Mozilla's "Do Not Track" browser stirs up concern from advertisers

[Guest]

I hate advertisements, especially when they install adware without a user’s permission. In reality, the companies who do this should be prosecuted and it should be made against the law. What would happen if you decided to just go sit at a neighbor’s house and watch their every move? No doubt you would probably be arrested or worse, or if you go around stalking people just to see what they do?

 

[Guest]

The unfortunate fact is that many "businesses" think people's privacy doesn't count in terms of their "business model". They know no boundaries, and think nothing of using my personal, private, residential phone to interrupt my evening meal and try to sell me something I don't want. That's why I own and use an answering machine with which I can screen calls and decide who I'll talk to.

This following me around the web to collect data to feed "business models" is no different. It's an unwarranted invasion of my privacy, same as barging into my home using my telephone trying to sell something. These people use their "business models" as an excuse to violate my privacy, and I have the right to use every bit of technology I can find to prevent it from happening.

 

[cliffordcooley]

When I need or want something, I will go and find it. Until this time I don't need these items plastered over every billboard and webpage. If I'm not in the market for it, I'm not in the market. And advertising anything that I will never be interested in, only serves to piss me off. Especially when the ads are pathetically obnoxious.

To be tracked on the Internet, serves only to hold people to their past travels. The biggest part of my travels around the Internet can be summed up by this quote, "been there, done that, now it's time to move on".

• Sure go ahead and try to sell me hospital equipment, when all I was wanting to know was the expense of such equipment.
• Sure go ahead and try to sell me a product from UK or Australia (Even though I'm a US resident), when all I was doing was helping a forum buddy with a question.
• Sure go ahead and try selling server hardware, even though I would probably never be interested in anything server related.

Placing ads in irrelevant locations or basing them on user past Internet traffic, is not good for business. I will question any product that does not sale itself by word of mouth (aka: user feedback).

 

[Guest]

As with all things there really needs to be a "back to basics" - an open and free internet not locked by borders boundaries or political whim and certainly not beholden to any organization whether private, public or state with vested interests over and above the needs of the wider world - social media is a two edge sword that has to be able to swing both ways... for your political ambitions and also against them.

You want to read my data - as rightly said above "pay for my connection"

You want to read my data - apply in an open court and do not hide behind the political pretext of national security

You want to read my data - I can provide the details for the account to which payment should be sent....

Better still as FireFox is open source hows about some smart developer out there not only generating a plug-in for blocking all these adds (and call it First Strike!) but that also charges the ad provider back - I would happily click the button to further fund open source from 90% of the proceeds from such a device.

 

[PinothyJ]

Could they not have thought of a better name than ?Cookie Clearinghouse?? What about raisin cookies? Raisin cookies have no reason to exist.


Burn them...

 

[Guest]

They (the advertisers) are going after mozilla because they want to stop all the ad blocking and ad tracking programs. It will destroy their jobs. But, who will miss the leaches of society? No one. It's kind of the same as the 'do not call' registry targeted another group of pests, the telemarketers. Anybody miss being interupted during their dinner to answer the phone and get a line about buying aluminum siding? I think not.

 

[ICUB4UCME]

To answer the recurring question of why they are targeting Firefox I would like to reference security expert Steve Gibson in his term "The Tyranny of the Default". this concept assumes that the default setting is true in 75% of systems. while extensions like adblock and disconnect are great and have been out for a long time and are even used by quite a lot of people in this forum we must keep in mind that this forum is much more tech savvy than the average user. the average user is not going to know to go get adblocking extensions nor are they going to know to turn on the Do Not Track setting that is off by default. turning it on by default makes a large majority of users drop off the advertisers radar which obviously makes them unhappy that they may actually have to work for a living.

I agree that they are parasites and will not be missed (at least by me). I also agree that a business that depends on subsidies of any kind should simply die. if the business model cannot support itself then I invoke the law of natural selection.

I am also not opposed to the idea of ads on websites, they are the same commercials on radio or television. however, targeted ads based on aggressive tracking practices confuse me to some small extent because of what happens when you bring them to the physical world. when you walk into a store and someone you do not know follows you into the store and trys to sell you something from another store it will make the shopkeeper furious. for some reason on the internet it is welcomed. I can only assume they care more about easy money than running a reputable business and I encourage anyone to shop less on sites that allow such practices and more on sites that host either no ads or regular ads that are relevent to the target audience of said site (e.g. techspot hosting advertisements for computer equipment on amazon regardless of your amazon history). simply put there is a big difference between knowing your audience and completely moving into their anus.

 

[cliffordcooley]

^^^^ +100 for ICUB4UCME

 

[DAOWAce]

Advertisers have no right to be worried; no one accepts their practices.