Speedtest.net

[Chippy_Tea]

I have used this for many years but having tried the beta version (their flash version no longer works with chrome) i was shocked to read what information they collect so i will not be using it again, this is only as small part of their T&C's.

We also collect other kinds of information from you or other sources, which we refer to as “Other Information” in this Privacy Policy. The type of information we collect may change as technologies evolve. Other Information may include, but is not limited to, information such as:

Areas or topics of interest;
Browsing history, including the websites or other services you visited before and after visiting the Services;
Device type, settings and software used;
Device identification (“ID”), which is a distinctive number associated with a smartphone or similar handheld device, but is different than a hardware serial number;
Advertising ID, which is a unique, user-resettable identification number for advertising associated with a device (e.g. iOS uses the Identifier for Advertising (or “IDFA”) and Android uses Google Advertising ID);
Internet connection means, such as internet service provider (“ISP”), mobile operator, WiFi connection, service set identifier (“SSID”), International Mobile Subscriber Identity (“IMSI”) and International Mobile Equipment Identity (“IMEI”);
Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, which is a unique string of numbers automatically assigned to your device whenever you access the Internet;
Log files, which may include IP addresses, browser type, ISP referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamps and/or clickstream data, including any clicks on customized links;
Web Beacons, which are electronic files that allow a website to count users who have visited that page or to access certain cookies;
Pixel Tags, also known as clear GIFs, beacons, spotlight tags or web bugs, are a method for passing information from the user’s computer to a third party website;
Local Shared Objects, such as Flash cookies, and Local Storage, such as HTML5;
Mobile analytics to understand the functionality of our mobile applications and software on your phone; and
Information collected through the use of cookies, eTags, Javascript, pixel tags, device ID tracking, anonymous identifiers and other technologies, including information collected using such methods and technologies about (i) your visits to, and interaction and engagement with, the Services and ads on third party websites, applications, platforms and other media channels, and (ii) your interaction with emails including the content and ads (collectively, “Online Data”).

 

[foxbat]

You have to be careful with mobile apps because they have the potential to access far more data about you than a page in a browser can get at. When you install you get prompted to agree to all the permissions it "needs" but far too many people just click through that screen.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I do not use many apps on my phone as viewing what they can access makes scary reading.

I am now using the thinkbroadband speed test (without registering) with a postcode similar to my real one :wink: http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest

.

 

[BeerCat]

They know where you are without having to give your postcode. I always used this one http://www.speedtest.net/ which tells me what city i live in. They are just data mining if they require more info. Thanks for sharing this as its just a pisstake. Slowly acclimating people to accept zero privacy in the name of advertising. I wonder what Orwell would of said.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I always used this one http://www.speedtest.net/ which tells me what city i live in.

That is the one i used to use but now it switches to the beta as Chrome will not let it load.


Google Chrome will start blocking all Flash content next month

By Ryan Whitwam on August 10, 2016

Flash was an integral part of the internet in years past, but it has also been a drag on performance and the source of a great many security vulnerabilities. Today, HTML5 is a better way to get the same sort of interactive content running on the web, and it works on mobile devices. The next phase in Adobe Flash’s agonizingly slow demise starts next month when Google Chrome begins blocking all Flash content.

This will come as part of the Chrome 53 update, which should be available in early September. Chrome 53 will block all the small, non-visible Flash elements on web pages. These are usually tacking platforms and page analytics, but they can slow down page loads just like larger Flash content. This is not Google’s first attempt to de-emphasize Flash on the web. Last year in Chrome 52, Google made most Flash content “click-to-play.”

So, what’s different now? In Chrome 52, the Flash block only applied to Flash objects that were above a certain size, but now that’s being extended to smaller Flash objects. The previous restriction was in place because at the time, there was no reliable way to detect viewability. Now, Chrome’s intersection observer API allows that. You will have the option to enable Flash objects on a page if they are necessary for the experience. If non-visible Flash objects are blocked, an icon in the address bar will alert you.

Google says that all Chrome users will see a benefit from this move. All the Flash objects loading in the background can make page loading sluggish. If you’re on a laptop, Flash also gobbles up power and reduces your battery life. Flash’s innate inefficiency is why it never took off on mobile devices.

While Flash content will be blocked in general, Google is making a temporary exception for some popular sites that still rely heavily upon Flash. Those include Facebook, Twitch, and Yahoo, among others. You’ll be prompted to enable Flash on these sites when loading them, but Google plans to phase out the Flash whitelist over time. When Chrome 55 rolls out in December, HTML5 will become the default experience. It’s not clear how exactly that will affect the whitelist.

