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The difficulty is that avoiding Google and Facebook data collection is much more challenging that one would expect. You don't need to use Facebook main services or Google search to be tracked.
Well said.
I've blocked all of FB and 99% of Google at my firewall. That ever so innocent 'f' that gets everywhere is a huge conduit to you being tracked.
Watch what tools like Wireshark show every time you load a web page and you will be shocked.
 
Facebook is the most ethically degenerate, commie company. Anything to knock them off of their pedestal, I will support.
Hardly Commie. They are more like 'Big Brother' incarnate. Orwell was very left wing and wrote 1984 as a warning about what could happen in an era just after the end of WW2. If FB were commie then Zuck would be giving all that filthy mulah away.He isn't is he?
IMHO, they are totally the opposite of commie. Ethically Degenerate is a very good description though.
 
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It's funny to see Facebook suddenly hiding behind "small businesses" and making it sound like they care so much about them. "Oh no it's fine with us, we don't mind, we're big and rich, it's the small businesses that we care so much about... And the puppies! The puppies will be really sad! Apple is killing them!"
Isn't that a similar claim to what Epic Games is making? It seems so.
 


Facebook's recent criticism directed at Apple over an upcoming tracking-related privacy measure is "laughable," according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a non-profit organization that defends civil liberties in the digital world.

facebook-data-sharing.jpg

Facebook has claimed that Apple's new opt-in tracking policy will hurt small businesses who benefit from personalized advertising, but the EFF believes that Facebook's campaign against Apple is really about "what Facebook stands to lose if its users learn more about exactly what it and other data brokers are up to behind the scenes," noting that Facebook has "built a massive empire around the concept of tracking everything you do."

Starting early next year, developers of iPhone and iPad apps will need to request permission from users to track their activity across apps and websites owned by other companies for personalized advertising purposes. Specifically, users will be presented with a prompt to allow or deny tracking as necessary when opening apps on iOS 14 and iPadOS 14.

facebook-ios-14-tracking-prompt.jpg

According to the EFF, a number of studies have shown that most of the money made from targeted advertising does not reach app developers, and instead goes to third-party data brokers like Facebook, Google, and lesser-known firms.

"Facebook touts itself in this case as protecting small businesses, and that couldn't be further from the truth," the EFF said. "Facebook has locked them into a situation in which they are forced to be sneaky and adverse to their own customers. The answer cannot be to defend that broken system at the cost of their own users' privacy and control."

Facebook has argued that Apple's move "isn't about privacy, it's about profit," claiming that Apple's new policy will leave many apps and websites with no choice but to start charging subscription fees or add more in-app purchase options to make ends meet, in turn increasing App Store revenue. Facebook said this scenario will make the internet "much more expensive" and reduce "high-quality free content."

"We disagree with Apple's approach and solution, yet we have no choice but to show Apple's prompt," Facebook said. "If we don't, they will block Facebook from the App Store, which would only further harm the people and businesses that rely on our services. We cannot take this risk on behalf of the millions of businesses who use our platform to grow."

In response to Facebook, Apple expressed that users deserve control and transparency. "We believe that this is a simple matter of standing up for our users," said Apple, adding that "users should know when their data is being collected and shared across other apps and websites — and they should have the choice to allow that or not."

The EFF applauded Apple for its pro-privacy change, calling it a great step forward.

"When a company does the right thing for its users, EFF will stand with it, just as we will come down hard on companies that do the wrong thing," the organization concluded. "Here, Apple is right and Facebook is wrong."

Article Link: EFF Calls Facebook's Criticism of Apple's Pro-Privacy Tracking Change 'Laughable'
Does no one remember the Pizza debacle from 2000 something? I remember clearly when people were ordering dominos or some late night food facebook would "share it" against their will and that was something they had to reel back. I can't find a single article referencing it, but I was at Uconn 2006-2009 and remember it happening much to the hilarity of our friends. If you weren't clued into them tracking you online at that point when they apologized for promoting your late night food orders, I don't know how this should be shocking now.
 
