I found that on r/webdev. What do you think about this opinion?
Most of the people who work in webdev are getting paid to figure out how to track users and provide targeted ads better than their competitors. Doesn’t surprise me that they’d be hostile to the privacy concerns, because they’d be out of jobs otherwise.
Most programming communities on reddit are really pro-corporate and spying, /r/programming is obsessed with microsoft for example and will defend their OS-wired in keylogging / telemetry all day long.
Looks pretty telling about who’s active in that sub that the adblock comment is getting downvoted that much. Do people really want to get relevant ads shown, when they just could see no ads at all? Block everything.
That’s the thing, though. If these ads show you deals for things that you would actually be buying anyways, then those ads are doing a terrible job.
They don’t ever want to be truly relevant to you, because they don’t work for you. They work for the advertising company. And against you.
Sure, they can’t sell diapers to someone without a baby. But if you did have a baby, you can be sure that they won’t be advertising the cheap and perfectly good diapers that you would be getting anyways or that you really should know about.
They’ll try to have you spend money on expensive brand diapers that are really not worth their money. Can’t be, because obviously some of that price pays for advertising.Also, they will try to convince you that they are worth their money, because psychological warfare is the norm for advertising these days.
The idea that they serve to inform customers and create the necessary transparency to allow capitalism to self-regulate, that’s at least since the internet became a thing, just complete nonsense.Because we now have a lot of transparency. If I want to buy diapers, I can hit up the search engine of my choice and be offered a decent diaper selection.
An ad trying to grab attention is really doing a disservice to transparency, because you’re then less likely to utilise a search engine.The issue is that data isn’t required to make ads that are relevant, it is used to create a psychological profile of the users to know which ads are more likely to make them click.
This doesn’t actually mean that the products themselves are more relevent, but the the ads are more tailored for the user.
It’s super easy to display ads about skis masks on the webpage of a ski resort, without knowing anything about the history of the user.
The DDG way (even though im not a DDG super fan)
Well, it’s not just the DDG way. There was a time for the internet when this was the norm. Hell, it was the norm before this whole internet became a thing.
Basically https://whyprivacymatters.org/
An excellent obligatory link whenever the frustratingly apathetic “meh, I don’t mind” response comes up.
A couple of points I don’t see on that page that I remember from a Glenn Greenwald ted talk (yeah, he had one of those!). He mentioned some anecdote about a kid singing and dancing in their room and discovering that they’re being watched and immediately freezing up. The way self-expression gets limited, the way you can’t give yourself the freedom to be yourself. (I think the point on the page that “you won’t try or learn new things” kinda covers it, but I like Greenwald’s way of putting it a bit better).
Also, again from Greenwald, an interesting and important thing is that even people who say this don’t really believe it. It’s one thing to say it in an internet comment. It’s another to write down all your gmail, outlook, bank account, stuff on a piece of paper and hand it over to someone.
Lastly, another obligatory link: I’ve Got Nothing To Hide And Other Misunderstandings of Privacy
That bright purple makes it very hard on the eyes.
If you don’t want to read it on the website:
Knowledge is power; Knowledge about you is power over you. Your information will be used to anticipate your actions and manipulate the way you shop, vote, and think. Without privacy, you might be so afraid that you’re being judged by others that you won’t try or learn new things, even if you’re not doing anything wrong. Your personal information and private communications can be “cherrypicked” to make you look like a bad person or a criminal, even if you’re not. Not all information in your control is yours to share. Information shared privately with you by friends, family, and coworkers is not yours to reveal to a government, company, or another person. By exercising your right to privacy, you make it easier for others, such as activists and journalists, to do so without sticking out. You are not and will not be judged by your own standards. Standards differ between people and organizations, and standards shift with time. Even if your behavior is deemed acceptable today, it can be held against you tomorrow. Sharing personal data, even with a party you trust, means it is out of your control and at risk of being hacked or sold. Social boundaries are created when we are able to keep parts of our life private. You might want to prevent some people, such as former partners, employers, or family, from knowing certain things about you.
