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SoylentNews
I'm about to give up.
On the one hand, I see countless people get loyalty cards and enjoy discounts on their purchases. They connect with friends on Facebook and Twitter. They use apps on android or apple smartphones to give them turn-by-turn directions, find out where their friends are, or find places of interest. Their e-mail is "in the cloud" where they can get to it from multiple places. They use services like dropbox to share files. They get their news on-line and read e-books. I could go on and on.
On the other hand, I see opportunities for tracking and profiling in every one of those activities. So much so that it seems like one would be under constant observation and surveillance. We are just data points to be sliced and diced and marketed to — a society of consumers rather than customers.
So, I've got a major "ick factor" knowing about these practices and yet I'm hard-pressed to explain any negative consequences to otherwise intelligent people. "I don't do anything that's THAT interesting." "I've done nothing wrong, so I don't worry about it." "I like getting the bonuses and discounts."
Yet, I see companies expend great amounts of money implementing tracking mechanisms such as cookies, super-cookies, clear gifs, as well as huge databases of purchases, travels, and interests. I don't believe they are doing this for purely philanthropic reasons.
In no particular order, I include these for consideration:
- "If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him." - Cardinal Richelieu
- "If you are not paying for it, you are the product."
- Joel on Software - Strategy Letter V: Commoditize your Complement
- Using Metadata to find Paul Revere
I use a variety of Addons while browsing the web using Pale Moon: a custom HOSTS file, Self-Destructing Cookies, Ad-Block Plus, Ghostery, NoScript, Better Privacy, Flashblock, and Ref Control. I have a firewall and use anti-virus products. "In real life" I prefer to use cash over charge cards for my purchases. I have no loyalty cards.
What say you Soylentils? Am I being unreasonably paranoid? Or not paranoid enough? What dangers, really, are there? Why not sign up for all those loyalty cards and social apps? What privacy protections do YOU use?
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Thursday May 14 2015, @01:16AM
They don't have my name, address, email or phone number. I just give them the card to scan when I go through the check out. Though I suppose it will only be a matter of time till the security cameras capture my image and they try to use facial recognition software to try to ID me. Maybe TSA and NSA have that capacity now, but I think it will be years before retail operations will be able to have access to databases like driver licences and passports, if ever.
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts"- --Daniel Patrick Moynihan--
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 15 2015, @07:13AM
> They don't have my name, address, email or phone number. I just give them the card to scan when I go through the check out.
All it takes is one time, one mistake and then they have your entire purchasing history connected to your identity. Maybe that time you had less cash in your wallet than you thought and instead of having the cashier unbag some of the stuff so they could take it off the bill you just decide fuck it and pay with the credit card. That is all it takes - your privacy is very, very brittle.
> Though I suppose it will only be a matter of time till the security cameras capture my image and they try to use facial recognition software to try to ID me.
They do not need anything so fancy. All it takes is a license plate scanner at the entrance to the parking lot. They cross-reference the list of plates in the lot with purchases and after just a handful of samples they can connect your loyalty card number with your license plate number.
BTW, Target has been putting license plate scanners in their parking lots for nearly a decade now. [youtube.com]