ubuntu-privacy team mailing list archive

[JaSauders <1054776@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

So let me get this straight...

100% of the time when I type into the dash, my system is searching for
online resources relevant to what I typed. That said, 99% of the time I
type into the dash, I am doing so to retrieve a local file or
application. So roughly translated, 99% of the time Unity is bringing me
irrelevant search results that ultimately slow down my computer in an
obviously noticeable fashion when typing in search terms.

Who on earth thought this was a good decision? I can see the value in an
online resource like this, but being opt-out is ridiculous.  It being in
the home lens is even more ridiculous. Why would you split up lenses for
music, videos, files, applications, but NOT online resources? I just
can't fathom this.

Given the fact I often have to order parts for different things at work
through Amazon, I would love to support Canonical by going through the
lens facet, but not at the expense of my privacy. I repeat, not at the
expense of my privacy.

Canonical, you have done so much good for the Linux community. You
deserve to be commended 100x over again for your work. You've taken some
insane chances along the way. Unity has evolved into a beautiful, clean,
and professional desktop environment. It was met with criticism but it
has blossomed into something that's really quite nice. Mir has yet to be
seen so I can't really comment there quite yet. Then you have this
shopping lens being an opt-out feature. I honestly don't understand how
someone sat at the meeting table and thought "this is a good idea." This
is distribution suicide. You're losing a magnitude of users over this
stupid nonsense little thing. Is this really worth all of the negative
publicity Ubuntu/Canonical is *still* receiving (and forever will) over
this? I mean, really? Is it?

-- 
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu
Privacy Team, which is subscribed to the bug report.
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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