Wordle Is Watching You

gizmodo.com

3 points·MBCook··5 comments

And so are gozmodo and their partners.

At least the opt-out isn't as bad as many: just 9 clicks as you don't have to turn off each partners "legitimate interest" box off individually, but if you aren't in the EU all those partners could be taking you without even giving you an out-out option.

Of course they are tracking you. You pay with your data. That’s the deal with free stuff (most of the time).

If it bothers you use an ad blocker or host your own copy of Wordle or use one of the many copies out there.

I think it would be odd if NYT bought Wordle and didn't attempt to get some value out of it (whether that be a paywall, adding advertisements, or the least visible option: tracking).

> And again, this scenario applies to most of the sites you likely visit every day, not just Wordle.

This is the most important point, IMO. Digital surveillance (by governments and companies) is absolutely a pressing issue, but things like cell phone geolocation or ISP logs seem like much bigger threats than Wordle. I suppose it makes for a more current and eye-catching headline, though.

I agree it's obvious that they are trying to get money from it. I still think it's valuable to have articles that point this out because it's important for people to realize that something is lost when a for-profit company takes over something previously open. In some very vague way it's like software companies (microsoft) embracing open source. We need to remember it's not altruistic and one way or another the goal is to extract money from society and so it's important to keep a close eye on them, even if they're just doing what you'd expect a company to do

It's also using a current media darling to help promote awareness of privacy/surveillance issues (at least incidentally).

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