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Date:      Tue, 04 Dec 2012 11:30:19 -0800
From:      Alfred Perlstein <bright@mu.org>
To:        Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org>
Cc:        chat@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Google spyware on FreeBSD Web site?
Message-ID:  <50BE4F4B.4040602@mu.org>
In-Reply-To: <201212041900.MAA14107@lariat.net>
References:  <201212041900.MAA14107@lariat.net>

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Brett,

Can you please educate us more on these so called "cookies"?

One would think that a cookie would be a delicious snack, even more so 
when you consider it combined with computers and especially the web.

For how long have people been using these insidious "cookies" on the web?

Are they as dangerous as you describe?

I for one am seriously concerned about this issue as well.

I was hoping for sweetness but I am now envisioning poison, sort of like 
the inevitable result of having Chipotle for lunch after a heavy night 
of drinking.

-Alfred

On 12/4/12 11:00 AM, Brett Glass wrote:
> Everyone:
>
> Today, I received a rather shocking the announcement: The FreeBSD
> Project's Web developer announced his intent to incorporate
> corporate spyware into the FreeBSD.org Web site.
>
> As you may or may not know, the so-called "Google Analytics" scripts
> do more than analyze the traffic which goes to a Web site. They also
> spy on its users, planting cookies in their browsers and tracking their
> activities on the Web for the exclusive benefit of one corporation:
> Google.
>
> What's more, at least one organization which is paid to lobby for Google
> in Washington, DC has announced that it does not intend to honor, and
> does not recommend that Web sites honor, the "Do Not Track" header.
> So, even if users are knowledgeable enough to cause their browsers to
> generate this header (most are not), there is no reason to trust Google
> to honor it.
>
> The FreeBSD project should not allow or condone such behavior --
> which is a serious security risk and violation of visitors' privacy. Nor
> should it show favoritism toward a single corporation.
>
> I'd like to ask that the FreeBSD project set a good example for others
> by refusing to incorporate corporate spyware into its Web site. If it
> is desirable to gather statistics regarding the site, there are ways
> to do it that do not compromise visitors' privacy or execute invasive
> spyware on their machines.
>
> Sincerely,
> Brett Glass
>
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