ubuntu-privacy team mailing list archive

[Thomas Kluyver <1054776@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

To record a few of those 'things to do after installing Ubuntu'
articles. Disabling the Amazon results is:

Number 8 in http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2013/04/10-things-to-do-after-installing-ubuntu-13-04
Number 2 in http://www.webupd8.org/2013/04/7-things-to-do-after-installing-ubuntu.html
Number 6 in http://www.noobslab.com/2013/04/tweaksthings-to-do-after-install-of.html
Number 1 in http://www.refreshit.info/2013/03/10-things-to-do-after-installing-ubuntu.html

The first 2 of those also specifically mention how to remove the
shopping lens, if you want to keep using other online lenses. That
suggests to me that, at least for some users, it's the Amazon results
specifically that are an annoyance, not

It's a slight exaggeration that it features in every list; while the
majority seem to have it, there are some that don't, like this:
http://www.unixmen.com/042013-top-things-to-do-after-installing-
ubuntu-13-04-raring-ringtail/

I think it's pretty clear by now that this default isn't what users
want, and Ubuntu continues to get bad press from it.

-- 
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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1054776

Title:
  Don't include remote searches in the home lens

Status in Unity Shopping Lens:
  New
Status in “unity-lens-shopping” package in Ubuntu:
  Triaged

Bug description:
  Recent news (http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/09/online-shopping-
  features-arrive-in-ubuntu-12-10) indicates that the home lens will, by
  default, search Amazon for products to put in the 'More suggestions'
  section. This means that regular searches for local applications and
  files are transmitted to a remote server, which I believe breaks an
  expectation of privacy. It also seems somewhat tasteless for my
  operating system to be advertising things I might want to buy.
  Finally, the idea that Ubuntu is now ad-supported has brought
  considerable negative PR on tech news sites like Slashdot and Hacker
  News.

  All of these problems could be easily avoided if the shopping lens
  were separate, rather than showing results in the home lens.  The
  shopping results would still be very convenient when the user wanted
  to see them - they could opt in with a single click, as we currently
  can with the video lens, for example.

  To anticipate one likely response: I understand that this feature can
  be removed by uninstalling the package. I believe it should be opt-in,
  not opt-out, and I also think the feature is useful, so I don't want
  to remove it completely from my system.

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