Privacy betrayed -- Twitter sells tweet archive

[Azrael]

It turns out, Twitter had a plan to monetize user-generated content all along.

[YMix]

What a surprise.

[Sparky]

It's weird that people seem to expect all these sorts of "free" services to make no money at all. This is the price you pay for "free". Those server farms aren't cheap to run, you know.

Still, if this sort of news bums you out or you fear the whirl of the black helicopter's blades overhead, you should read:

1/ How websites use your browser to sell you for cash

2/ The Evercookie: Like trying to kill Steven Seagal

3/ Browser privacy at work: The BOFHs' guide

At the very least, you should install Ghostery or similar if this sort of thing bothers you.

[monster_gardener]

It turns out, Twitter had a plan to monetize user-generated content all along.

Thank you Very Much for your post, Azrael.


FWIW Hannity/Han Nutty has been blathering a lot about how addicted to Twitter he is..............

Fun Fun Fun...............

Be interesting to see what if anything he says about this.......

Wonder if he is a victim or a Judas Goat................

Maybe both but mostly the latter........

AIUI he is using Twitter to marshal an army of followers to defend him online etc. ...................


For some strange reason this reminds me of the Mouse Army of Chinese orphan girls in "Diamond Age" by Neal Stephenson. ..........

The primers used by the Chinese orphans have no human ractors supplementing them. Instead, since all of the primers are networked in some way, the Chinese girls are able to interact, forming the "mouse army". They also manage to become aware of the existence of "Princess Nell", who becomes the object of their devotion, their Queen. Whether this happens because they sense that Princess Nell is a real person, or whether this is solely due to the machinations of Hackworth, is left unclear.

Sean Hannity...............

* 8,843 Tweets
* 295 Following
* 260,871 Followers

https://twitter.com/#!/seanhannity

[Zack Morris]

It's weird that people seem to expect all these sorts of "free" services to make no money at all.

Not as weird as people using Twitter in the first place. Worst. Website. Ever.

[Azrael]

It's weird that people seem to expect all these sorts of "free" services to make no money at all. This is the price you pay for "free". Those server farms aren't cheap to run, you know.

I for one never expect "free" services not to try to make a buck. After all, people went to a lot of effort and expense to set them up and operate them.

For example, I have no problem with Google making money by putting up ads above search results.

I just think that Twitter may have been (perhaps intentionally) misleading.

Still, if this sort of news bums you out or you fear the whirl of the black helicopter's blades overhead, you should read:

1/ How websites use your browser to sell you for cash

2/ The Evercookie: Like trying to kill Steven Seagal

3/ Browser privacy at work: The BOFHs' guide

At the very least, you should install Ghostery or similar if this sort of thing bothers you.

What do you do about privacy issues?

[monster_gardener]

It's weird that people seem to expect all these sorts of "free" services to make no money at all. This is the price you pay for "free". Those server farms aren't cheap to run, you know.

I for one never expect "free" services not to try to make a buck. After all, people went to a lot of effort and expense to set them up and operate them.

For example, I have no problem with Google making money by putting up ads above search results.

I just think that Twitter may have been (perhaps intentionally) misleading.

Still, if this sort of news bums you out or you fear the whirl of the black helicopter's blades overhead, you should read:

1/ How websites use your browser to sell you for cash

2/ The Evercookie: Like trying to kill Steven Seagal

3/ Browser privacy at work: The BOFHs' guide

At the very least, you should install Ghostery or similar if this sort of thing bothers you.

What do you do about privacy issues?

Thank you Very Much for your post, Azrael.

For example, I have no problem with Google making money by putting up ads above search results.

Quite Right. Seconded.

I just think that Twitter may have been (perhaps intentionally) misleading.

IMVHO entities like Twitter, Google & Facebook are proving to be Frankenstein Monsters in the Data mine.

They are for profit betrayer gossips who never forget....... For example, quite willing to tell a potential employer that you since you are interested in learning about a particular disease, you might be a high cost/health risk that it would be better not to employ....

[Hans Bulvai]

What a surprise.

No lavender.

[Sparky]

It's weird that people seem to expect all these sorts of "free" services to make no money at all. This is the price you pay for "free". Those server farms aren't cheap to run, you know.

I for one never expect "free" services not to try to make a buck. After all, people went to a lot of effort and expense to set them up and operate them.

For example, I have no problem with Google making money by putting up ads above search results.

I just think that Twitter may have been (perhaps intentionally) misleading.

