It's about the incentives. I don't trust Facebook or Google because deep in their DNA, they're advertising companies. They're not advertisers like Ogilvy; they're advertisers because they're really good at profiling people. So when they acquire companies like Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube with free products, I expect those products to add tracking and targeting even when they were strongly against it (esp. WhatsApp).
YC however is the opposite. Their DNA is Paul Graham's essays. They put themselves up as the people who help the small guy. They need your trust.
They use your HN history to evaluate your YC application and they're open about that. It's even on the undocumented features wiki that YC founders can see each other.
Show HN is probably used for scouting startups. They need VC style data, which shows whether the founders are smart, resilient, and whether the startups they make have potential. So yeah, they probably do track you, but not in the creepy stalker way Google does.
YC however is the opposite. Their DNA is Paul Graham's essays. They put themselves up as the people who help the small guy. They need your trust.
They use your HN history to evaluate your YC application and they're open about that. It's even on the undocumented features wiki that YC founders can see each other.
Show HN is probably used for scouting startups. They need VC style data, which shows whether the founders are smart, resilient, and whether the startups they make have potential. So yeah, they probably do track you, but not in the creepy stalker way Google does.