Ask HN: Why does Slack connect to so many trackers?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16934309

by wskinner • 8 years ago

5 3 8 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I installed Slack for the first time today, and was shocked how many trackers it tried to connect to: - convertro - yahoo - atdmt - quantserve - facebook - doubleclick - google analytics - google ad services - bizographics

I wonder how many people using Slack realize that the tracking situation is probably even worse than using GChat/FB messenger.

ecesena• 8 years ago

I can’t say exactly why, but one typical reason is to track roi of their ads on the different networks that you cited. So, in practice (well, assuming my theory is correct), they’re giving your “presence” data to so many companies just to know if you originally came from one of their ads. And it’s not just Slack. I hope gdpr, if anything, will start cleaning some of this madness.

Edit: typos

chatmasta• 8 years ago

I hope gdpr, if anything, will start cleaning some of this madness.

It won't. It will just send the trackers underground, obfuscated by technical loopholes and legalese, i.e. tracking data will be collected on the client, bundled at the first-party server, and then then sprayed from the backend to third party analytics companies without any trail visible to the user.

sp527• 8 years ago

Isn’t that illegal under GDPR? It’s also easy to catch by targeting the major ad companies with an ‘undercover sting’ company. They’d get away with it for all of one day probably.

Ask HN: Why does Slack connect to so many trackers?

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