Still, if this sort of news bums you out or you fear the whirl of the black helicopter's blades overhead, you should read:

1/ How websites use your browser to sell you for cash

2/ The Evercookie: Like trying to kill Steven Seagal

3/ Browser privacy at work: The BOFHs' guide

At the very least, you should install Ghostery or similar if this sort of thing bothers you.

What do you do about privacy issues?

Well, buyer of nothing, beware in this and all such cases. Given the nature of Twitter - a service which lets you blather your uneditable brief thoughts and idle observations to anyone who cares to read them, it seems a bit rich to complain that someone has collated them and is busy strip mining them to see how you feel about soap powder, or Obama's electoral chances.

Most people don't seem to give much of a damn about their privacy in general when it comes to online behaviour. In fact, they seem to be eager to share all manner of personal experiences with the world that they almost certainly wouldn't face to face. Presumably because of a false sense of anonymity borne out of having no real appreciation of how networks, the internet, the WWW, ISPs and the various service providers they use actually work, and the fact that they are safely ensconced in their homes or offices when they access them.

As to what I do, file under "mildly paranoid". Ghostery, Noscript and Adblock plugins for firefox.
Spoof facebook, stumbleupon and twitter accounts to access stuff and features which I can only see via those sources.
I also use disposable email address services and a few spoof hotmail accounts for sites which insist I register to see their content.
Encrypted connections only and timed bandwidth restrictions to fly under the traffic shaping limits of my ISP for Bittorrent. Toying with the idea of going VPN with torrents.

I have a Google account which I do use for everything personal though and I use Paypal and Amazon as well, so I guess I've drunk their Kool Aid, for good or ill. There is only so much you can do if you don't want to surf like it's 1995.

[Typhoon]

Ghostery, AdBlock, AdBlock Plus, and Better Pop Up Blocker are also available as extensions for the Chrome browser.

[Azrael]

It's weird that people seem to expect all these sorts of "free" services to make no money at all. This is the price you pay for "free". Those server farms aren't cheap to run, you know.

I for one never expect "free" services not to try to make a buck. After all, people went to a lot of effort and expense to set them up and operate them.

For example, I have no problem with Google making money by putting up ads above search results.

I just think that Twitter may have been (perhaps intentionally) misleading.

Still, if this sort of news bums you out or you fear the whirl of the black helicopter's blades overhead, you should read:

1/ How websites use your browser to sell you for cash

2/ The Evercookie: Like trying to kill Steven Seagal

3/ Browser privacy at work: The BOFHs' guide

At the very least, you should install Ghostery or similar if this sort of thing bothers you.

What do you do about privacy issues?

Well, buyer of nothing, beware in this and all such cases. Given the nature of Twitter - a service which lets you blather your uneditable brief thoughts and idle observations to anyone who cares to read them, it seems a bit rich to complain that someone has collated them and is busy strip mining them to see how you feel about soap powder, or Obama's electoral chances.

This isn't news to me. It's obvious to me (and probably everyone on this thread, but not much of the general public) that when one shares one's opinions on a public forum, a lot of people can then keep track of those opinions, even people one doesn't know. Twitter should be more open about how they share or use data though.

Most people don't seem to give much of a damn about their privacy in general when it comes to online behaviour.

Or they just assume that they have more privacy than they actually do.

In fact, they seem to be eager to share all manner of personal experiences with the world that they almost certainly wouldn't face to face.

This is one of the reasons I'm not a fan of Facebook.

Presumably because of a false sense of anonymity borne out of having no real appreciation of how networks, the internet, the WWW, ISPs and the various service providers they use actually work, and the fact that they are safely ensconced in their homes or offices when they access them.

As to what I do, file under "mildly paranoid". Ghostery, Noscript and Adblock plugins for firefox.
Spoof facebook, stumbleupon and twitter accounts to access stuff and features which I can only see via those sources.
I also use disposable email address services and a few spoof hotmail accounts for sites which insist I register to see their content.
Encrypted connections only and timed bandwidth restrictions to fly under the traffic shaping limits of my ISP for Bittorrent. Toying with the idea of going VPN with torrents.

I have a Google account which I do use for everything personal though and I use Paypal and Amazon as well, so I guess I've drunk their Kool Aid, for good or ill. There is only so much you can do if you don't want to surf like it's 1995.

I do a lot of the same things.

I'm just afraid of being denied jobs, being put on a no-fly list, being subject to surveillance, ect. due to not engaging in group-think, good-think, etc.