
Is 37 Signals Selling Behavioral Targeting Data? - dcancel
http://news.ghostery.com/post/200516394/is-37-signals-selling-behavioral-targeting-data
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jasonfried
No, we are not selling behavioral targeting data - or any other data - about
our visitors to anyone.

Our Product Blog (which is referenced in the screenshot) is hosted on Typepad.

It looks like Typepad injects javascript from Quantcast and
cdn.media6degrees.com at the bottom of Typepad-hosted pages. This appears to
be related to Typepad's internal analytics reporting. More info here:
[http://support.typepad.com/cgi-
bin/typepad.cfg/php/enduser/s...](http://support.typepad.com/cgi-
bin/typepad.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1162)

Check out some other Typepad hosted blogs (<http://www.avc.com>, for example)
and you'll see the same code. In fact, I can't seem to find a Typepad-powered
blog that doesn't have this code. Here's a long list:
<http://featured.typepad.com>

This code appears to be what Ghostery is picking up and calling out.

~~~
jrockway
Uh oh, _actual facts_?

Damn it, I just bought a pitchfork and really wanted to use it for something!

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dcancel
This is the author of Ghostery. Sorry if it came off that way that is not my
intent. I am not pitching my "free" product.

The difference here is that Media6 Degrees collects your behavioral data ties
it with your social graph (your friends) data packages it up and resells it to
other ad networks to target you.

Google Analytics data doesn't get sold to 3rd parties nor is it used by
AdWords/AdSense to target ads at you (at least that is Google's claim).

Sorry if this came off as an ad, its not.

~~~
jasonlbaptiste
It may have to do with the ad network they are founders of- thedeck

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dcancel
Thought that might be the case but couldn't find it on any other "Deck" ad
sites.

Interesting

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caffeine
Warning! Entering the fact-free zone.

Seriously, it's impolite to publish articles that are angry accusations
without (a) consulting the accused and (b) limiting one's accusations to the
evidence at hand.

Your article makes it sound like they collect confidential data from their
apps and sell it for money. Can't understand why so many people would upvote
this.

~~~
jrockway
Clearly you know nothing about blogging! Letting facts get in the way of a
hate session is simply not profitable!

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tptacek
Can someone explain how this is any weirder than 37signals using Google to
serve ads? I'm not expressing an opinion, I just don't know what this post is
trying to say.

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dcancel
See above for my full comments but in short the difference here is that Media6
Degrees collects your behavioral data ties it with your social graph (your
friends) data packages it up and resells it to other ad networks to target
you.

~~~
RyanMcGreal
It feels like there should be some commas in your sentence.

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dannyr
It looks like the guy is using it to pitch his product.

~~~
dcancel
See below for my full comments but in short this is not an ad for my "free"
product. I've updated my post to link to other ad blockers to make this
crystal clear.

~~~
judofyr
You can't say "above" or "below" on a site like Hacker News :-)

~~~
zck
Especially with the new comment sorting algorithm.

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sunir
If you were truly legit you would have first asked them. I flagged this post.

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dcancel
Huh? I should ask every site on the internet that is tracking your behavioral
information why they're doing it?

I think we the users should decide what info gets shared with who. I also
think we have the right as their user to publicly call them on questionable
practices.

I'm a fan of their products too, just not a fanboy, there's a difference.

~~~
ryanwaggoner
_I should ask every site on the internet that is tracking your behavioral
information why they're doing it?_

If you're publicly accusing them of doing so, and doing so for monetary gain,
then yeah, it does seem like some measure of journalistic integrity would
require at least a half-assed attempt at getting the other side of the story.
Even TechCrunch shoots out an email so they can say that they asked the
company what their side is.

If you're really searching for the truth, you should have approached them and
asked, especially since your title is a question and you have this line in
your post:

 _I can’t figure out why 37 Signals would be selling this information to ad
networks._

Your post is making an implication that something nefarious is going on,
without actually having the guts to come out and say it. Instead, you pretend
to be confused, and state that you're really not sure what's going on. If
that's actually the case, why not just ask them?

As it is, it appears that you think you do know what's going on, you want to
stir the pot and get some publicity for your product, and by keeping it vague,
you protect yourself if you're wrong.

~~~
dcancel
Ryan,

Not interested in a flamewar but happy to follow-up and clarify.

1\. I'm not a journalist.

2\. The fact that Media6 Degrees, a behavorial targeter is on their site is
binary. Look at the source, it's there, pretty simple.

3\. See #2 for the truth.

4\. Depends on your world view. For people who don't want to be targeted by
behavioral ad networks this is nefarious. For those who don't care it isn't.

5\. I couldn't care less about "getting publicity" for my product. It's free
and I don't need the publicity.

~~~
tjogin
In your post you wondered _why_. That's not binary.

The reason is that Typepad, which hosts their blog, does this on all their
hosted blogs.

You could have found this out by asking 37signals, or doing some basic
research. Instead you chose to fling feces their way and get some attention
for your product.

Classy.

