Unity Dash spyware fix

[joncr]

A phrase like " send your keystrokes as a search term..." is ambiguous and imprecise. Which keystrokes? When? Only the keystrokes entered in a search lens? Only in a shopping lens? Or, is it any and all keystrokes?

I'd like to know the specifics about what is recorded other than keystrokes. My IP? My username? My browser history?

This would be less objectionable if Canonical simply got a small payment from Amazon every time someone clicked through to buy at Amazon. That's being an "Amazon Associate" and there are many, many of them.

Collecting, storing, and selling aggregated data with identifying information about its users is a different level of objectionable, obviously. I'm not so concerned if Canonical only tracks how many times people search for "Justin Bieber". I don't want Canonical linking IP's and other identifying info to that.
(IP's would allow a reasonably accurate correlation of location to search behavior, which probably does interest a lot of people.)

(Captured info or not, the whole HUD and lens approach really turns me off. Annoys me like Gnome Shell annoys other people. I keep thinking it was invented by coders who threw their mice away and live inside terminals inside Awesome.)

[kona0197]

I keep thinking it was invented by coders who threw their mice away and live inside terminals inside Awesome.

Funny, Windows 8 is the same way.

[Ihatewindows]

Originally Posted by BBQdave

bug 1111808

Mark Shuttleworth explains info entered in dash sent to Canonical servers and on to Facebook and Amazon.

So to clarify: even if you disable shopping lens, your data - through dash is recorded by Canonical and available for paying third parties. I mistakenly thought the personal data recording was local to the user, for searches on your own system. Not so, Ubuntu Unity through dash, records your data.

What interests me: say I have a data form of medical history of myself in BBQdave/Documents/MyMedicalHistory. I search through dash for MyMedicalHistory, now Canonical has it. Is that a violation of HIPAA?

I have a quick fix for bug 1111808... Do Not Install Ubuntu. As a member of the Linux community, I would ask anyone using Ubuntu, please consider trying Linux Mint or Debian... maybe even check out what Fedora has going on. I do not believe wrapping Debian in orange and purple gives you the right to data mine users

QUICK FIX:

Get rid of Ubuntu.

-No very few problems with Fedora
-Customer service is great.

A better alternative yet, thanks to BlockSite:

[mmix]

just remove geoip*, unity, libunity*, unity-* , nautilus

install or source build cinnamon & muffin, nemo.
http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/955

more simple solution, just install linuxmint.

[RupertPupkin]

Originally Posted by joncr

Yeah, pretty sure an explanation of how to turn it off was made available when this was first released.

I think you missed the joke, which was that I never installed Ubuntu since Ubuntu was first released.

Originally Posted by joncr

If Shuttleworth ever tires of being Ubuntu's sugardaddy and it can't find another way to finance itself, I guess people could go back to the Byzantine Empire of Debian and study apt-get scriptures.

Right, because that would be the only alternative.

At this point, even if you follow the official Ubuntu instructions to turn off the spying, do users still trust Canonical any more? Remember, Canonical foisted this on their users without initially giving the details of the full scope of exactly what was being done. If I were an Ubuntu user (and thank the FSM I'm not! ) I'd still be monitoring all outgoing ports for any "undocumented" (ahem) shenanigans still going on.

[BBQdave]

Originally Posted by RupertPupkin

At this point, even if you follow the official Ubuntu instructions to turn off the spying, do users still trust Canonical any more? Remember, Canonical foisted this on their users without initially giving the details of the full scope of exactly what was being done.

It is very interesting on the ubuntu Forums. It seems to be a hot discussion that is pushed down into a sub forum of reoccurring topics.

It appears that you can harden an Ubuntu Unity install - disable shopping lens and shut off all data recording in System Settings > Privacy. But this seems backwards for a Linux distro, securing a default install from data mining.

I do not think this is a good path for Canonical and Ubuntu Unity. It seems they have lost the trust of some Ubuntu users, and are trying to salvage the scene by implementing clear privacy choices in an upside down world of a Linux distro that defaults to data mining.

[darkskyabove]

Anyone who attempts to collect data from ANYTHING I do, without my consent, is GUILTY of, not only an illegal but, immoral, act.

Yes, I'm a REAL American (this designation has nothing to do with Native peoples, as they did not consider themselves AMERICAN, and no negative application meant towards people from any other part of this EARTH we all share). I live, or die, by the concepts of personal freedom.

If you wish to act like it's YOUR planet, then it's going to be MY PLANET!!!

I would suggest to all, and sundry, that you re-evaluate how you interact with the modern world. On the one hand, if you choose to subscribe to the recent social-media phenomena, and post your information for whoever to see, you "GET'S WHAT YOU PLAY FOR", on the OTHER HAND, personal information is meant to be "PERSONAL". If you cannot trust those you provide information to, DUH, DON'T provide them the information. (Sorry for my condesencion, but I've dealt with this problem for far, far, too long)

Data-mining has become a way of deceptive business practice, and I am not absolutely sure how to avoid it. I, myself, do NOT have a gmail or hotmail or yahoo account. All three have been found guilty of selling customer data, in one form, or another. (Yes, I subscibed to this forum. But the damage would be minimal; even if they sold my email address, it is disposable, or I could go all super-geek and reverse-SPAM anyone who tried to monkey with me.) If you're not a SUPER-GEEK, I suggest that you carefully examine all Internet "companies" you do business with, and be sure to "OPT OUT" of any 'subscriptions', 'tracking', or any other form of data-mining. Most reputable commerce sites (Walmart, Target, Lowes, etc.) can't afford the negative impacts; therefore, those sites are usually fairly safe.

