Question About Privacy At R2R

[Fish Fan]

The crazy part is that is the tip of the iceberg in signal collection. The part that makes it even harder is that for every complainer like yourself there are countless others who’s contact attempts turn into sales. So the demand for this stuff just keeps growing as vendors try to gain a comparative edge and fight with the big dogs for remarketing share….

We are to the point where you personalized ads and contacts are starting to f to be based of off the very places you visit with your device AND who you are regularly near with their device. Crazy.

I mean, of course! I recognize that I'm in the minority with my feelings here. Others may genuinely think it convenient to be "automagically" signed up for their email list. I get that converts to way more sales than complaints.

I also get that they are far from the only ones, I know this is life today.

Again, when I started this post I was genuinely concerned that somehow my info was shared by or through R2R. That DID NOT HAPPEN, and now this thread has become something of an old man shaking his fist at the sky. I get it, I do :)

But I can certainly still feel the way I do, and I can choose not to support this business after all this.

And part of my frustration was that I absolutely did reach out the them and asked them (politely) how I got on their email list. They could have been honest and told me then, but they were not, which makes it seem to me like they were being devious here.

 

[mjszos]

Did not read further yet than this post. This is the norm now, not an exception. We can quibble about ethics and the law, but everything that you do online, as well as carrying a mobile device, or your face in public for that matter, is being tracked. Even if you don’t use Facebook, they are tracking you. Amazon, google, Apple, Microsoft, and thousands of players in between. They know what time you eat, poop and feed the cat. They know where your friends vacation and your mother in law shops and what medicine you are not taking but is prescribed and what ailment runs in your family. There is no real privacy anymore. Not R2Rs fault and we can’t expect them to uphold some gold standard that they have no chance of honoring, let alone what it would do to their revenue stream if they did.

This is the unfortunate reality of the world we live in now. All of the big data companies have ghost profiles of basically every man, woman, child, and dog on the planet. Your data is the most valuable thing on the planet, and we’ve pilfered our right to privacy by accepting the convenience these services provide.

However, the point I disagree with is upholding platforms to a standard. I haven’t read through R2Rs privacy terms or anything, but even just an inclusion on the various giveaway, sponsor sections, etc… including a disclaimer that R2R as an entity, while not advocating for data collection practices, acknowledges that their vendors may and to proceed with your own caution.

I might be wear rose tinted glasses on this, but as I previously said forums like this are the last bastion of the old internet where community really exists. There’s a reason I come here instead of the hundreds of saltwater groups on Facebook or similar, and that’s because the quality of content here is generally better and the community is better. Holding onto that hope of a community that looks out for each other from the top down is why I would like to see a change in R2Rs vendor processes. There’s bills to pay of course, but situations like what happened to @Fish Fan are avoidable.

 

[BeanAnimal]

@Fish Fan
Ohh I don’t begrudge you the concern or the feeling. I fully get it and agree. I am right with you.

 

[Linlox]

I am in the "get off my lawn" camp, must be getting old, don't think your in the minority, most are just complacent or don't know.

 

[Fish Fan]

This is the unfortunate reality of the world we live in now. All of the big data companies have ghost profiles of basically every man, woman, child, and dog on the planet. Your data is the most valuable thing on the planet, and we’ve pilfered our right to privacy by accepting the convenience these services provide.

However, the point I disagree with is upholding platforms to a standard. I haven’t read through R2Rs privacy terms or anything, but even just an inclusion on the various giveaway, sponsor sections, etc… including a disclaimer that R2R as an entity, while not advocating for data collection practices, acknowledges that their vendors may and to proceed with your own caution.

I might be wear rose tinted glasses on this, but as I previously said forums like this are the last bastion of the old internet where community really exists. There’s a reason I come here instead of the hundreds of saltwater groups on Facebook or similar, and that’s because the quality of content here is generally better and the community is better. Holding onto that hope of a community that looks out for each other from the top down is why I would like to see a change in R2Rs vendor processes. There’s bills to pay of course, but situations like what happened to @Fish Fan are avoidable.

Thank you, I appreciate your reply and your insight here!

R2R was responsive and very much interested in figuring this out too; I couldn't have got to the bottom of this without their help (SBB stopped replying to me).

And R2R DOES NOT share our info, just to be 125% clear lol!

@Fish Fan
Ohh I don’t begrudge you the concern or the feeling. I fully get it and agree. I am right with you.

I know you are, I think most here are too, but yes, this is the reality of our modern, connected world.

I am in the "get off my lawn" camp, must be getting old, don't think your in the minority, most are just complacent or don't know.

I'm right there with you friend!

 

[stE26wy14]

uk that if u report them as spam, it'll unsubscribe u...

 

[Fish Fan]

uk that if u report them as spam, it'll unsubscribe u...

Already unsubscribed.

