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The Internet Communications Facebook Google Microsoft Privacy

Facebook, Google, and Microsoft Use Design To Trick You Into Handing Over Your Data, Report Warns (gizmodo.com) 213

Posted by BeauHD from the intelligent-design dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: A study from the Norwegian Consumer Council dug into the underhanded tactics used by Microsoft, Facebook, and Google to collect user data. "The findings include privacy intrusive default settings, misleading wording, giving users an illusion of control, hiding away privacy-friendly choices, take-it-or-leave-it choices, and choice architectures where choosing the privacy friendly option requires more effort for the users," states the report, which includes images and examples of confusing design choices and strangely worded statements involving the collection and use of personal data.

Google makes opting out of personalized ads more of a chore than it needs to be and uses multiple pages of text, unclear design language, and, as described by the report, "hidden defaults" to push users toward the company's desired action. "If the user tried to turn the setting off, a popup window appeared explaining what happens if Ads Personalization is turned off, and asked users to reaffirm their choice," the report explained. "There was no explanation about the possible benefits of turning off Ads Personalization, or negative sides of leaving it turned on." Those who wish to completely avoid personalized ads must traverse multiple menus, making that "I agree" option seem like the lesser of two evils. In Windows 10, if a user wants to opt out of "tailored experiences with diagnostic data," they have to click a dimmed lightbulb, while the symbol for opting in is a brightly shining bulb, says the report.

Another example has to do with Facebook. The social media site makes the "Agree and continue" option much more appealing and less intimidating than the grey "Manage Data Settings" option. The report says the company-suggested option is the easiest to use. "This 'easy road' consisted of four clicks to get through the process, which entailed accepting personalized ads from third parties and the use of face recognition. In contrast, users who wanted to limit data collection and use had to go through 13 clicks."
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Facebook, Google, and Microsoft Use Design To Trick You Into Handing Over Your Data, Report Warns More

Facebook, Google, and Microsoft Use Design To Trick You Into Handing Over Your Data, Report Warns

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  • And if you optout it just makes you even more of (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 27, 2018 @11:38PM (#56857544)

    a target.

  • This should not be a surprise (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 27, 2018 @11:44PM (#56857560)

    This info has been out there for years yet no one is listening and/or cares. The mantra of people seems to be "it's free" so why not. I have long ago seen this coming. Use Fedora Linux or Debian. Use an iPhone over Android despite Apple having some issues. Use P2P apps in lieu of things like Skype. Own your own domain and use that for email. It's cheap and you have control of your user name and domain name. Tie that domain name to a privacy-respecting service like Fastmail.

    Don't use spy devices like Alexa or Google Home. These exist not to help you but to harvest your data 24/7. Roll your own solutions, especially if you're technical or in IT. Use your own skills. Run a Pi-hole, block and defund the ad companies and tracking companies. Like drugs, just say no...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by antdude ( 79039 )

      Or just go off the grid completely. ;)

  • Shocking (Score:4, Insightful)

    by JustAnotherOldGuy ( 4145623 ) on Wednesday June 27, 2018 @11:44PM (#56857564) Journal

    I just can't believe that companies like Microsoft or Facebook or Google would ever do anything underhanded or manipulative! I mean, it's not like have years of history of doing this, right? Right?

    (As someone else posted, opting out probably gets you scrutinized even more, perhaps as a test subject for even trickier under-the-radar manipulation.)

    • I just can't believe that companies like Microsoft or Facebook or Google would ever do anything underhanded or manipulative!

      and don't forget TV, supermarkets, etc... basically everywhere

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mikael ( 484 )

      Try quitting Skype on Windows 10. It looks like the application has finished, after all there is no icon on the control bar. But run task manager, and those Skype processes are still running...

    • Microsoft used not to be manipulative with UI in Windows but then they wanted to become the next Google and modified Windows in many ways so that you are likely to use the settings that most benefit them.

  • Biggest grab of data (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    1) You grant app from vendor X the right to some data Y.
    2) You *think* you've granted the *APP* access, but because network access permission is on by default, you've actually granted the *company* that made the app permission.
    3) All your private data is slurped up regularly and sold to data brokers.

    They rely on you confusing the app they're giving permission to, with the company that made the app, they're *actually* giving permission to.

    Of course when it comes to Google, all of this never happens, Google s

  • alternatives, pls. (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    i know you can live without facebook (i just helped someone sort out their facebook settings. after digging through the fucked up ui, they just opted to deactivate and opt out of further emails instead), without google, without amazon or apple.

    but many can't do without windows. and the more privacy-friendly win7 is eol in 19 months. even if you lock down windows 10 with something like shutup10, it still leaks your data like a mofo and sucks your bandwidth like a lot lizard in heat. a sub for 'enterprise' is

  • Google Photos on an iPhone copies your photos to Google servers, then the app offers to "Delete photos from your device to free up space? They have been safely backed up to your Google account" ; doing so makes you even more dependent on Google.
    • To be fair, you can download those pics back easily using google's data exporter, Takeout. You arent locked in.

      • They are no longer your photos (Score:3, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Have you ever read their EULA?

        "When you upload, submit, store, send or receive content to or through our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content. "

    • You can disable that uploading.

  • The only way this gets fixed is by nullifying EULAs and have the relationships be governed by norms and reasonable expectations of average users. Unfortunately mealy mouthed EULAs masking what companies are really collecting and doing from normal users. A perfect example is the sleazy Unroll Me which pitches to users that they'll unsubscribe users from mailing lists however its business model is selling the contents of your email which is entirely disconnected from the user's expectations of the service.
  • Don't you get it yet?

    Anything you post on the Internets is available to the whole world.

    Your government, their enemies, your ex, their PI, your friends, your children, you mother, your future self ... Once you type or photograph it with a live Interwebs connection; it's public forever.

