cross-posted from: https://social.fossware.space/post/123876

In the few short hours since I started using #Threads, #DuckDuckGo has already blocked over 200 data tracking attempts. These include things like “headphone status” and “screen density.”

Trackers, trackers and ol’ Zucc’s roboface galore.

  • omgnvq@feddit.nlEnglish
    2·
    2 years ago

    Not sure just mildly infuriating 😅

    Also infuriating: the number of my friends who have installed this shitty app 😑

    • Annoyed_Crabby@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      2 years ago

      And their justification of it.

      Edit: since for whatever reason i couldn’t reply to @BraveSirZaphod@kbin.social, i’ll edit my comment here:

      I have no issue with the difference in opinion, but idk, if giving up way more privacy than it needed to run the app doesn’t seems bad to you, i have nothing much to add 😐

    • BraveSirZaphod@kbin.social
      0·
      2 years ago

      Okay, this is an honest question.

      Why do you care? How does it matter at all to you what apps your friends use? How does it affect you?

      I can totally understand people valuing their privacy strongly and refusing to use mainstream corporate social media. I can also understand people who don’t care about that and decide that they get more out of it than they give.

      Given that people posting on a social network that you’re not on has essentially no effect on you at all beyond a vague bit of FOMO, why does it matter?

      • omgnvq@feddit.nlEnglish
        0·
        2 years ago

        It’s a valid question and I understand your point, but it becomes an issue for me when I end up being caught up the a snowball effect and need to use a bad app too. Here in Europe, WhatsApp is an example of something I’d rather not use, but because it’s the platform everyone else is on, it’s very difficult to avoid. The parallel I see is if Twitter is supplanted not by Mastodon, but by Threads, then that is the place people will gravitate towards and then the privacy friendly version becomes less useful due to lack of users and content.

        Of course it is an option to just not use these apps, but the preferably outcome is that I am able to have the nice experience without sacrificing my privacy.

      • Admiral Patrick@dubvee.orgEnglish
        0·
        2 years ago

        Why do I care?

        Well, I get all manner of spam texts because my mom gave some shitty app permissions to access her contacts. The spam messages are directed to me by name.

        It’s not just their personal info they’re putting at risk when they click “agree” on data sucking apps.

        • TheEmpireStrikesDak@thelemmy.clubEnglish
          0·
          2 years ago

          Yes, whatsapp has my real name and phone number on their servers without my consent because several people I know have my details saved in their phone contacts, and when someone signs up to WhatsApp, they give my personal contact information to WhatsApp because the person signing up to WhatsApp consented to give it, not me. Tbf it’s the same for all messenger apps these days. I miss MSN Messenger.

  • Facebook@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    2 years ago

    Hi there, and thanks for trying Threads!

    While this may look alarming, it’s nothing to be concerned about. Sometimes “privacy” focused browsers and apps can be a little overzealous.

    We are taking our mandate to be a responsible member of the fediverse seriously, and part of that is building trust. We have no intention of abusing your data, nor the trust you place in us.

    Thanks for helping us blaze this trail together!

  • dan@upvote.auEnglish
    0·
    2 years ago

    I mean… many of those are reasonable? I don’t see how checking the available device memory, screen resolution, screen rotation, etc are bad.

    • pup_atlas@pawb.socialEnglish
      0·
      2 years ago

      Device fingerprinting. Even with unique identifiers turned off, if you have enough of these seemingly innocuous data points, you can track individual users across sites and apps, even without any other information. They can use this to profile you, and manipulate you.

  • dan@upvote.auEnglish
    0·
    2 years ago

    I mean… many of those are reasonable? I don’t see how checking the available device memory, screen resolution, screen rotation, etc are bad since the app could use them to improve the experience. Lower RAM = don’t preload as many posts, lower screen resolution = load smaller images, etc. all of which need to send flags to the server (a smaller number of posts to load, the max dimensions of images to return, etc)

    • sapient [they/them]@infosec.pubEnglish
      0·
      2 years ago

      This is obviously not the case when your client could just directly request things within it’s resource limits.

      Seriously, why would you give Meta the benefit of the doubt? These are just more datapoints to profile and analyze users.

      • dan@upvote.auEnglish
        0·
        2 years ago

        These are just more datapoints to profile and analyze users.

