To what degree is privacy not an issue for you?
I only ask because your answers are essentially this:
Tracking is okay because you are being tracked.
Which, in practical terms, means little as far as opinions go. You are simply apathetic to privacy on the web.
Wrong. I never said tracking was "ok" on the merit that it's already happening. It can't be stopped and basically because we fuel it. I give the Web a lot of information about myself. From typing queries into a search engine to storing my photos, thoughts, and relationships in Facebook. I, like millions (billions, really) of other people have willingly sacrificed a certain level of privacy by using these free services who make money off our data.
>Would you be against tracking in real life? Cameras everyone out in public? In your home?
Tracking people with cameras, or in their homes (get real, dude) is so far removed from the kind of opt-in tracking we're talking about. I call it opt-in because you wouldn't be tracked if you didn't participate. Being watched by some government agency in your home, presumably against your will, is a far leap from here. You're really grasping at straws.
Sorry. That was clearly my interpretation. Thank you for clarifying. However, I disagree on several points. First, it can be stopped to a certain degree. Just because it can't be stopped across the board doesn't mean we shouldn't fight against it.
An example in context to this discussion: You give Google your data. No one is arguing that choosing to give Google your data is wrong. Rather, it's that the data you gave to Google is now being given to other sites without your knowledge.
> Tracking people with cameras, or in their homes (get real, dude) is so far removed from the kind of opt-in tracking we're talking about.
First, "(get real, dude)". I am. Maybe you didn't hear about the case about the school district spying on students by accessing their web cams in their laptops? So these things do happen in real life.
Next...
> is so far removed from the kind of opt-in tracking we're talking about.
You think people are aware that they are sending the resulting site specific data about their searches? Or do you think they are just assuming Google is tracking this? Do you really think people understand what companies like RapLeaf can do?
Did they really opt-in?
> Being watched by some government agency in your home, presumably against your will, is a far leap from here.
But being tracked by businesses you never knew existed without every visiting their site isn't a far leap.
> You're really grasping at straws.
I'm not, really. My questions were merely that. If you took them as anything more than honest questions, it's your fault. Mostly a result of you not being clear about what your okay with being tracked.
Finally, stop being antagonistic. Your insults are childish. You can disagree, but you can do so being less rude.
And if you weren't aware of being rude, you were.
Just because you didn't create the problem doesn't mean you can't be part of the solution.