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0 pointssinaiman15y ago0 comments

This mentality should also extend to any sites using the "Like" button...they should all be mentioning that they (and their affiliates) place cookies on your system.

Right from Time's privacy policy:

We use cookies to understand Internet usage and to improve our content, offerings and advertisements. For example, we may use cookies to personalize your experience at our web pages (e.g., to recognize you by name when you return to our site), save your password in password-protected areas and enable you to use shopping carts on our sites. We also may use cookies to offer you products, programs or services. Similarly, as part of an arrangement with our business partners (including, those who present or serve the advertisements that you see on our web pages) we may also access cookies placed by others and allow others to access certain cookies placed by us.

We may also use small pieces of code such as "web beacons" or "clear gifs" to collect anonymous and aggregate advertising metrics, such as counting page views, promotion views or advertising responses. These "web beacons" may be used to deliver cookies that conform to our cookie policy. For more information regarding cookies, please click here.

If you're not cool with that, stop visiting the site or disable your cookies. ;)

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2 comments · 1 top-level

jmatt15y ago· 1 in thread

It's getting to be difficult to avoid sites that are affiliated or offer Facebook*.

Even ycombinator (and indirectly Hacker News) is guilty of being loosely affiliated with Facebook.

http://ycombinator.posterous.com/facebook-to-begin-giving-y-...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2010/11/facebooks...

sinaimanOP15y ago

This is a good point. I'd imagine that if enough users cared about these sorts of privacy issues then traffic would end up declining enough that companies would have to either dismiss Facebook or Facebook would have to stop tracking users. I personally don't see that happening, except for maybe an uprising of a small minority of users. In which case we have to ask, does this stuff actually matter at all?

If most people don't care or are ignorant of whether they're being "tracked" then does it even matter?

I suppose that if this stuff matters to you, you'll have to just maintain a white-list of sites that you'll allow cookies for... hell, maybe it'll be up to the browser companies to bring this sort of issue to the forefront by touting the idea of cookies being disabled by default as a privacy feature.

Edit: Or maybe this issue is already being covered by some browser extensions a la Ghostery and the ilk. I guess it means that if you care enough about it, it's up to you to protect yourself.

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