        I’m just being realistic. Seeing it in DuckDuckGo just means the app has requested that data - they don’t actually know exactly how it’s used. Just seeing that the data is loaded by the app doesn’t mean anything. So far, nobody has actually been able to prove that any of this data is used for profiling users. Analyzing network traffic isn’t too difficult so there’d likely be proof by now if it was actually happening (like Wireshark captures).

        • sapient [they/them]@infosec.pubEnglish
          0·
          2 years ago

          Profiling happens on the server end, but the unique identification can happen either on the server end or the client end or both.

          And it’s Meta. Their entire organisation is dedicated to manipulation, data collection, etc. - hell, they might do the profiling inside the app and only send results. What’s “realistic” is expecting them to spy on you, not giving an organisation like them any benefit of the doubt!

        • pup_atlas@pawb.socialEnglish
          0·
          2 years ago

          There is, how do you think Cambridge Analytica did it. They’ve literally already been sued over this, it’s been confirmed they are collecting and using this data against users.

      • njordomir@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        2 years ago

        Potentially, and Ive also seen it used for ads. The first time Spotify noticed me mute my system and paused the ad, I became enraged. Its’s a step too far. Luckily with external speakers I can just mute at the speaker level instead.

        • Midnight_Ice@lemmy.caEnglish
          0·
          2 years ago

          That’s like that Black Mirror episode where the people are required to keep their eyes open and focused on the screen for everything

        • Schwim Dandy@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          2 years ago

          If you’re using Spotify on Windows, consider installing a system ad blocker like Adguard for Windows and route Spotify traffic through it. It will strip the ads.

          If you’re using Spotify on Android, consider installing the app through X-Manager, which will give you an ad-free experience.

          • njordomir@lemmy.worldEnglish
            0·
            2 years ago

            This was at work a few years ago. I don’t use windows at home. But thank you for providing those recommendations. Hopefully a fellow Lemming will find them useful!

    • TheInsane42@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      2 years ago

      Because to find the needle in the haystack, you first need a haystack. Until you know which needle you want to use, you need loads of haystacks which could have the needle in it you need.

      Also, hoarders gotta hoard. (and bastards collect all they can get away with, and more, lots more)

      • Chariotwheel@kbin.social
        0·
        2 years ago

        Yeah, they probably don’t need all of that info right now, but you never knew when something suddently becomes valuable. Also, the more data they have, the easier to identify you without any trackers like cookies.

        • Hyperreality@kbin.social
          0·
          2 years ago

          Basically something like this:

          “The algorithm suggests people who have their phone in landscape more than 28% of the time are more likely to vote for party A. Convincing them not to vote for party A is hard, so we’ll convince them there’s no point voting or make it harder for them to vote, by targeting these users with ads which make them question if their vote matters.”

          • 🦘min0nim🦘@aussie.zoneEnglish
            0·
            2 years ago

            Don’t worry. Some bright marketing genius will market the ability to change voting preferences by making people only use their phone in landscape orientation.

    • Niello@kbin.social
      0·
      2 years ago

      It’s probably more meaningful to ask at this point what data can he collects that he’s not collecting.

  • SanguinePar@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    2 years ago

    I just cannot fathom why people would see the shortest that Musk has made of Twitter and think the best solution is to go to a clone made by Zuckerberg. Have they learned nothing?

    • dhork@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      2 years ago

      Because people just submit it. He doesn’t know why. They just trust him. Dumb Fucks.

      • Ragnell@kbin.social
        0·
        2 years ago

        Worse. No one trusts Zuckerberg, they just all figure nothing bad will happen. “He’s got everyone’s data anyway.” They don’t think.

        • ekZepp@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          2 years ago

          99% of times “stupidity” is just a lack of information, interest and prospective who let people don’t see how someone else problem could very well become “their” problem too given enough time.

    • BraveSirZaphod@kbin.social
      0·
      2 years ago

      Because fundamentally, people really don’t care about all that much. They want a simple social network that’s vaguely pleasant to use, has the people and content they’re looking for, and otherwise stays out of their way. They certainly don’t care about Musk’s random crusade du jour against the evil woke libs.

      Nor do they particularly care about targeted advertising so long as it remains vaguely unobtrusive and their data isn’t constantly leaked in ways that directly harm them. Zuck, for all his many flaws, is smart enough to know that the single biggest thing he can do is to largely stay out of the way.