 

[ingchr1]

...Not R2Rs fault and we can’t expect them to uphold some gold standard that they have no chance of honoring, let alone what it would do to their revenue stream if they did.

Not thier fault, but what happened to the OP originated through the forum.

Are you saying the priory of the forum is revenue stream?

 

[Fish Fan]

Not thier fault, but what happened to the OP originated through the forum.

Are you saying the priory of the forum is revenue stream?

I mean, the forum does have to "eat", so to speak. I would love it if they would tell their vendors not to do this kind of stuff, but I don't think we'll see any action like that, unfortunately.

 

[Reefering1]

I got tagged by another member I hardly know into one of these recent sponsor contest threads. I simply replied that I was not entering the contest, but wished them luck.

Then he went on the sbb website and got his wallet rummaged through...

Not thier fault, but what happened to the OP originated through the forum.

 

[Fish Fan]

Then he went on the sbb website and got his wallet rummaged through...

I mean, yeah! And all because I replied that I didn't want to be in the contest lol!

But I should have known, no one gives free anything anymore, and I should have just let the stupid $25 "gift card" go. I could have saved all of us this trouble lol!

But thanks to everyone for your opinions here!

 

[SallyWho]

I wonder if something like a VPN can help protect our info from things like OpenSend?

 

[Fish Fan]

I wonder if something like a VPN can help protect our info from things like OpenSend?

It can't hurt, but unfortunately I don't have one set up currently. Something to think about for sure.

 

[SallyWho]

It can't hurt, but unfortunately I don't have one set up currently. Something to think about for sure.

I don't have one either. I've been thinking about installing one, but haven't bit the bullet on it yet! Like you, I don't like my info being surreptitiously mined.

 

[Fish Fan]

I don't have one either. I've been thinking about installing one, but haven't bit the bullet on it yet! Like you, I don't like my info being surreptitiously mined.

Says "Sally who"?? LOL!

EDIT: I hope you know I was joking :winking-face:

Thanks for your reply!

 

[mjszos]

I wonder if something like a VPN can help protect our info from things like OpenSend?

Depending on the forms of data harvesting, it very well could not. It’d protect your location, but there are sophisticated enough trackers to harvest personal information due to browser “vulnerability” (I put this in quotes because in my eyes it’s a vulnerability, but to them it’s a feature).

You might be less prone to targeted advertising since it can’t geographically track you, but it’s far from a black/white deal.. don’t let the YouTube ads trick ya into thinking a VPN is the catch-all solution to privacy concerns.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Not thier fault, but what happened to the OP originated through the forum.

Are you saying the priory of the forum is revenue stream?

This is a business. While they may have many goals, one of them is presumed to be profit.

You are certainly free to draw the line anywhere you wish as to your comfort level with whom they do business with.

From where is sit, personally have nonissue with them accepting revenue from this advertiser in context to this particular situation. You may.

My reasoning is that pragmatically, it is a losing battle for them and a slippery slope in that this particular vendor is not really doing anything that most everyone around the is doing. You are free to differ and take whatever position makes you comfortable.

 

[BeanAnimal]

It can't hurt, but unfortunately I don't have one set up currently. Something to think about for sure.

VPNs are fairly useless in this context. It is not your IP that is the primary key, it is just a data point. The rest of the mountain of other clickstream data ties you to you. Again, beyond the scope of this conversation, but crazy stuff.

Google and The rest of them aren’t building massive data centers for search results or hosting, the bulk of it is data mining in one form or another other.

 

[Opus]

Depending on the forms of data harvesting, it very well could not. It’d protect your location, but there are sophisticated enough trackers to harvest personal information due to browser “vulnerability” (I put this in quotes because in my eyes it’s a vulnerability, but to them it’s a feature).

You might be less prone to targeted advertising since it can’t geographically track you, but it’s far from a black/white deal.. don’t let the YouTube ads trick ya into thinking a VPN is the catch-all solution to privacy concerns.

The ad part is true but it can apparently still harvest your data. I have a VPN and when I connect thru the Chicago location all the ads on facebook are for things in that area. I recently switched to Phoenix because the Chicago server was having real bad lag problems. I only used it for about a week before going back to the Chicago server. Well I must have clicked on somebody's Phoenix ad because I started getting emails for coupons to the Arizona state fair.

 

[Fish Fan]

My reasoning is that pragmatically, it is a losing battle for them and a slippery slope in that this particular vendor is not really doing anything that most everyone around the is doing. You are free to differ and take whatever position makes you comfortable.

When I first learned earlier today about SBB and their use of Opensend, I was kind of bent, and looking for R2R to slap some kind of penalty, like maybe just suspended them for a time. But I've come to my senses with that, and I think you said it well when you said it's a slippery slope. They need their sponsors, and I think the R2R owner/moderators are pretty upstanding people, but they can't possibly police this kind of stuff happening at third party websites. I'd be nice though, I'm not lying :winking-face: