KraigWalker parent
Next time you go to a movie theatre and there's someone standing there keeping count of how many people are going in - because it's there job or something - make sure to complain they're infringing on your right to privacy.
That same person is also standing at the entrance of almost every other building. To make his job easier he's also given you a unique identifier, so that he can notice when you enter a building he watches. I'm sure you've never noticed him, most people don't.
And at the end of the day, he goes over hist list of what buildings you went into, to analyze what sort of things you like so he can show up at your door as a door salesman to sell you some product he believes you will be interested in.
He handed you a unique identifier. You're the one who is keeping it safe and showing it to him every time you see him. Unless you manage your cookies a bit better.
We can test this theory. Go to nearest movie theater with a camera and a clipboard, and start taking pictures and recording people who goes in to watch a movie. Also, stop people and ask what movie they are going to watch, with a noticeable "hmmm" and "really? You are that kind of person?". If anyone ask why you are doing this, say you will be selling this information to highest bidder, as there is always someone interested to exploit it.
Nice summary of Google. But in their defence, you'd have to add something that is given to the surveiled people, because Google does. It lures. Maybe, free cinema would a good analogy. And when you enter that free Google cinema everything about you will be recorded, analyzed, connected and sold to the highest bidder. Creeeeeeepy
Google analytics isn't giving anything to end users at all, plenty of paid sites use it too for instance.
I find it frankly shocking so many sites use it without any seeming consideration at all, its essentially completely selling out your users for a slick analyitics package.
Where exactly do they suppose such precise and accurate data comes from when they open the management pages.
"If you're not paying for it, you're the product being sold."
That's simply not true, see Gnu or Linux.
Ubuntu != Linux and Ubuntu != Gnu.
As a developer for one open source project:
In my case, I am doing it because the users are happy about it.
The users satisfaction with how the product works is my pay for spending all my weekends coding – and it’s definitely worth it.
If Google Analytics provided nothing other than a counter, those simple CGI visitor count scripts we hacked up back in the 90s would have put Google out of business a long, long time ago.
do you really think that's all google analytics provides, a hit counter?
you should really use it sometime, or at least familiarise yourself with its capabilites.
I often pass by without handing him or her my ticket. Fight the power!