support for a decade after Chrome had it. Did this also serve Google's purposes? Of course. But that's how life works. It's a win-win for Google.

Everyone complains about the evils of Google, but revealed preferences show that focusing on what people actually care about has substantial value.

It's like no one follows what people say about cookie popups. Does your average non-tech user praise the EU for adding the popups and allowing opt outs? Of course not. They complain about these stupid fucking popups they have to click through on every site now!