Does no one remember the Pizza debacle from 2000 something? I remember clearly when people were ordering dominos or some late night food facebook would "share it" against their will and that was something they had to reel back. I can't find a single article referencing it, but I was at Uconn 2006-2009 and remember it happening much to the hilarity of our friends. If you weren't clued into them tracking you online at that point when they apologized for promoting your late night food orders, I don't know how this should be shocking now.
They also used to reveal where on campus you were posting, this was actually an interesting feature because no one had smart phones so you could see if they were at the library or their dormitory. Quickly removed though.
 
Google, FB and Twitter are so disingenuous and phony - they make me sick.
I would add Apple to that list.

Even though Apple is supporting customers on this issue, all the decisions that they make are profit driven.

All these companies are large corporations whose goal is to increase shareholder value.

None of them actually care about the customer except how to get more money from them :(.
 
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They also used to reveal where on campus you were posting, this was actually an interesting feature because no one had smart phones so you could see if they were at the library or their dormitory. Quickly removed though.
Hold up, I'm a "newbie" I've been on here for so long I have had more unnecessary comments than most people? What gives!?
 
I wonder how many trackers are on this site? If only there were a way to find out.
 
This made me smile... the EFF basically telling FB that they shouldn't be such a whiny bi***... 😂

What I do enjoy though is the thought of Zuck"please call me the messiah" being worried, and maybe Facebook going the way of MySpace. Here's hoping.

Facebook does since years, but the problem is that they have been allowed to take over the competition. Without WA and insta FB would have likely been down the drain already...
While that doesn't create a direct monopoly, if you keep eating the 2nd and 3rd player after you, you will always maintain your position.

FB should have never been allowed to take over WA and Instagram. In fact there have been some anti-trust requirements... e.g. not to merge WA database with FB. It would be about time to audit that thoroghly.
If they did not comply, FB should be forced to sell WA again.

Hardly Commie. They are more like 'Big Brother' incarnate. Orwell was very left wing and wrote 1984 as a warning about what could happen in an era just after the end of WW2. If FB were commie then Zuck would be giving all that filthy mulah away.He isn't is he?
IMHO, they are totally the opposite of commie. Ethically Degenerate is a very good description though.

People still associate certain freedoms/lack thereof with certain political systems, which is not -and never has been- true. Communism doesn't mean dictatorship, capitalism has nothing to do with democracy. Neither per se implies wealth or poverty; privacy or big brother; freedom or not.

Watch what tools like Wireshark show every time you load a web page and you will be shocked.
For the average user, I recommend to install NoScript in "Trust All" mode just to see and realize how many external "providers" are analyzing them.
 

valleian,​

I love your signature (unfortunately replying only shows the message). My wife bought a yard sign that is along those lines that is now in our front window (We Believe / Black Lives Matter / Love is love / Feminism is for everyone / No human being is illegal / Science is real / Be kind to all).
 
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Personal information tracking should be illegal...

Benefits of tracking:
  • More relevant advertising (I'll debunk this below)
Disadvantages of tracking:
  • Sophisticated identify theft
  • You can no longer get a rest from advertising, its spreading everywhere: web, your phone, your oven, your car, your watch, your sleeping pad, etc
  • No sense of privacy, everyone knows what you're privately thinking/doing (divorce, prostate issues, bad driver, ED)
A sobering realization... before the internet existed, product awareness was successful without invading privacy:
  • Tesla proves that today considering they never advertised and people know of the fantastic car, and Tesla can't keep up with demand.
  • Before the internet, advertising campaigns were fun, high quality, and successful... "Got Milk", "SEGA!", "I'm a Mac", etc. Ad companies still made plenty of money.
 
Personal information tracking should be illegal...

Benefits of tracking:
  • More relevant advertising (I'll debunk this below)
Disadvantages of tracking:
  • Sophisticated identify theft
  • You can no longer get a rest from advertising, its spreading everywhere: web, your phone, your oven, your car, your watch, your sleeping pad, etc
  • No sense of privacy, everyone knows what you're privately thinking/doing (divorce, prostate issues, bad driver, ED)
A sobering realization... before the internet existed, product awareness was successful without invading privacy:
  • Tesla proves that today considering they never advertised and people know of the fantastic car, and Tesla can't keep up with demand.
  • Before the internet, advertising campaigns were fun, high quality, and successful... "Got Milk", "SEGA!", "I'm a Mac", etc. Ad companies still made plenty of money.
Milk and SEGA didn't fare well tho...
 
