
Google Analytics opt-out browser extension - abraham
http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
======
nopal
From a site owner's perspective, I don't like this.

It's always been possible for a site owner to track certain things via access
logs, I think Google should still allow for those basic metrics to be tracked
via Google Analytics.

While it's still possible to track site usage via logs, I don't think Google
should give end users a way to bypass the wishes of a site owner. If someone
is using my site, I believe I have the right to have access to certain usage
information. (Insert bit about doing it ethically)

In the past, Google Analytics has been good enough, and I've not felt the need
to analyze my server logs. Now I question how popular this plug-in will
become, and how it might skew even the most basic and fundamental usage stats.

By providing an all-or-nothing plug-in, Google is hurting those using Google
Analytics more than it's helping to ensure people's privacy.

~~~
orangecat
_don't think Google should give end users a way to bypass the wishes of a site
owner_

You don't think users should have control over their own property?

 _If someone is using my site, I believe I have the right to have access to
certain usage information._

You have the right to ask for that information. You have no right to compel
the user to answer.

~~~
gyardley
_You have the right to ask for that information. You have no right to compel
the user to answer._

The user has no right to view the site owner's content. The site owner
therefore has the right to make provision of analytics data a prerequisite for
access to content. No one's bothered to do so because the proportion of people
who opt-out is currently quite small.

~~~
orangecat
_The site owner therefore has the right to make provision of analytics data a
prerequisite for access to content._

Agreed. I just object to the imputation that it's wrong to provide users with
the ability to not provide that data if they so choose.

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TallGuyShort
As often as I think to myself how dangerous it is that I've allowed Google to
have so much of my information - I'm constantly impressed by how upfront and
ethical they are.

~~~
snprbob86
As long as Larry, Serge, and Eric are in charge, I'll trust Google fully. I
just worry that their benevolent legacy won't outlive me...

~~~
jk8
I don't think I would put Eric in that list. There were some stores about him
in the press.

~~~
callahad
Are you thinking of the "if you have something that you don't want anyone to
know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place" quote?

If you look at the full quote [0], it's actually quite reasonable and
forthright. He's explicitly warning users that search engines, including
Google, are subject to inquiries from law enforcement, and thus, should not be
considered secure, rather than dismissing privacy out of hand.

[0]:
[http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/12/my_reaction_to...](http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/12/my_reaction_to.html)

~~~
jk8
No, I wasn't thinking of that quote but now I cannot remember the article. It
was around the time Google released Buzz and I think it was he who hinted that
how the users got it wrong. Am I wrong to think that it was him who said that?

~~~
jasonlotito
No, but I also don't disagree with him. He was right for the most part. More
importantly, nothing has been done to fix the problem. Everyone blamed Google,
but few people have actually attempted to fix the problem of privacy, or even
offer up solutions.

At the end of the day, Google has done more good for privacy then all the
users screaming at them.

~~~
jk8
@jasonlotito Yes, I do agree that they are doing more for privacy than the
rest.

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Detrus
This is how Google builds their brand. To ensure that the insanity around
facebook doesn't ever happen to them, they're handing out these tokens to the
few thousand people that understand something about technology.

But if sites begin to customize themselves for you, show you JPG ads instead
of Flash because you are a Mac user that never clicks ads, why would you opt
out?

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jeffreyt
Or just use Ghostery to opt out of Analytics and hundreds of other
trackers/bugs. <http://www.ghostery.com/download>

~~~
orblivion
Or Noscript and opt out of all sorts of things.

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timdoug
Or for the mildly more paranoid, block it entirely; just add the following to
/etc/hosts:

    
    
      127.0.0.1 www.google-analytics.com
      127.0.0.1 ssl.google-analytics.com

~~~
enomar
Doesn't that slow down and/or break a bunch of sites?

~~~
zsouthboy
You should get an immediate Connection Refused if there's no one listening on
80/443.

~~~
enomar
That still may break sites if the variables that ga.js defines are used
outside of a try/catch.

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ryanwaggoner
I have all my /etc/hosts for Google Analytics pointing to localhost.

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davidu
While this may be a left-hand doesn't know what the right-hand is doing kind
of thing, I don't think this is good.

It gets very tricky when companies try to be the arms dealers to both sides.
You can't advocate privacy and provide privacy tools while at the same time
promoting analytics and data-mining tools used because of a lack of privacy.
Ultimately, the two sides conflict and the end result is often bad for both
sides.

Case in point -- IronPort used to be a company selling spam cannons, and then
they started selling anti-spam devices. They quickly realized they had to stop
selling the spam cannons if they wanted to be perceived as the anti-spam
vendor of choice.

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kierank
Presumably this will also install the Google Updater so you can have 7 updater
instances humming away in your task manager at any given time...

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csytan
Nice. I'm going to be using this for my own low traffic sites. I visit so much
that the stats get skewed in favor of FF on OSX.

~~~
terrellm
If it's your site or a site you have access to the Google Analytics for, you
can add a filter to exclude your IP.

~~~
JangoSteve
...which works if you always access your sites from the same IP. I like the
idea of using a browser extension (or noscript or something like that) which
stays with my computer.

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ct4ul4u
I'd really like cookie sequestration to be a standard browser feature. By
sequestered, I mean that cookies be bound to the domain in the address bar as
well as the URL they are served from. So I would have different versions of
the Google analytics cookie for every domain I visited.

~~~
txxxxd
GA already works that way.

~~~
ct4ul4u
Yes, but I'm thinking of the Facebook Like beacon.

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not_an_alien
Ugh.

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akkartik
Waaiitaminute.. if I want to opt out from your information-gathering program I
have to install something on my computer and constantly run it in perpetuity?

<brain explodes>

I can't wait until mailing lists try this: "To unsubscribe from our list,
please send email every 24 hours to keepunsubscribingme@___.com. Here's a
webapp to join to simplify the process." or "Would you like Sears to stop
sending these coupons to your house? Please send a postcard to ___ every 30
days." Lol.

(Not saying this is a bad idea. What do I know? I'm going to keep it on my
radar.)

~~~
jasonlotito
To be fair, in a way, you opt-in.

The website owner chooses to install it on their website. You visit the
website, with JS enabled. If you don't like that the website uses Google
Analytics, you are free to not frequent the website anymore, or to turn of JS.

Your mailing list or coupon metaphors really aren't the same. Instead, it
would be more akin to buying things from Amazon, asking Amazon them not to
send advertisements, but getting made when they send you a purchase update for
the purchase you made.

A real life example would be complaining to a store about being video taped
while you are shopping, and the store using that data to plan a new layout
based upon customer habits.

~~~
akkartik
I'm aware of the implementation issues. That's why I don't dislike the idea.
But they're just that, implementation issues. Look at it from the user's
perspective. I'm _me_ , I'm right _here_. Stop remembering me everywhere I go.
Get it done.

Imagine if you were told you'd keep getting telemarketer calls because 'it's
too hard to take you out.' You wouldn't care how valid that argument is.

The prevalence of CCTV is a good analogy, yes. I understand why they need to
exist, but they still creep me out. I just go through my day trying not to
think about them. I suspect a lot of people do the same. This plugin creeps me
out in the same way, it brings up something I'd rather ignore.

