> It has become a bit of a pet peeve of mine recently to see self-aggrandizing comments from users around the net about how "we should have known" and "none of this is new."
I agree that "know" is a bit too glorifying. I propose "suspected".
I don't find this surprising at all. Practically 99.99% of a normal user's Internet activity is centered on Facebook, Google (including Gmail) and a handful of other sites. The amount of data everyone is requiring in order to provide a service also includes pretty much anything you need in order to track someone.
It's not news you need to pay attention to but some of the more theoretical aspects of networking in a second-year course.
I have nothing wrong with people having suspected it for a long time, or even saying so. I suspected it for a long time as well. My problem is with the attitude many people seem to have once evidence confirming those suspicions comes out and they go on about how the evidence means nothing because they knew it all along. No, the evidence confirms their suspicions, which makes it incredibly important!
Ultimately, whether they intend to or not, such statements end up making other people who are hearing about this for the first time more complacent about it because they come into the comments and see a bunch of people going on about how it's nothing new and therefore the new information is no big deal.
I agree that "know" is a bit too glorifying. I propose "suspected".
I don't find this surprising at all. Practically 99.99% of a normal user's Internet activity is centered on Facebook, Google (including Gmail) and a handful of other sites. The amount of data everyone is requiring in order to provide a service also includes pretty much anything you need in order to track someone.
It's not news you need to pay attention to but some of the more theoretical aspects of networking in a second-year course.