[Cherian_Abraham]

Analytics is here to stay. Unless this practice is regulated (which in turn can end up being heavy handed and far reaching and in turn could discourage innovation) analytics will remain a big piece of what IT will focus on, mainly in getting a 360 degree view of their customers.

Instead of regulating everytime we see a practice that we may not agree on, how about we treat it like when the "iPhone location" fiasco broke. Do not criminalize the possession of customer data or even tracking, criminalize distribution or malicious use of it. If Company A wants to know where I came from, so that they can share their ad dollars effectively, I am ok with it. But do ensure that they dont share it with other companies in that network (whether Kissmetrics or someone else) for any reason. My online identity remains my own, it does not need to be dissected for further analysis by doubleclick, kissmetrics et al.

[mattmanser]

I disagree completely.

I bought this computer. I pay for my internet connection. And someone like KISSMetrics wants to spy on me using MY stuff?

To profit from MY computer tracking me against my express commands? Incognito mode, cookies turned off and they're tricking my computer into tracking me?

These are people who have lost all perspective of what's right and wrong.

Analytics is a solved problem, there's no innovation here, there's cookies and a way of opting out of it. If regulation is what's needed to stop scum like Kissmetrics from violating my privacy, then regulation's what's needed.

[reinhardt]

I bought this computer. I pay for my internet connection. And someone like KISSMetrics wants to spy on me using MY stuff?

You may pay for your computer and internet connection but not for the (vast majority of) sites you visit. This popular sense of entitlement is problematic when "your" stuff live in 3rd party servers running 3rd party software that you're not paying for.

[mattmanser]

This is disingenous to the extreme.

Where on these sites does it warn you that all your browsing will be recorded without your permission? So they can sell your personal data?

I'm all for having advertising on google mail but this is totally different and any attempt to defend this position is treading on extremely thin ice.

This has nothing to do with entitlement and everything to do with immoral business practices. This is worse than being one of those 'we'll wipe off your debt' companies. It's a modern day scam that legislators have not caught up with, pure and simple.

Kissmterics are utter scum.