this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2025
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[–] [email protected] 56 points 2 days ago (2 children)

So I thought this is never going to fly under GDPR. Then the article goes on to say:

Many privacy laws, including the EU’s GDPR and California’s CCPA, require user consent for tracking. However, because fingerprinting works without explicit storage of user data on a device, companies may argue that existing laws do not apply which creates a legal gray area that benefits advertisers over consumers.

Oh come on Google, seriously? I remember a time when Google were the good guys, can't believe how they've changed...

[–] [email protected] 51 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Google were maybe seen as the good guys back in the days of Yahoo search, and perhaps the very early days of Android.

But those times are so long passed. Google has been a tax-avoiding, anti-consumer rights, search-rigging, anti-privacy behemoth for decades now, and they only get worse with each passing year.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

In other words, they went public and must now maximize gains for shareholders.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

boards of directors have a fiduciary duty to the shareholders. If they did something they knew wasn't going to result in the max short term profits they can be found in violation. Just a race to the bottom.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

for decades now

You should drop that S. The company has only existed for a little over 2 decades and Android hasn't been around for much more than 1. Yes they've become an evil fucking corporation but let's not exaggerate for how long.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I've been using Google since 1998, and everyone loved them because their search indexed sites quicker than others and the search results were more useful than the competition at the time like Yahoo and Altavista and AskJeeves. They started turning nasty as soon as they gained steam & commercial success with AdWords.. around 2003-2004. So no, while they get worae each year they haven't been 'the good guys' for decades.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You're mad cause they started putting ads into your search results? Like that was always going to happen. Having ads doesn't make them evil. The shit they're doing right now, and have been doing for the last half a dozen years or so, that makes them evil.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

What? Maybe you should just stop trying to guess what people think or tell them what they know.

You're welcome to your opinion that it's only been a dozen years of bad behaviour but I do not share it and nor do many, many others. Feel free to have a browse, much of this goes back to 2001, many lawsuits filed in the early 2010s had evidence going back a decade. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Google

I'm not responding any further.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 2 days ago (2 children)

That time was like 20 years ago, dude

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago

It's still sad to see the development. We're allowed to mourn things that happened long ago, you know.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

Oh absolutely. At this point I'm not surprised anymore that they turned to shit, it's more like I think they've hit rock bottom already but they manage to surprise me with new ways to dig their hole even deeper.