Comment by tantalor
14 days ago
> only time you could do any query with a user ID returning multiple rows for further use would be to serve data directly back to the user
What do you mean by that?
14 days ago
> only time you could do any query with a user ID returning multiple rows for further use would be to serve data directly back to the user
What do you mean by that?
I'm saying we should not allow per-user analytics. Currently companies build a profile of each user and correlate that with all the other similar users. Then they target other users who are hypothesized to be similar.
I'm arguing that no per-user analytics should be able to be conducted. A store can track how many times product A is purchased, but not that product A and B were purchased by the same user. Using the latter info for anything other than providing a summary of what the user has purchased (to the user) should be illegal.
Yeah it would be complicated. But you could do it by creating a new obfuscated user ID for each transaction.
Or even better, by having each person store their own data and mandating that companies delete all records. The company can provide a signature on the transaction record (a receipt!) that the user keeps to prove the purchase if there's a conflict later on. But the company cannot keep a copy of any per-user info, the receipt, or the transaction info; nothing beyond the fact that product A was purchased on a certain date.