Is this worth fighting? PPS Helston

Le_Kirk

PS I have no idea why but my "Thank You" button often refuses to work

If you are posting on a phone sometimes, maybe?

didgeridoooo

Thanks, no I don't use phones only computers. I do have a lot of privacy extensions in my browser though and it could be those. This forum has an absolutely horrific amount of trackers and spyware feeding everyone's data to Facebook and no end of other data harvesters. Sadly the internet is built on spying now, so I tend to get problems like this on many sites which haven't learned about privacy or respect for their users data

Coupon-mad

This forum has an absolutely horrific amount of trackers and spyware feeding everyone's data to Facebook and no end of other data harvesters.

OK, does it? MSE has never caused me a problem in 13 years of posting here.

didgeridoooo

Coupon-mad wrote: »

OK, does it? MSE has never caused me a problem in 13 years of posting here.

Yep it does. I am not singling it out, the great majority of websites online do likewise so it's not an MSE conspiracy by any means. It's a mass surveillance conspiracy however, that much is easy to prove (it's admitted after all). Short version... Everything you do online is monitored and recorded. Even if you don't have a facebook account, facebook tracks you with "shadow profiles" which means they build a picture of "you" even without your name, and they can recognise you whenever you're online by various things like browser and keyboard fingerprints, IP addresses, window size, OS details, time of day, basically bringing you down to ONE unique individual (with or without a name). See www.amiunique.org) So when one day you perhaps do join Facebook (for the few who don't already subscribe to that intelligence network) they know EVERYTHING about you, and to be as non-conspiratorial as possible.... they can then make a ton of money out of knowing your every wish and every interest etc. It does go a lot further than that, but just the corporate spyware issues are enough for me to take steps to prevent it. Of course Facebook is just one of many doing this.

Every time you see a Facebook Like button on a web page (must be 80%+ of pages on the web) it's javascript which works BOTH ways, so it not only serves the button, it draws out analytics of each user of that page and feeds it to facebook's huge data collection exercise. Again, Facebook is just one example, probably the most pervasive one.

Firefox browser has a lot of extensions to prevent this cross site tracking and monitoring, an extension called "Facebook Container" is built purely to prevent the "like/share" buttons from doing that which I mentioned above. It just blocks any facebook javascript on any webpage, but there are tons more similar things. I use around 8 extensions like these, and I get to see which sites are the worst for this stuff because items break, like buttons, forms etc, only occasionally though. When it does happen, I can see which sites are actively taking part in this data gathering exercise. Sometimes it's unwitting, but for big sites like this, I don't think ignorance is likely.

Anyway, it wasn't a rant by any means, just pointing out that this could be why my ThankYou button sometimes doesn't work. I get lots of other oddities as well, such as no end of Google Captchas every single time I post, even if I don't log out between posts. This is because it knows my browser is preventing my unique fingerprint being detectable. It's not a complaint, well not at MSE anyway, it's everywhere. MSE is worse than many, as are most big sites with massive audiences.

In case anyone cares, after I typed all this (and didn't even cover the tip of the iceberg), and wants to protect themselves from it, just one extension is a good bet for blocking much of it (not all though): Privacy Badger. That or Ublock Origin, or both. That plus Facebook Container will put paid to much of it. Regularly deleting browsing data using a nice button on the toolbar thanks to another extension called Clear Browsing Data https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/clear-browsing-data/ - that's a very good approach too. In simple terms, every site you visit stores cookies. Ok, most people know that. but most don't know that those cookies monitor (and feedback) all your browsing habits, google searches, preferences, tastes etc, to each and EVERY site you have ever visited (since last clearing data). This is why I regularly delete data.

A final plug - Replacing Google with DuckDuckGo is a big BIG bonus for privacy and non trackability. Likewise, replacing YouTube with Hooktube or Invidio.us is another. There goes my coffee drinking time

"never caused me a problem in 13 years of posting here." - No, you won't get a "problem", no more than you would by someone sitting in a tree outside your house listening to all the bugs they planted in your house! Unless you see them, and care about what they are doing, you won't see any tangible problems. You can go on quite happily, ignorance is unfortunately bliss as they say

didgeridoooo

HO HO HO!!! That's the last time I train my dog not to bite the postman. Happy Christmas BWL Neanderthals! (Just in time for Xmas, I am sure that was a complete coincidence!!)

Fruitcake

Just think how much that has cost them. Oh well they will just have to add on another fake £60 to get it all back.

Does that lot count as harassment I wonder, or is it just incompetence, or perhaps both?

didgeridoooo

Sorry Fruit, I would love to tell you but I am not opening them until the 25th, they can go under the tree until then and I will somehow resist

Coupon-mad

Someone else got six letters all at once, but you currently hold the prize!

This is hilarious. Maybe BW Legal has a mole anti-PPC worker, wrecking things!

didgeridoooo

Well I am glad I have 7 dogs, and they all need to defacate. No wonder my courier guy hates me