hCaptcha now runs on fifteen percent of the internet

Re:hCaptcha now runs on fifteen percent of the internet by Normille on Wednesday November 25, 2020 @04:22PM (#25214435)

  >One particularly egregious misuse of captcha in a service I use presents one after I enter a correct username and password

Is it eBay by any chance?

That recently started randomly showing reCaptchas to me when I'm already logged in and have been using the site for some time. When this happens, it descends into a never-ending cycle of more login screens and then more reCaptchas.

But thankfully eBay have taken note of the dozens of complaints about this on their user forums, dating back to 2018 and rushed their best people in to fix it.

[That last sentence was dripping with sarcasm, in case anyone unfamiliar with the company thought eBay ever took any notice whatsoever of their users' concerns]

I'm not a violent person at all. But if I ever meet the person who spawned reCaptcha and all its equally annoying clones, which are a pox on the internet, I won't be responsible for my own actions.

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Re:hCaptcha now runs on fifteen percent of the internet by hyperdimension on Wednesday November 25, 2020 @08:31PM (#25216083)

I'm about as anti-Google as it comes, but I didn't even mind the first incarnation of reCaptcha as a concept. You prove that you're human, and you also help transcribe books so that they're more accessible/searchable! Sure, it's in Google's interest in that it improves Google Books, but it at least seems like a symbiotic exchange (to, e.g. humanity in general.)

Contrast that with today's form of reCaptcha where you identify stop signs/crosswalks/et c. for Google's benefit, but at the same time you're also improving...oh, wait, Google again. It almost seems like forced labor, in a sense.

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Re:hCaptcha now runs on fifteen percent of the internet by selfhoster11 on Thursday November 26, 2020 @02:23AM (#25217709)

It is forced labour (to a very light degree, but still).

It is additionally resource-theft, when recaptcha-protected sites are used for business purposes. You are stealing valuable business time (possibly very valuable business time, if the person in question is a high-paid role like a CEO or surgeon) to power your pet "spot the crosswalk" project.

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Re:hCaptcha now runs on fifteen percent of the internet by hyperdimension on Thursday November 26, 2020 @03:38AM (#25218095)

Yeah, I certainly don't disagree. I was just trying to use 'forced labor' in a literal sense rather than try to imply any of the awful things that usually come to mind...

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Re:hCaptcha now runs on fifteen percent of the internet by rasz on Thursday November 26, 2020 @04:46AM (#25218452)

>eBay

>I'm not a violent person at all. But if I ever meet the person who spawned reCaptcha and all its equally annoying clones, which are a pox on the internet, I won't be responsible for my own actions.

be careful, else they start sending you dead horses head and planting gpses in your cars https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/two-former-ebay-executive...

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