
Homebrew betrayed us all to Google - chr4
http://chr4.org/blog/2016/04/26/homebrew-betrayed-us-all-to-google/
======
detaro
HN discussion about the change:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11566720](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11566720)

------
evmar
"You should not track your users. If you need anonymous data, you should ask
your users first."

Now I'm imagining a website where when when you first visit it, you get a
popup like "for capacity planning purposes, this website would like to record
that you visited [yes] [no]". I wonder if this author would like such a
website?

~~~
fabrik42
This is exactly how the EU cookie law works.

~~~
dingaling
Technically the EU cookie law does not require notification for cookies
associated with the basic functions of the site.

All those annoying prompts are covering the use of nonfunctional aspects such
as tracking.

------
spacemanmatt
TL/DR: Author wishes Homebrew's analytics were opt-in.

------
barisser
I've been betrayed enough times on the Internet not to be surprised.

------
jonknee
It seems reasonable to want some analytics and it looks like they did a good
job from a privacy standpoint (random IDs that you can even change if you
wish). They even allow you to opt-out. There is simply no betrayal here.

~~~
Esau
Opt-In by default is wrong, regardless of the intention.

~~~
jonknee
It very much depends on the thing you're opting into or out of. For example, a
better default for organ donation has saved lots of lives:
[https://sparq.stanford.edu/solutions/opt-out-policies-
increa...](https://sparq.stanford.edu/solutions/opt-out-policies-increase-
organ-donation)

~~~
Esau
I can't agree with that, even if the results are good. And for the record, I
am an organ donor.

------
nanodano
X "betrayed us all to Google"

Is this your reaction to every website that has Google Analytics too? Write a
blog post about how it should be opt-in and how it's a betrayal?

~~~
chr4
It is. And it is a huge problem. It's easier to block this using an adblocking
plugin, though.

~~~
nanodano
Have you ever looked at Google Analytics information? They don't even give you
individual IP addresses or anything like that. They actually do a GOOD job of
anonymyzing data like that. You could track more information if you did it by
yourself without Google Analytics. It's not really a big deal for someone to
track what languages and what browsers people use on their sites.

~~~
chr4
The problem is not what the site owner is able to see, but what Google sees.
And it collects information about every site you visit, every article you
read. It has access to all other information, like your browser fingerprint,
etc. It does this even without being a Google customer - If you are, it get's
worse - It can correlate it with every mail you get, every term you search,
every step you take. This is a fundamental problem, and the magnitude is
incredibly scary.