This is the response of an out of touch company which ironically depends on being in touch who doesn't seem to understand the Barbara Streisand effect.
 
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It feels like we are watching the demise of Facebook’s current model in real time and it’s glorious. I think their PR approach to this is totally wrong and shows they are really counting on the ignorance of the average user. It blows my mind that they are saying out loud that their business model essentially depends on them tracking users in ways many people couldn’t imagine or understand. And all of this also touches on why they have tried so hard to kill the chronological news feed. I won’t (and can’t😢) get into PRSI territory, but in order for them to control or limit what people see they have to have an algorithm controlling the news feed.
 
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This might be the first article I've seen on MacRumors where everybody in the comment section agrees with each other. I guess nothing brings people together like a common enemy. FaceBook is garbage. /rant
 
This might be the first article I've seen on MacRumors where everybody in the comment section agrees with each other. I guess nothing brings people together like a common enemy. FaceBook is garbage. /rant
Wait a bit 😂 There is a guy on here that always vehermently defends FB and their model.
 
Won't this hurt MacRumors in the end, they make there money the same way Facebook does, Ad Space

I wonder how many trackers are on this site? If only there were a way to find out.

There is. Put Ghostery on your browser, you will find that this site employs over THIRTY trackers. All of which I block.
 
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Cambridge Analytica. Enough said.

I think the problem (for transparency) isn’t only about FB and others secretly collecting data in the background. People “willingly” give away data all the time when accessing free stuff, or competitions and polls like in the Cambridge Analytica case. Apple is at least giving people a possibility to consider if it’s really necessary to give away all that info.

The biggest problem though isn’t ads and marketing in my opinion. Reporters where I come from (Norway) have revealed lately how they could buy HUGE amounts of “anonymized” data. They singled out individuals and could see all their movements from the last year. Now that’s a troubling scenario!

The next logical step then when it comes to transparency would be to somehow legally claim our data and have a system for “licensing” our own data to these companies just like they license their software to us. Don’t see how it could be made but it would be great to have a system where we would get a message with something like “FB wants to sell data about you to Shady Company, do you allow this?” Then we could make an informed decision and answer “show me the money!” or “hell no!”
 
I would add Apple to that list.

Even though Apple is supporting customers on this issue, all the decisions that they make are profit driven.

All these companies are large corporations whose goal is to increase shareholder value.

None of them actually care about the customer except how to get more money from them :(.
The thing is that being profit-driven isn't evil or "phony" or negative in itself. There are different ways to increase shareholder value. What FB and Google have done with fully exploiting user data to maximize advertising and data selling is one way to increase shareholder value. But, it creates a context of lack of privacy that becomes an opportunity for a company like Apple. Because others have exploited it and some users are not happy with that, that idea of privacy has value. One could argue that Apple cares about offering the customer privacy, because privacy is an area for growth and something their particular customer base is interested in. Does that make them a phony? (only using that word because it was used in the post you quoted from)
 
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Facebook just needs to go away and die. It has caused so much harm and indirectly deaths. It is the most evil of all the tech giants and I prey that they are taken to the mat by all the worlds governments. Zuk is the Modern day devil. Yes do believe they are that evil.
 
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Noone is forcing you to download apps.
Actually that is clearly untrue if you need to use certain products or services. Many do not work without a dreaded app. Apple are as guilty if this as anyone. Do not use apps as a norm but I have to have a few and i hate it but there is no alternative sometimes. Applaud Apple, which is rare for me, but I do not absolve them from the being part of the over all problem
 
"When a company does the right thing for its users, EFF will stand with it, just as we will come down hard on companies that do the wrong thing," the organization concluded. "Here, Apple is right and Facebook is wrong."
Actually, how the EFF *really* concluded was even better: "Next step: Android should follow with the same protections. Your move, Google."
 
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