The writing is on the wall for Flash; it’s not just Google waging a war on the archaic plug-in. Firefox 48 was announced last week with some Flash content being click-to-play and all Flash being blocked by default in 2017. Even Microsoft is cutting Flash off at the knees. In the Windows 10 anniversary update, Edge uses click-to-play for non-essential Flash elements. Another year or two and we’ll be all done with this.

https://www.extremetech.com/interne...l-start-blocking-all-flash-content-next-month

 

[Goldthirst]

When browsing on my phone, I use Ghostery which is a privacy browser and cuts out a lot of the junk and also blocks trackers. It's much quicker too.

 

[BeerCat]

Yep your right i just checked. Works fine in firefox though, i don't use chrome as it seems slow. Personally i despise google. If you want to use their search engine anonymously try startpage.com. Same results just via a proxy. Been using it for a few years now.

 

[BeerCat]

When browsing on my my phone, I use Ghostery which is a privacy browser and cuts out a lot of the junk and also blocks trackers. It's much quicker too.

Is that on both platforms? I didn't realise they had released one. Been using that on my browser for a while and its truly shocking how much its blocks.

 

[Goldthirst]

Is that on both platforms? I didn't realise they had released one. Been using that on my browser for a while and its truly shocking how much its blocks.

I only used the Ghostery browser on Android but I believe it's available for iphones too. I also use the Ghostery add-on for Firefox on my PC and it does indeed block a lot of the rubbish.

 

[Pheqit]

They know where you are without having to give your postcode. I always used this one http://www.speedtest.net/ which tells me what city i live in. They are just data mining if they require more info. Thanks for sharing this as its just a pisstake. Slowly acclimating people to accept zero privacy in the name of advertising. I wonder what Orwell would of said.

Yes and google, facebook etc. try to pinpoint you through various sources but mainly if you tell them (and many people do).

For an alternate search engine try DuckDuckGo.com, better results sometimes.


I wonder what browsing info spedtest.net want and is it just the current browser been used (I suppose it is)? Hmm.. Same won`t bother to use them again just on principle.
Was considering removing flash, did and the reinstalled yesterday, think it gets uninstalled today again for good now.

I`m with most on how mobile apps seem to want so many privileges and access to `our data`, it`s scary! If it`s only for advertising then I don`t give a monkeys but it`s probably not so I try my best not to feed them. They know what town I live in but that`s as close as they get for now unless they start looking where they shouldn`t be, not that I have anything to hide hehe.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I am giving https://duckduckgo.com/ a try i used to use it years ago and i was getting tired of the random results google was throwing up.

 

[BeerCat]

I am giving https://duckduckgo.com/ a try i used to use it years ago and i was getting tired of the random results google was throwing up.

I also tried it but got used to startpage as i thought i got better results. It also allows you to go to the web page using a proxy. Very handy and its quite fast. I have not used google for years now.

 

[BeerCat]

Yes and google, facebook etc. try to pinpoint you through various sources but mainly if you tell them (and many people do).

For an alternate search engine try DuckDuckGo.com, better results sometimes.


I wonder what browsing info spedtest.net want and is it just the current browser been used (I suppose it is)? Hmm.. Same won`t bother to use them again just on principle.
Was considering removing flash, did and the reinstalled yesterday, think it gets uninstalled today again for good now.

I`m with most on how mobile apps seem to want so many privileges and access to `our data`, it`s scary! If it`s only for advertising then I don`t give a monkeys but it`s probably not so I try my best not to feed them. They know what town I live in but that`s as close as they get for now unless they start looking where they shouldn`t be, not that I have anything to hide hehe.

I have no apps on my iphone (had enough of the distractions) but from simply using safari i got stung for a £5 a month text i never subscribed to. Phone company refunded me and said they would cancel it but i am still getting billed. Have to waste half an hour of my time again phoning them. As i said to them this is fraud and you are perpetuating it. So many rules to take away our privacy and FOS yet they allow these scammers to act without any consequence.

 

[jceg316]

I'm an analyst in digital marketing, a lot of this data collection isn't as scary as it sounds. It's used to see the sources of where traffic is coming from and where do users go after they've done certain actions on a website. It's all anonymous and used on a macro scale - I look at what 100s of thousands of users do. This helps the digital marketing dept see if there are sources which send more traffic than others, which helps identify websites we should focus on for marketing campaigns. Seeing where users head to after various actions allows for optimised retargeting too.

Any site of a certain size will have this capability, and to avoid it you need to not use the web basically.

it gets scary when you have a government that wants to use that information for control, and doesn't really understand how the internet works. Not that I want to get into politics here.

at no point though does the data say "jceg316 came onto the site after visiting youtube, and he has hemorrhoids"*

*for the record I don't have hemorrhoids.