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A Quick Plug
Episode 72: To Opt-In or Not To Opt-In, That is the Question
Katherine Druckman and Doc Searls talk about Amazon’s new Sidewalk feature, more about Apple’s opt-out options, and other privacy issues.
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Last week we dove further into Apple’s opt-out options, but there is much more to that conversation to be found on Doc’s blog. He wrote extensively about the current state of opting out of ad tracking, some background, as well as reactions from around the web in two parts, Apple vs (or plus) Adtech and Apple vs (or plus) Adtech, Part II.
Here’s an excerpt, but we hope you’ll head over to check out the whole thing:
This piece has had a lot of very smart push-back (and forward, but mostly back). I respond to it in Part II, here.
If you haven’t seen it yet, watch Apple’s Privacy on iPhone | tracked ad. In it a guy named Felix (that’s him, above) goes from a coffee shop to a waiting room somewhere, accumulating a vast herd of hangers-on along the way. The herd represents trackers in his phone, all crowding his personal space while gathering private information about him. The sound track is “Mind Your Own Business,” by Delta 5. Lyrics:
Can I have a taste of your ice cream?
Can I lick the crumbs from your table?
Can I interfere in your crisis?No, mind your own business
No, mind your own businessCan you hear those people behind me?
Looking at your feelings inside me
Listen to the distance between usWhy don’t you mind your own business?
Why don’t you mind your own business?Can you hear those people behind me?
Looking at your feelings inside me
Listen to the distance between usWhy don’t you mind your own business?
Why don’t you mind your own business?
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This Week’s Reading List
Doc Searls Weblog · Apple vs (or plus) Adtech — If you haven’t seen it yet, watch Apple’s Privacy on iPhone | tracked ad. In it a guy named Felix (that’s him, above) goes from a coffee shop to a waiting room somewhere, accumulating a vast herd of hangers-on along the way. The herd represents trackers in his phone, all crowding his personal space while gathering private information about him.
Apple’s New Privacy Ad Is Absurd. That’s Why It’s So Brilliant — The iPhone maker is taking a much more aggressive stand on whether users should allow tracking. At all.
How to Find the Mobile Ad ID on Apple and Android Devices? — The mobile advertising ID, also known as a mobile ad ID or a MAID, is a sequence of alphanumeric characters assigned to a mobile phone or tablet by the device’s operating system, either iOS or Android.
Amazon devices will soon automatically share your Internet with neighbors | Ars Technica — If you use Alexa, Echo, or many other Amazon devices, you have only 10 days until you're opted in to an experiment that leaves your personal privacy and security hanging in the balance.
How Amazon Sidewalk Works—and Why You May Want to Turn It Off | WIRED — It promises connected convenience. But the ecommerce giant doesn't exactly have an inspiring record when it comes to privacy.
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