    Anyone who doesn't understand this is in need of a serious lesson in how the world works.
    • This is not the point here. The point is that the above-mentioned companies lure you into accepting to provide your personal information and to allow them to use and handle your data.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by saider ( 177166 )

        I think his point is that there is no such thing as "personal information". Treat any information you give to companies as "public".

  • Glass houses and all that... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 28, 2018 @12:39AM (#56857702)

    "Another example has to do with Facebook. The social media site makes the "Agree and continue" option much more appealing and less intimidating than the grey "Manage Data Settings" option".

    That's a bit rich for /. to post that. This site does the very same thing. At least in Europe it does. When opening the site we get the "We value your privacy" pop-up asking us to agree to all the advertising shenanigans. Oh look, the big "I agree" button is all coloured and in green, the universal colour for go, good or safe. The opt-out is just plain boring white.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by isj ( 453011 )

      You forgot the big green blinking arrow pointing to the green "enable alll purposes" button.

      Or that there are 130 third-party companies listed under "measurement". 130

  • Google makes opting out of personalized ads more of a chore than it needs to be and uses multiple pages of text, unclear design language, and, as described by the report, "hidden defaults" to push users toward the company's desired action.

    In other words, tactics that Google learned from Microsoft, the only difference being that for Microsoft it was not ads. Google is a good student. Google is a fast follower. Google is the new evil.

  • do I have to create an account? do I want to create an account? Generally no!

    I really hate the youtube issue with prove your age. right I am required to give them info because they are restricting content based on age. like I cant watch a game of thrones clip. easy to get around but still annoying.

    Just my 2 cents :)

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday June 28, 2018 @12:58AM (#56857754)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • First, are you and your family members willing to pay $4.99/month to exchange your gossip and photos? If you were, I am sure experience would be quite different. Also lets get some perspective. Unlike Comcast, nobody is making you spend an hour on the phone to opt out. It's still just a few clicks. If we are too cheap and lazy to protect our privacy, how can we expect others to do it for us?

    • Re:OMG, a free site makes me click a few things! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by religionofpeas ( 4511805 ) on Thursday June 28, 2018 @03:44AM (#56858126)

      Just because you'd pay $4.99/month, doesn't mean they won't use your data anyway.

    • There's no possible way that my gossip and photos are even remotely worth $4.99 a month. Maybe it's worth that much from someone who's a compulsive buyer of online goods with no control over the impulse to click; maybe it's worth more than that for celebrities, but for the verage person that's way overpriced.

      Generally, advertising costs should be LESS than that the amount of profit increase due to advertising. Or at least that's how it worked before the dotcom "new economy" shit.

  • Never attribute to malice (Score:3)

    by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Thursday June 28, 2018 @03:40AM (#56858106)

    what can be attributed to three companies who are some of the worst offenders of screwing up general UI design.

    Who the hell cares about my privacy settings when I can no longer safely use maps for navigation due to its shitty settings of minimising into a useless picture in picture everytime there's a hiccup on my phone and has removed the option to force audio output throught the speaker meaning I can't hear it with bluetooth on either.

    Who the hell cares about privacy settings on a website that makes it borderline impossible to easily scroll through past messages, or whose mobile app doesn't let you post pictures because it ends up in a select picture loop.

    And as for Microsoft, one word... err two words: Start Menu *raises middle finger*

  • another illusion (Score:5, Insightful)

    by thePsychologist ( 1062886 ) on Thursday June 28, 2018 @06:42AM (#56858472) Journal

    I think a lot of people also don't realize how much it costs to provide a service like Gmail because it's all electronic, and so they don't apply the 'nothing is for free' maxim to it.

    • Gmail runs on the existing pool of Google hardware, and what they get out of it besides the opportunity to advertise to users is the best information on spam. It costs Google less to provide it than it costs anyone else, and they get more out of it. That's why they haven't shut it down like they do most projects :p

    • Yeah, it's pretty clear that things like text messages, e-mail, and chat never worked properly before the multi-billion dollar international empires got into the business.

      A lot of people should realize that the text messages themselves are not expensive to host. It doesn't costs a billion dollars a year to host Tweets. It's the bloated management, advertisement infrastructure, and AI data mining experts and analytic that cost all that money. Think about how a typical web page might be 10MB per page view.

  • it's an indicator to tell you how much your personal information is worth to a company, if you can easily disable these features with one click then it's probably not all that important to them and they probably don't use it for much. if it takes 13 clicks to disable, you can be sure that is really, really important for them to have your personal (private) information. all the more reason to persist and turn it off.

  • Information such as my name, address, and telephone number are public record thanks to the government and easily obtainable via any number of websites. Something like my bank account number, credit card numbers, pin codes, and passwords I would consider "private data". The anonymized information that companies like Microsoft gather I do not consider private. I am glad if Microsoft knows that there software crashed or that I use Chrome instead of Edge 99.99999% of the time.

    I would like to see one of these id

  • I turned off targeted ads and news articles when I recently setup a new device. Wow. The breadth of things I've been missing are amazing.

    I've been seeing headlines for in depth reporting on the trials and tribulations of the Royal Family (and I live in the USA). Important {other gender} products. News articles about things Other than Microsoft/Google/Facebook.

    It's kind of amazing actually how narrow my information funnel has been. While commentators have warned of this happening and the potential pitf

  • the entire system is set up to spy on users. Sell a product thats not spying on people all the time and your brand will be trusted again.
  • The ONLY way anything is going to change is if people stop using Social Media entirely. Even if the majority won't, you should do what you can to protect yourself and get off Social Media entirely.

    Cowards who will say "There's no point don't bother" need not comment; I don't want to hear your pussy-ass whining, either be part of the solution or be judged as part of the problem!

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