Linuxquestions.org infiltrated by Google

Originally Posted by WyattOil how do you know what data is being shared?

Because the API (which I've already linked to documentation on) specifies what data LQ needs to share with it.

Originally Posted by WyattOil Respectfully, if they're feeding the widget (aka code), how do you know what data is being shared? Are you trusting their word? I certainly hope not.

How would they conceivably technically share data with LQ without me knowing?

Originally Posted by WyattOil It seems they'd at least know user xyz is a visitor as their widget saw them here and what threads that user viewed.

It has now been explained, ad nauseum, how Google would have absolutely no access to any LQ information or data, including username. As has been noted (and if you are not browsing via SSL) they would know the URL the G+ code was called from, but if you are not blocking Google they already had that information because we use Analytics.

--jeremy

Originally Posted by dugan Because the API (which I've already linked to documentation on) specifies what data LQ needs to share with it.

For those of you interested in the topic, the API docs dugan linked to contain some useful information. They also lead to a General FAQ with more information about the g+ button (and its intended purpose), such as:

+1 helps people discover relevant content—a website, a Google search result, or an ad—from the people they already know and trust. The +1 button appears on Google search, on websites, and on ads. For example, you might see a +1 button for a Google search result, Google ad, or next to an article you're reading on your favorite news site. Adding the +1 button to pages on your own site lets users recommend your content, knowing that their friends and contacts will see their recommendation when it’s most relevant—in the context of Google search results.

--jeremy

I was about to drift off for the night, but this thread troubled me and destroyed my enjoyment of a classic BBC Hercule Poirot mystery.

The long and short of it is this: LQ does not track you or me.

If you log into Google, use Google services, and allow Google cookies to persist on your hard drive, Google will track you, "in order to give you a better experience," that is, to send you more and better ads and a fuller "social experience."

It's what they do. To Google's credit, they are quite open about in their terms of service.

[GROUCHY OLD MAN MODE ON]

I am fed up with the whining against LQ.

LQ is not the problem.

Google offers geeks kewl toys, and geeks fall right in line, then complain because they look over their shoulders and Google is right there, leering at them.

The problem, Horatio, is not in your LQ. It is in your browser cache.

[GROUCHY OLD MAN MODE OFF]

Originally Posted by jlinkels And my email address at google is jlinkels59@gmail.com (slightly modified here). That association has also now been made in Google. jlinkels

Fixed for you since you now just told Google it was correct in associating the two user names

No one has mentioned how easy it would be for google to take LEFT($Google/g+FirstName,1)+($Google/g+LastName) and match it across its index of forum posts. I fell victim of Yahoo doing just that years ago and associating my Yahoo account with someone similar who bought a lot of porn. I've seen how fast they can index sites, times when I'm working on a problem I search some and can't find the answer and will post on LQ and then search the next morning again and my LQ post is the first search result.
Many times Google's Adsense will display ads for the last thing I searched for, which is good and bad, good that ads they are service to help pay for the sits i visit are actually somewhat relevant so a higher chance I will click on them and generate revenue for the site than something completely random but bad that they have gathered a lot of data on me and are tracking my every move.

Look what just showed up in Syndicated Linux News:

LXer: The Soul-Destroying Pestilence of Social Media Buttons