Comments on: Avast ye mateys! https://www.habitablezone.com/2020/01/29/avast-ye-mateys/ Tue, 07 Apr 2026 19:18:10 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: DanS https://www.habitablezone.com/2020/01/29/avast-ye-mateys/#comment-44047 DanS Thu, 06 Feb 2020 14:43:32 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=79980#comment-44047 From the linked article: "And while the collected data is never linked to a person’s name, email or IP address, each user history is nevertheless assigned to an identifier called the device ID, which will persist unless the user uninstalls the Avast antivirus product." -- Michael Kan | PCMag "Avast says this data is “anonymized,” but PCMag and Motherboard were able to link it to individuals." -- CHRIS HOFFMAN @chrisbhoffman | Editor in Chief, How-To Geek From the linked article:
“And while the collected data is never linked to a person’s name, email or IP address, each user history is nevertheless assigned to an identifier called the device ID, which will persist unless the user uninstalls the Avast antivirus product.”
– Michael Kan | PCMag

“Avast says this data is “anonymized,” but PCMag and Motherboard were able to link it to individuals.”
– CHRIS HOFFMAN @chrisbhoffman | Editor in Chief, How-To Geek

]]> By: hank https://www.habitablezone.com/2020/01/29/avast-ye-mateys/#comment-44003 hank Thu, 30 Jan 2020 00:42:42 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=79980#comment-44003 A big deal is made about how some of this marketing survey software and data collection is "anonymized", that is, it cannot be traced back to an individual machine or user. Supposedly, the fact this data categorization is assigned to large masses of users makes it particularly pernicious. For example, if your software identifies large numbers of people (a "class" or "category") it makes little difference if you cannot identify the individuals involved. What it allows you to do is target marketing information or advertising to individuals much more likely to be interested in that particular product or service. This overthrows the whole idea of a "free market", because it gives the advertiser who uses this technique an advantage over the business that does not. It is not just an abuse of the consumer, it short-circuits the very market mechanism that is supposed to make capitalism superior to other ways of distributing goods and services. And the customer doesn't even know he's been had. So, for example; if someone has analyzed my porn preferences and determined I (and maybe 500000 other people like me) are partial to chubby brunettes with tattoos and curly hair, I (and others with tastes like me)will soon find ourselves bombarded with advertising tailored for our erotic tastes and fantasies. Every online ad we see will be subtly modified to our preferences, which will presumably give those advertisers (for WHATEVER product; cars, TVs, beer, life insurance, you name it) an advantage over others who don't use it. One way this could be done is substituting chubby, tattooed curly-haired brunette models in any online ads that show up during our browsing. Even if this tactic doesn't actually work, their contempt for the consumer's intelligence will keep them doing it, and we, indirectly, will continue paying for it. I'm not the only one being cheated, so will all the other customers so targeted, and so will all the other merchants who don't use those techniques. And once businesses stop competing on the basis of price and performance i.e., the improvement of value, the major advantage and virtue of free markets, is totally negated. Once value is removed from the equation, ALL products will become crappier and more expensive. Incidentally, in maritime jargon, "Avast" means "stop". <em>"Belay my last, 'vast heaving" </em>is just another way of saying, <em>"Ignore my last order, stop pulling on that line".</em> A big deal is made about how some of this marketing survey software and data collection is “anonymized”, that is, it cannot be traced back to an individual machine or user. Supposedly, the fact this data categorization is assigned to large masses of users makes it particularly pernicious. For example, if your software identifies large numbers of people (a “class” or “category”) it makes little difference if you cannot identify the individuals involved. What it allows you to do is target marketing information or advertising to individuals much more likely to be interested in that particular product or service. This overthrows the whole idea of a “free market”, because it gives the advertiser who uses this technique an advantage over the business that does not. It is not just an abuse of the consumer, it short-circuits the very market mechanism that is supposed to make capitalism superior to other ways of distributing goods and services. And the customer doesn’t even know he’s been had.

So, for example; if someone has analyzed my porn preferences and determined I (and maybe 500000 other people like me) are partial to chubby brunettes with tattoos and curly hair, I (and others with tastes like me)will soon find ourselves bombarded with advertising tailored for our erotic tastes and fantasies. Every online ad we see will be subtly modified to our preferences, which will presumably give those advertisers (for WHATEVER product; cars, TVs, beer, life insurance, you name it) an advantage over others who don’t use it. One way this could be done is substituting chubby, tattooed curly-haired brunette models in any online ads that show up during our browsing. Even if this tactic doesn’t actually work, their contempt for the consumer’s intelligence will keep them doing it, and we, indirectly, will continue paying for it.

I’m not the only one being cheated, so will all the other customers so targeted, and so will all the other merchants who don’t use those techniques. And once businesses stop competing on the basis of price and performance i.e., the improvement of value, the major advantage and virtue of free markets, is totally negated. Once value is removed from the equation, ALL products will become crappier and more expensive.

Incidentally, in maritime jargon, “Avast” means “stop”. “Belay my last, ‘vast heaving” is just another way of saying, “Ignore my last order, stop pulling on that line”.

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