| > Nothing happens "automatically" Actually, the problem is [add: after the website is created, and tracking code is put there by someone] that it all happens automatically. See, there is another perspective into this. Not exactly correct (I admit, there is some stretching and it's not all solid), but just the general idea... The semi-forgotten term for the browser is user agent. Point is, it really should act on behalf of the user. It's an automation that should be programmed to do what the user wants it to do (browsing the web, displaying the pages, etc), sparing user of mundane choices and gory technical details. If the agent is configured to willingly accept and execute arbitrary third-party instructions, and provide detailed information - and it can be configured differently - isn't the problem with the agent configuration? If you didn't want that GET request, why agent did it? And it's not that the agent was tricked (hacked) into doing so - all the APIs (cookies, XHR, etc) are well-documented. Sure, there is some shady stuff sometimes going on - like browser fingerprinting, but it's not the core issue. Maybe we should actually start blaming browser vendors for shipping badly pre-configured software with the defaults that consciously and willingly trade privacy for "not breaking" the web? Remove the automation and just imagine users themselves would somehow connect to the web, and the site would tell "hey, now go talk to Facebook server and do whatever they say" - and they do. (And this is what actually happens!) Surely, the tracking would be a non-issue. |
This.
The writing was on the wall when the conversation became about "balancing" the interests of users and huge content factories. And now web-DRM is a standard.
Fuck that; my computer, my rules.
I had a funny conversation recently with someone who was arguing that I was breaking etiquette, or perhaps an implied contract (it wasn't clear) by messing with cookies. He realized the absurdity about the time I asked if I was ethically obligated to back up and restore the cookies in case of drive failure, but people have some really odd notions about their right to control state on my machine.
In some ways I prefer the black-hat types; at least they're aware that they're working against my interests and don't become indignant when I point it out.