But I can't stress enough: DON'T use Internet Explorer, version WHATEVER, and even with Mozilla's Firefox you should use ALL their ADBlocking & NO-Tracking software, and repeatedly clear your cache.

Because this is a Linux forum, I would hope no readers are using any form of MicroSoft(insert R-thingy) to connect to the Internet, but even with Linux, privacy issues are separate from system issues.

ALWAYS CLEAR YOUR BROWSER OF ALL ACTIVITY!!!

If you need help with that, there are numerous postings, just DON'T USE GOOGLE; try duckduckgo.com. GOOGLE is the main offender in data-mining. In fact, the whole reason their stock went from $4.00 to $400.00 back in the 00's was due to their potential for tracking their users. (Pay attention, people, how else does a company that doesn't sell anything, to our knowledge, suddenly realize such a significant increase in stock price.)

And , just in case you hadn't heard, DON'T download software unless you know, and trust, who it's coming from. And even then, BE CAREFUL. Being an ignorant consumer in today's market is not only, IGNORANT, it can be virtually suicidal. You must know what your computer is doing, even if you have to send yourself back to SCHOOL. Again, I apologize for any indication of condesencion, but the Internet has been around for over a decade, why aren't YOU up to speed! (And why are you still running kernel 2.6.whatever...)

The good news is that it is possible to run a computer (and use the Internet) with little, or no vulnerability.

1. DON'T bank online (get your ass up and walk to the bank; yes, I said WALK, have you seeen gas prices lately)

2. DON'T sign up for every TOM, DICK, & HARRY web scheme out there.

3. RUN LINUX (It took every ounce of computer skill I had to run an XP machine without crashing or getting infected)

4. Update regularly ( Yes, that means some of you have to do extra work, but would you rather get CRACKED. (Yes, I know the difference between HACKERS & CRACKERS; I've been at it over 30 years)

Even then you must understand your particular vulnerabilities.

Be smarter people. Do the work. Without work, all comes to a halt.

[kona0197]

Because this is a Linux forum, I would hope no readers are using any form of MicroSoft(insert R-thingy) to connect to the Internet, but even with Linux, privacy issues are separate from system issues.

Whatever. Windows 7 is quite safe and stable.

3. RUN LINUX (It took every ounce of computer skill I had to run an XP machine without crashing or getting infected)

User error. I ran XP for years with no issues. Depends on your computing habits.

Your post sounds a bit paranoid.

[Demz3]

bee is paranoid

[Maryyy]

Hmm, paranoid or Pro-MS, no difference. That was meant to be a joke. Really.

Anyway.
WALK to the bank. Problem. I don't have personal account at all, since I haven't seen salary for the past 4 - 5 years or so, it's not a problem. But I have to use Ebanking in work, because I do it very irregularly depending on what comes to the account and I usually need to pay what is the most urgent. I simply don't have time to randomly go to bank if I had to do food delivery, manage store and accomodating people on top of that. Out of question.
And have you seen gas prices in Czech? I would bet that the salary/gas price ratio would kill your imagination here..

I'm not using IE at all when on this work machine. Not that I wouldn't trust it (well, I don't), but I simply can't stand the interface. I never understood it. ;(

Naah, doesn't matter much what you use, it's always up to the user how he behaves. I have gmail account, simply no harm done, because everything important is not being touched by it. Just mail for everyday stuff, pps presentations, you know, crap like that.
Ok, I don't have facef00k, but that's really only because I hate it to the bone.

But you have to feed them with something. If you don't, you'll likely be among the 'suspects' So why just not give them all the unimportant crap that comes your way. Really, create gmail account and start feeding them. Can be crucial for your protection.

I live, or die, by the concepts of personal freedom

Sorry to dissapoint you, but that's not correct. But since I'm not allowed to go further regarding this topic, I won't.

[joncr]

The collection of data about our use of anything with an IP address is, for good or ill, part of the fabric of our technology. I would rather Ubuntu didn't collect aggregate user search data. Their ability to do so is inherent, though. In the end, it comes down to trust, not technology.

I am not over-concerned if something I do adds another tick to someone's database. Having our behavior tracked, tallied and aggregated and massaged is something, frankly, that we cannot avoid unless we go entirely off the grid and never buy anything, anywhere.

I am much more concerned about the privacy implications of aggregate data that is not anonymous. I.e., that links my name or IP to data about my behavior. If I buy something at Amazon, they obviously retain personalized info about me. Software provided by third parties that I use to make that purchase ought not to retain that kind of personalized data. (In a practical sense, if you want to retain personal data about me, make me create an account and tell me what you are collecting and retaining.)

The *very* real threat, though, is malware-enabled criminal activity. There's a big difference between the freedom to use my bank account and the freedom to keep Amazon from knowing I searched for, say, a pizza recipe.

[BBQdave]

Originally Posted by joncr

I would rather Ubuntu didn't collect aggregate user search data. Their ability to do so is inherent, though. In the end, it comes down to trust, not technology.

Part of what Canonical asserts on recording user data, is anonymity. Canonical states that they do not send user data directly to third parties, it is collected on Canonical servers - filtered as anonymous data - than provided to third parties.

You are right on, it does come down to trust of Canonical. For me, as mentioned by others, I filter what I place on the web. My notebook is an important modern tool, with my personal data and family data. My expectations with a Linux distro - and I believe most people's expectations with a Linux distro - is that my os is not being data mined.

Canonical does not appear to understand, that in a Linux world, they have crossed the line.

[mmix]

except compiler, kernel, some service(dbus) from ubuntu,
i removed all gtk3/gtk2/unity/etc and replace old glib with new glib carefully.
and rebuilt everything from it.
currently works fine with dwm & plan9port, \o/!

1st try was ended screwed up my com,
2nd succeed.