HN user
I do have concerns about debt, but this is essentially clickbait. The headline also seems to be factually incorrect. If you check out the Treasury report that they linked, the outlay category "net interest" is actually lower than "national defense".
If the holdback rate is low enough that the data is "good enough for analytics", then you may as well not have a holdback rate at all.
I doubt it. As explained by GitHub user tbrandirali, the stated goals seem to be inherently contradictory. Quoting in part:
"This internal contradiction is further demonstrated by the fact that the proposed solution to prevent misuse by websites - holdbacks - is to simply sabotage the functionality of the system itself, by making attestation probabilistic. This is not a workable solution to the problem: if the holdback rate of requests is low enough, the denial of service to legitimate users will simply be a cost of business that websites will accept; if instead it is high enough, websites will not use this system as it does not provide meaningful enough information, even for analytics purposes, due to the high uncertainty. There is no goldilocks zone where this system is useful but not open to abuse by implementer websites. You're either implementing a feature that can - and most likely will - be used by websites to exclude unattested clients, or you're implementing a useless feature."
https://github.com/RupertBenWiser/Web-Environment-Integrity/...
Has Sarkeesian made a "call to end any kind of specific artistic expression", though? Last I heard, she just wants to make a documentary or two exploring the treatment of women in video games.
If she's trying to highlight a disgusting trend of misogyny in gaming culture, I would say she is doing an excellent job.
Contempt for your users always ends well.