Just saw this online privacy report from Canberra University that included Ozbargain on the naughty list!
A look at page eight shows Ozbargain is the most intrusive in the data set and without stated privacy intentions.
Is there any excuise for this? In the report it says "privacy questions should be asked by those engaging with Ozbargain.com.au".
Worth a look this article too: The conversation: Value your privacy? Few Australian websites do
I believe you are wrong on both accounts. There are other sites like Ozbargain overseas that do not make money but are run by volunteers. Also, other sites such as Wikipedia are not commercial and are quite effective. You would be surprised how many people are willing to volunteer.
Also, those other sites do not have such invasion of privacy, even the commercial ones For example, in countries with strict privacy laws such as Germany and the Netherlands commercial sites can and do operate without such intrusion.
Maybe we should ask the moderators to post a sample sheet of the information they get and keep from an unregistered user and a registered user (for example, computers components, of computer used, OS, location, IP provider etc.)
That would certainly be interesting to know.
I don't know how the site costs are managed, but the bills include hosting and bandwidth costs which can be donated, but I doubt you could call it volunteering. Wiki-foundation rely on donations and quote often have the banner at the top of the page of severak Wiki-foundation sites Relying on donations from Mr Wales doesn't cover all their costs. I cannot remember the last time there was a public call for donations for OzB site costs.
The administration of the site of course is a thankless task (thanks to all who do volunteer their time and patience), and OzB wouldn't survive without the volunteering, but please don't mistake the administration side with actual bills which come in.
I'm sure Scott can go probably talk more in depth about the technical side of the cookies.
Firstly, the privacy policy is located on the bottom of each page.
The graph position is may up of 2 measures….
So looking at the graph on page 7, we are the 2nd highest ranked (high being good) in terms of cookie intruisiveness for ecommerce sites tested.
On the opposite scale, the stated privacy intentions are the lowest rank (low being bad) on that page for ecommerce sites tested.
So based on this information, it seems we need to make our privacy policy more readable to human beings.
So yes, ask questions and we can improve on the policy. I think our intention was to make it as short and simple as possible but perhaps we need to lengthen it. Feedback is welcome.
Maybe we should ask the moderators to post a sample sheet of the information they get and keep from an unregistered user and a registered user (for example, computers components, of computer used, OS, location, IP provider etc.)
Moderators have access to IP addresses and email address. We have no information on OS, computer components, computer used. Location inaccurately can be derived from IP addresses but is hit and miss. EDIT: Moderators don't have any information on unregistered users.
We do run Google Analytics which does give anonymous OS, computers used, and location information. Facebook offers some anonymous demographic information.
it seems we need to make our privacy policy more readable to human beings
Originally I thought "Privacy Policy" is something only a lawyer can draft and no one bothered to read :) I do confess that we haven't really updated it since our inception a few years ago. Although our model hasn't really changed (we used Analytics, use session cookies, use AdSense ads back then and the same today), Internet's concern with privacy has certainly moved on. I guess it's time to review that page again.
Interestingly we got grouped together with eCommerce sites, where we should have been in the "Social network and information sharing" category. Maybe no OzBargainer in CIS…
Perhaps OZB team need to ensure privacy policies are clarified with respect to "privacy intention".
It isn't saying anything malicious is going on, but remember that to keep the site free there needs to be some trade off with them being able to make money to pay the bills, and maybe that side needs to be satisfactorily explained.