Skip to content
Politics & Current Affairs —

Cookies Out of Control

Much of the privacy that so many of us cherish has been an economic fluke. Tracking technology has spun far out of control but the privacy problem is really one of our own making.
Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter
A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

How much is your privacy worth? “Surfing the Web anonymously is possible, as the Journal and New York Times primers show, but…it’s a lot of work. So my question is this: Would you be willing pay for a browser that was designed from the bottom up for privacy, not to serve advertisers? Are you prepared to pay for all the content (like Slate!) and services you now get for “free” in exchange for giving up privacy and anonymity to tracking files?” “Unless you’re a vigilant privacy buff, you’re being watched right now.”

Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter
A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people
Related
You No Longer Have a Right to Privacy
The concept of privacy is undergoing a radical transformation, thanks to our continuing willingness to provide companies like Facebook and Google our data for free. If, before, we largely lived […]
Technology & Innovation
The Data-Driven Economy
Consumers today are knowingly and unknowingly providing businesses with more data than they’ve ever been capable of collecting before. The analysis of this information could have profound implications for business.
Up Next
Personal Growth
Wandering Minds Unhappier
A study said to shake psychology’s foundations finds that daydreaming is rarely helpful. Furthermore, it challenges the idea that the mind responds to a stimulus out in the world.