<story><title>Google Docs adds tracking to links in document exports</title><url>https://fosstodon.org/@Joe_0237/111145684757912952</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dacryn</author><text>funny you say that. Google is upfront about their intentions, but nobody believes them that they are not data mining this for behaviour tracking.&lt;p&gt;Can&amp;#x27;t win in that scenario</text></item><item><author>srazzaque</author><text>I&amp;#x27;m pretty sure the stated intent of the redirect is to prevent phishing (that is, provide an opportunity for Google to warn users about visiting a known dodgy site). The ability to track is just an added bonus!&lt;p&gt;Microsoft does this too with Teams. Links that my colleagues and I share with one another to _internal company sites_ get link checked then redirected.  Microsoft must have a treasure trove of data about external company employee browsing habits as a result.&lt;p&gt;I would have infinitely more respect for companies that are upfront about their intentions, no matter how nefarious: &amp;quot;we&amp;#x27;re doing this to help protect you from phishing. But also, 99% of links are probably not phishing. So this feature really enables us to collect data to track what you do, and perform analytics to improve our bottom line&amp;quot;.&lt;p&gt;Why sugar-coat it?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>nonrandomstring</author><text>This old problem.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s the word &amp;quot;win&amp;quot; that bothers me in this context.&lt;p&gt;Until one sees that conflicting models can make &amp;quot;security&amp;quot; a zero sum
game, in which your security is my insecurity and vice versa, there is
only psychological splitting, posturing and clamour for the &amp;quot;moral
high ground&amp;quot;.&lt;p&gt;Indeed, even using the word &amp;quot;security&amp;quot; as a bare noun is a mark of
presumptuousness. One must always ask; Security for whom? Security
against whom or what?  Security to what end?&lt;p&gt;Unilaterally imposing a harm (leaking of data) upon others is
disdainful, but then offering &amp;quot;security&amp;quot; as your reason&amp;#x2F;excuse, is
condescending, since you do not know what my security needs are and
how they are prioritised.&lt;p&gt;When it comes to messing with my data or devices &amp;quot;for my own good&amp;quot; the
only proper response is &amp;quot;I&amp;#x27;ll be the judge of that!&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;Many then respond that &amp;quot;people are too stupid and need a firm hand&amp;quot;,
which is not a good look, and frankly cuts to the core of so many
problems in technology today.&lt;p&gt;Companies like Google need a better moral, sociological and
psychological map of reality before putting on their boots and
marching off down the road of good intentions in the direction of
Hell.</text></comment>
<story><title>Google Docs adds tracking to links in document exports</title><url>https://fosstodon.org/@Joe_0237/111145684757912952</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dacryn</author><text>funny you say that. Google is upfront about their intentions, but nobody believes them that they are not data mining this for behaviour tracking.&lt;p&gt;Can&amp;#x27;t win in that scenario</text></item><item><author>srazzaque</author><text>I&amp;#x27;m pretty sure the stated intent of the redirect is to prevent phishing (that is, provide an opportunity for Google to warn users about visiting a known dodgy site). The ability to track is just an added bonus!&lt;p&gt;Microsoft does this too with Teams. Links that my colleagues and I share with one another to _internal company sites_ get link checked then redirected.  Microsoft must have a treasure trove of data about external company employee browsing habits as a result.&lt;p&gt;I would have infinitely more respect for companies that are upfront about their intentions, no matter how nefarious: &amp;quot;we&amp;#x27;re doing this to help protect you from phishing. But also, 99% of links are probably not phishing. So this feature really enables us to collect data to track what you do, and perform analytics to improve our bottom line&amp;quot;.&lt;p&gt;Why sugar-coat it?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>srazzaque</author><text>Interesting, I wasn&amp;#x27;t aware Google had actually stated &amp;quot;we don&amp;#x27;t use this data for tracking, and we only use it for link protection&amp;quot; (does it?).&lt;p&gt;Assuming true: you are right in that it&amp;#x27;s basically no-win. The fact that Google draws so much revenue from advertising makes it difficult to reconcile.&lt;p&gt;Nothing short of a third-party code audit of Google&amp;#x27;s code against their asserted privacy policy would appease everyone. And even then, there would be doubters.</text></comment>