This exaggerated attempt at emphasizing their supposed privacy commitment is so over the top it actually creates the effect of making me distrust them.
āHey itās been one year since the incident, this also means itās been one year since we promised our hotel was super safe! Guess what, we didnāt lie! So please visit our safe hotel, we added a bunch of quick police hotlines, fire hydrants, emergency exits and bullet proof vests. Anyways, please enjoy a safe experience and feel safe while sleeping in our safe hotel!ā
Integrity company here. It's been a year since we partnered with known mobster Two Face and we promised you that he would have no influence over our business other than as a financier and we've kept that promise! As you can see his racketeering has been kept completely independent of our day to day activities. You can trust us and Two Face that we will be allowed to be completely independent and there is no tom foolery going around behind the scenes.
Thereās a news/politics website in my country that had radio ads, billboards and everything with a slogan āNobody dictates us what we should write about.ā
This tweet reminds me of that and doesnāt really fill me with trust either.
BTW, the mentioned website is described as a ādisinformation mediumā on Wikipedia.
I mean, their message is a little weird, but so is the scaremongering thatās been going on against them ever since they changed ownership. From comments on the Reddit post, Branch is actually integrated into Google apps, Samsung Launcher, and a ton of other stuff and nobody really blinks an eye at that.
There literally is no evidence they do anything unseemly with peoplesā data, yet the scaremongering persists, including a lot right here in this thread. What exactly are they supposed to say other than to emphasize this fact? Anyone who would distrust them based on this post was already definitely inclined to distrust them.
I see it more as a jab at the insane scaremongering when they sold.
Yeah sure, some concerns are justified in that situation, alright. But itās not like you need to instantly drop something the moment this happens, more so because half the alternatives people recommend have trackers the very company that bought nova runs.
Is it? Donāt get me wrong, itās completely understandable to be concerned, disappointed, annoyed or distrustful of such a buyout. Entirely understandable.
But at the same time, immediately coming to the conclusion that all data is now being hoovered up isnāt helping anybody. Because if nothing else, it destroys nuance. If you assume the moment an ad company is involved that all data is being gathered, then you lack the ability to make any further distinction. This would also mean that nobody could ever create a more ethical ad company, as users would still immediately assume theyāre gathering all data, and hence be no better than any of the other companies. This in turn removes any motivation to ever even try this.
Likewise, and more relevant in this case, if users immediately assume the worst has already happened, then no company can ever try to sell to another company in a more responsible manner, as again the perceived result is the same, so thereās no incentive to do so.
What actually happened:
Nova got sold.
The new owners might start gathering more data.
Or not.
Just as well, Nova could have started gathering more data without selling.
Or not.
From the perspective of the end user, other than the chances of more data being gathered in the future going up a little bit (and apparently not even all that much given that itās been one year now), nothing has changed. š¤·
Thatās what I mean: You cannot always immediately assume the worst will happen right now this very moment. Scaremongering precludes any sensible form of discussion or improvement to a situation, as one side has already decided that itās all a lost cause anyways.
Now, should the new owners start gathering more data, then we can all toss Nova into the bin. And then say āOkay it took far longer than expected, but fuck ad-company buyouts!ā. But so far that hasnāt happened, and hey, if anything it seems Nova found some buyers who donāt just trash the product they bought for some quick bucks.