This site tracks us too much

Discussion in 'Site announcements and information' started by bitstripped, Oct 9, 2015.

  1. bitstripped
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    bitstripped Long term member

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    is there any reason why there are social media buttons at the bottom of every thread view page to tweet and/or post to Facebook? I feel like the majority of users on this site prefer to keep this part of their lives separate from their public social media profiles.

    I ask because the existence of these social media buttons allows Facebook and Twitter to track us. Every thread you click on, your browser is tasked with grabbing those button graphics from Twitter and Facebook. Facebook sees that it's you (because you most likely used the same computer to use Facebook or Twitter) and gets the url of the page you are on every time these buttons are shown.

    Personally, I'd rather Facebook not have a log of every adult fetish site I visit. Down to the detail of which threads I read on this site. I see these social media buttons on other sites like porn-YouTube type of sites and most don't realize that Facebook is collecting all of our porn habits. All for.....so that a very very very small set of people can easily post to their social media profiles because they're too lazy to copy and paste a URL manually?
     
  2. danleft1
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    danleft1 Long term member

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    I'm not so concerned about social media, because it will only be getting the cookies (which any site does these days). I'm more concerned that the search engines are allowed access to the threads and that most of the forum is able to be veiwed to the public, membership is only needed to post. Do a Google search for ... lancelot chastity ... the first none paid listing is ... http://chastitymansion.com/forums/index.php?threads/lancelot-review.5083/

    Anything that requires a login membership should be hidden from the search engines and public.
     
  3. danleft1
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    danleft1 Long term member

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    see I logged out and could still see this thread ....

    [​IMG]
     
  4. Astarte
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    Astarte Active member

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    Giving access to search engines is a problem for most fetish sites as this access is needed to recruit new users. Without search engines like google that's WAY harder if not impossible for a site as big as CM.

    Giving away more Information to social media is a rather great problem compared to the search engines as clicking ond those buttuns facebook could connect your CM with your facebook account (if your have one) - and that's something not everyone might want. But if you are afraid of this just block tthe buttons with adblock or other software and this danger is gone...
     
  5. Lucy
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    Lucy Lucy X

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  6. Billus
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    Billus Laconic.

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    I don't have a facebook account, so nuts to 'em.
     
  7. Wetste
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    Wetste Member

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    I use chrome. Incognito mode is great...
     
  8. Billus
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    Billus Laconic.

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    Oh, so instead of Facebook tracking you, it's Google.
     
  9. Wetste
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    Wetste Member

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    I was under the impression that incognito mode left no cookies etc. Hence why passwords etc have to be resubmitted to login to Facebook etc. I may be wrong. And if I am what then is the alternative?
     
  10. chastiff
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    chastiff Long term member

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    if you don't want the social media buttons tracking you "Privacy Badger" is a great plugin that will do the trick
     
  11. danleft1
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    danleft1 Long term member

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    I apologize, I was tired when I wrote my previous reply and did not really get to the heart of what I was really concerned about.

    You are 100% correct that in order for the site to grow the search engines need something to look at!

    My real concern is always about maintaining some level of "privacy". So there are things that a person that is not a member (search engines) should not see and they should be the standard setting for the forum. The best example I can give you is it is up to the individual whether or not their profile is visible to the public. Profiles have no search engine relevance and all should be excluded (set to private, meaning not public). Ideally the software should be stripping things like profiles from what it allows the public to see and further it should strip EXIF info from images loaded to the site (which it may do I have not really checked). Ideally the search engines should be getting something much more like an RSS feed that carries the text (what search engines want) but is stripped of anything that could be "private". I have not Admin forum software in many years now, but most comes at least the basics of what I'm stating. I believe XenForo at least has the profile removal function. I seems to have some functions associated with public and private because you can not see the Gallery unless you are logged in.

    So in a nut shell I'm really just suggesting that the core settings be adjusted to provide a bit more "privacy" and not leave it up to the individual member to decide if a search engine can see their profile (or other info that could be considered "membership only")

    Dan
     
  12. Jens
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    Jens CO-Owner of CM
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    Guest user have always been allowed to read threads on CM. that will not change. To the best of my knowledge the presence of Facebook and Twitter buttons is NOT HAVING ANY EFFECT - until you click the buttons. But let me double check
     
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  13. maid_carrie
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    #13 maid_carrie, Oct 9, 2015
    Last edited: Oct 9, 2015
    I have finally ditched Chrome and now using Comodo Dragon which is Chrome stripped of all the Google inquisitiveness.

    They describe it as "Fast and versatile Internet Browser based on Chromium, with highest level of security!"

    As to profile privacy - I just didn't put my real name, phone number or address in there so hopefully no one will sus who I am.

    As to the Facebook and Twitter links, it would be interesting to know how often they are actually used. Are they just something that are nice to have and demonstrate how hip and into social media we are? Or not as the case may be.

    Personally I avoid them like the plague after my wife accessed FB on my laptop and it ripped through my Gmail address book without asking.
    :(
     
  14. MillionDollarMeaning
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    Honestly, if you're worried about privacy, you shouldn't even be browsing the site. Your password isn't even encrypted in transit since the site is using http (not https). Literally anyone on your LAN (on your router/wifi at home/work/school/etc) can see your password with tools and skills you can learn from a google search.

    Private/Incognito browsing helps a bit. So does Firefox's "Tracking Protection" feature (built in). I also use uBlock Origin (an ad-blocker; I whitelist any sites I wish to support financially), Privacy Badger, RefControl, and NoScript.

    I used to browse the site using the Tor Browser, but I guess the admin blocked it since it doesn't work anymore.

    As for the forum posts being public (visible to not-logged-in users); I tend to lean on the side of privacy, but in this case, it doesn't bother me. It helps the popularity of the site and helps people find real answers, not "fantasy" answers to chastity. If you don't want it indexed by Google, then don't put it online.

    Also, Facebook used to track the "like/share" buttons even when you are logged out, but it looks like that policy changed: http://www.zdnet.com/article/facebook-tracks-you-online-even-after-you-log-out/
     
  15. slavefox
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    slavefox Active member

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    I agree that Google needs to index the site. However, I would also feel more comfortable if this site used HTTPS, to prevent prying, and eliminated the tracking from the social buttons (yes they do track you even if you don't click them). Google Analytics which also keeps track of who visits what on a large scale to target ads etc.

    There is a big tradeoff between making the site easy to manage and maintaining the privacy of users. I would say that the social buttons add almost no value at the expense of a lot of privacy. Equally, adding HTTPS is very easy and needn't cost anything.

    For users who are concerned about the trackers, I recommend the Ghostery plugin which blocks them.
     
  16. bitstripped
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    bitstripped Long term member

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    All good suggestions, but not practical on a mobile device. I still wonder what the benefit *really* is by having Facebook / social media buttons on this messageboard? Sure Facebook doesn't track if I'm logged out, but they do if I'm logged in. Do users of this site really share things from this forum with their public social media sites?

    Sure my ISP or roommates could be spying on me. Sure my cellphone network admins could be spying on me or logging where I go. But having Facebook know I frequent this site often is something that makes me uncomfortable. That means there's data about (actual identities) visiting this site sitting on a server, somewhere. Which inherently gives it value. And it doesn't need to be (unless someone has a good argument for keeping social media buttons included on this site)
     
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