web analytics

Public service announcement

I put together the newsletter for work. Like most, we use Mailchimp. Every time I access audience info, I wonder if people realize how much data we inadvertently get.

If I click your email address, I get your language, percentage of opens, the percentage of clicks, the location you accessed the email from, your favorite email client and operating system, which issues you opened (every one, back to the beginning) and whether you clicked any attachments or links.

But wait! There’s more!

That’s just the data I get on the Audience Dashboard. If I download signup data as a spreadsheet, I get member rating (I have no idea what this is based on), the time you signed up, your IP, you latitude and longitude(!) – I assume this is of your ISP – your timezone, its difference from GMT, your country, your region and the last time your record was changed.

If I had ever asked for it, I also would have your name, address, phone number and birthday.

Just be aware when you sign up to Disgusting Fetishist Monthly.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Comments


Comment from durnedyankee
Time: April 8, 2022, 7:14 pm

Day-um!

Do you think they get more info if I signed up for the bi-weekly version?
🀒

and have y’all seen the Wordle bot yet?


Comment from Uncle Al
Time: April 8, 2022, 7:37 pm

What? No vaccination status and injection dates with vaccine type and lot number? How about quarantine and mask compliance scores?


Comment from Skandia Recluse
Time: April 8, 2022, 8:17 pm

Thank you for that bit of data harvesting insight.

I am a fan of science fiction and have gotten hooked on a series of short stories by Jerry Boyd generally titled ‘Bobs Saucer Repair.’ a.k.a ‘bob and nikki.’ The hero of the series is a mechanic who comes home to discover a flying saucer in his garage and a pretty lady trying to fix a broken coolant pipe. Now our hero, ‘Bob’ is a good enough mechanic and fixing a simple plumbing problem isn’t that big a deal even if it is on an alien flying saucer.

Well, one thing leads to another, and a series of short stories results, sometimes called a ‘shaggy dog’ story where the story is detailed, involved, drawn out, and never mentions the dog.
“Bob’s Saucer Repair” is a lot of dialog, witty dialog, full of gibes and jabs, and jokes that will sometimes catch you by surprise and you laugh out loud. Other times, depending on your mood, you might feel that the dialog has turned into bitter sarcasm. It hasn’t but you are not in the mood for the constant, non-stop banter.

It takes me about 8 hours to read the episode, and I am ok for about two weeks, and then start jones(ing) for the next episode. So for the next two weeks, I go to amazon every day, 5 or 6 times a day, and search kindle books for ‘bob and nikki.’ I know the computer doesn’t care, the software doesn’t care, amazon doesn’t care, and perhaps maybe even the author doesn’t know, but I get a giggle every time I think about some amazon clerk having to examine the collected data and finding some schlub searching for Bob and Nikki ten times a day, every hour on the hour for two weeks until the next book comes out.

Sorry, I find it humorous.


Comment from Lirio100
Time: April 8, 2022, 9:55 pm

I tend to re-read Bob and Nikki in between each installment while waiting for the second. Bob is an astute and sometimes scary mechanic…


Comment from p2
Time: April 8, 2022, 10:57 pm

Stuff like that is why you sign up for Disgusting Fetishist Monthly as Joe R Biden, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500 202-456-1414


Comment from Uncle Al
Time: April 9, 2022, 12:24 am

@p2 — You’d get an error message: ACCOUNT ALREADY EXISTS


Comment from bds
Time: April 9, 2022, 2:46 am

I like the Bob & Nikki stories too. Not super well-written (the grammar, etc., is fine, but the dialog gets repetitive and the heroes don’t face any real challenges), but somehow they are still very addictively enjoyable.


Comment from Anonymous
Time: April 9, 2022, 10:52 am

Oh, yeah – and if the newsletter were connected to online shopping, I’d get all the sales history.


Comment from OldFert
Time: April 9, 2022, 5:11 pm

Regarding the IP address, location, etc., does it also provide the MAC address (hardware address of your device)?
And if you use a VPN, does it still provide your valid MAC address?
And if it provides your valid MAC address, doesn’t that invalidate the whole “anonymity” thing if some entity decides to snoop?


Comment from BJM
Time: April 9, 2022, 7:26 pm

@Old Fert…This is one of the reasons I deploy a VPN and a Ubiquiti mesh network with this console. I recently added a WatchGuard AP125 AP for every four UAP-AC-SHDs as I felt we needed better wi-fi security. However in the end trying to maintain 100% security is the way of madness.


