hCaptcha now runs on fifteen percent of the internet

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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