[projectvrm] Burning the wix at both ends

["T.Rob" < >]

I admit it - I clicked on a Facebook ad because I'm a sucker for supporting unknown or new writers.  This led me to the web site of debut novelist http://www.christiankallias.com/ which I soon found is hosted at wix.com because NoScript stopped it dead in its tracks and told me all about it:  

 

That led me to the hosting service wix.com.  Here's the pull quotes from their privacy policy:

http://www.wix.com/about/privacy

"Wix also has access to all the data stored in the WixHive API, which may include personal information collected across different sites over time from visitors to your web-based content. Wix uses this data to operate its business including providing services to your web-based content. Wix may combine data from your site with data from other Wix sites and with other data that was collected and/or retained by the Third Party Developers. You can prevent the collection of data from visitors to your web-based content by revoking data permissions granted to your apps or by uninstalling apps. Because we use this data to provide our services, we do not change our practices in response to a “Do Not Track” signal in the HTTP header from a browser or mobile application."

"If you want to prevent the collection and sharing of data through WixHive, then you should not install Third Party Apps or other apps on your web-based content. You will be responsible for notifying your users and obtaining their consent to the collection of data via the WixHive API."

They also say that "Our third-party partners may have their own policies regarding how they collect and store information through the technologies discussed above" but never tell you who those 3^rd parties are so you can't easily go check their policies.

In the Privacy Policy, Wix describes using regular cookies, Flash cookies, and web beacons.  They also state clearly that they and the vague "third party advertising partners" who shall remain unnamed "may tie the information gathered by clear gifs to our customers’ personal information."

So basically, it's a giant correlation engine.  Even though Wix may host 10s of thousands of domains, for purposes of surveillance it is essentially a single site that tracks web visitors across all Wix properties, plus whatever the unnamed 3rd party tracker companies collect.  They explicitly state that they do not honor the Do Not Track flag, and they hold *YOU* as a user of their hosting services responsible to notify your site visitors of these practices.

Which I'm sure all of their hosted web site owners take great pains to do.

Said nobody ever.

-- T.Rob

 

T.Robert Wyatt, Managing partner

IoPT Consulting, LLC

+1 704-443-TROB (8762) Voice/Text

https://ioptconsulting.com

https://twitter.com/tdotrob