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Guide:Blocking ads: Difference between revisions

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Guide:Blocking ads (edit)

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Adblocking is the act of choosing what content is displayed to you, and it's associated code executed, when using internet and consuming content, most commonly taking form of blocking ads and trackers which follow you across the web and sell your personal information to the highest bidder.<br>
Most ads and ad companies are fundamentally opposed to privacy, as they have unilaterally decided that they are entitled to personal information about you which you would rarely volunteer if the method of gathering was less opaque. They further take it upon themselves to use this information against your personal interests, by manipulating your choices and taking away your freedom, to pad their bottom line.
=Wait, isn't this hurting content creators?=
Fundamental premise of such questions is that good or useful content would not exist unless it is commercially motivated. We fundamentally reject this idea. Have you seen Wikipedia?
Thus, we take the position that all advertising is fundamentally immoral unless informed consent<ref>Informed consent is NOT 12 pages of legalese Terms and Conditions which nobody reads, and fewer people understand.<br>Informed consent is explaining to the user, in plain language which the user will understand, what is collected, what its value is, how it will be used and how the consent can be withdrawn. The consent is gained when the data is being collected, and can be revoked easily and transparently. Where money has already been spent on a product, the consent cannot be a condition on usage of the product.<br>
 
We believe that culture is and should be free (as in freedom), and the only real way to control information is to not disclose it. If you have made content publicly accessible on the web, then the content if freely accessible, and you don't get to decide how it is displayed by the reader.<br>
In short, virtually no modern service obtains informed consent prior to harvesting your data.</ref> is obtained.<br>
Imagine if magazine publishers made their products available for free, but then tried to prevent you from tearing out the full page ads because it hurts their bottom line. Then imagine if those same magazines came with little cameras spying on you and with embedded GPS trackers, and you'd have the basic idea of what is being suggested here.<br>
Publishers can put their content behind login screens and pay walls, and many do. They can refuse the serve the page unless the ads load. But they don't want to because it hurts their reach and search rank placement. Do not accept such attempts to moralise their way to even larger profits from people who will readily breach your privacy and serve you malware.
 
In the world where every page load assaults you with concentrated attempts to control your mind and decisions it makes (which do work, regardless of how much you think they don't), blocking ads is the right thing to do.
'''We consider virtually all modern online advertising to be at least immoral''', even where it is not illegal, and categorically '''refuse any assertion that adblocking is morally questionable'''. We '''do not accept any claims that any sort of obligation arises between the publisher and the content consumer when freely available content is consumed'''.
Adblocking is the most obvious umbrella term, but here we will define it as any active measure individuals can take to countermand the efforts of companies which are not in alignment with your personal privacy, security or even just simply, your desires.
=Why block ads?=
Most ads found online actively harm your privacy by both collecting information on you and using previously collected information about you to exert control over your decisions.
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