Comment from Anonymous
Time: April 9, 2022, 7:36 pm

Y’all in the UK wonder why it’s so damned cold? er, mebbe you don’t it being the UK an all. The mother of all rotations is sitting offshore sandwiching you between an Arctic rotation.

We’ve had really warm weather this week..into the low 90’s…but today a strong cold northern wind is making me glad I didn’t plant out the summer veggies this week, although I was mightily tempted.

It’s me BJM


Comment from ExpressoBold
Time: April 9, 2022, 7:48 pm

I have been remiss in reporting my wordle and nerdle results… I apologize!

nerdlegame 79 4/6

πŸŸͺβ¬›πŸŸ©πŸŸ©β¬›πŸŸͺπŸŸ©β¬›
β¬›β¬›πŸŸ©πŸŸ©β¬›β¬›πŸŸ©πŸŸ©
πŸŸͺπŸŸͺπŸŸ©πŸŸ©β¬›πŸŸ©πŸŸ©πŸŸ©
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
54/9/3=2

Wordle 293 4/6

🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜
🟩⬜⬜🟩⬜
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

nerdlegame 80 3/6

β¬›πŸŸ©πŸŸͺ⬛⬛πŸŸͺπŸŸͺπŸŸͺ
β¬›πŸŸ©β¬›πŸŸ©πŸŸͺ🟩πŸŸͺ⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle 294 3/6

🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟩⬜⬜🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩


Comment from Armybrat
Time: April 10, 2022, 1:55 am

@expresso bold
nerdlegame 81 5/6

⬛πŸŸͺπŸŸͺβ¬›β¬›πŸŸ©β¬›β¬›
πŸŸͺ⬛⬛πŸŸͺβ¬›πŸŸ©β¬›β¬›
πŸŸͺ⬛πŸŸͺ⬛πŸŸͺ🟩πŸŸͺ⬛
πŸŸͺπŸŸ©β¬›πŸŸ©β¬›πŸŸ©πŸŸ©πŸŸ©
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle 294 3/6

⬜⬜🟩🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩


Comment from ExpressoBold
Time: April 10, 2022, 2:54 am

@ Armybrat
nerdlegame 81 4/6

⬛⬛⬛⬛πŸŸͺπŸŸͺπŸŸͺ⬛
πŸŸͺ⬛⬛⬛πŸŸͺ🟩πŸŸͺ⬛
πŸŸͺ🟩πŸŸͺ🟩🟩🟩πŸŸͺπŸŸͺ
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

This evening’s game was sly and tricky…


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: April 10, 2022, 5:59 pm

OldFert, no MAC address, but there is a column for EUID and UID with a string of numbers. I don’t know what that means, but I assumed they were an unique identifier of some kind.


Comment from ExpressoBold
Time: April 11, 2022, 2:44 pm

So political… thanks, NYT
Wordle 296 3/6

🟨🟨⬜⬜🟨
🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩


Comment from Some Vegetable
Time: April 11, 2022, 4:19 pm

Wordle 296 3/6

πŸŸ©β¬›πŸŸ¨β¬›β¬›
πŸŸ©πŸŸ¨β¬›β¬›β¬›
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

I am feeling lucky today… gonna but a Lotto ticket!


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: April 11, 2022, 5:46 pm

Wordle 296 4/6

⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
🟩⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟩⬜🟩⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Four again. Dangit. I had a real good streak of 3s going, but I’ve lost the magic.


Comment from ExpressoBold
Time: April 11, 2022, 6:12 pm

I guess nobody –or hardly anybody– gets it on the first guess. My stats tell me that I have never gotten it on the second guess, either. I have a good streak of “in three” going but who knows how long that will last…


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: April 11, 2022, 6:19 pm

Yes, I got it in one once. I’m not super proud of it, though – it just means I got lucky with my start word.

Get it in two is slightly more skill and slightly less luck, though you still have to have a very fortunate start word. I’ve done that thrice.

I’m proud of my get it in threes, though. The first two guesses leave often leave you a real puzzler.


Comment from BJM
Time: April 11, 2022, 11:09 pm

@Stoaty… Even worse you get what you think is a brilliant first word that goes pear-shaped.

I do Lumonsity brain exercises every day…I like the variety and instant feedback.

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