discussion spurred by a discussion on advertising over in the windows 10 thread , discussion need not be restricted to windows 10.
How comfortable are you with the increasingly opt-in by default or 'if you don't like it don't use it' policies of companies out to collect every bit of information about you and what you do with their service or device, marketing things to you or adjusting your media and search results based on that information, placing ads even in stuff you've paid for, etc.
I think it's unfortunate that over time all the options are likely to go this route so there really won't be much option other than disconnecting, which is increasingly nonviable in modern life. As 'smart' devices continue take off I think we'll see more and more of this.
I'm generally tolerant of things that are defaulted to "on" as long as they present me with the choice to disable it at initial setup time. I get extremely angry when stuff gets rolled out defaulted to "opt-in" after initial setup.
Facebook was the worst at this. I don't use Facebook, but I created a page just so others couldn't pretend to be me, and so I could stop hearing "oh my god you don't use Facebook?!" every time I met some friend-of-a-friend who wanted to add me. Seemed like every month I had to log in to the thing to hit my settings page and untick every new anti-privacy feature they just added. At some point I gave up, so I imagine by now every time someone posts a picture with my face in it it gets automatically tagged and shared to everyone within 7 degrees of separation.
On the Windows 10 front that spawned this thread, I do find that people apply a double standard with MS/Apple, but I'll freely admit that I'm biased in that area.
I don't particularly mind that "hey, listen" popups and banners are showing up in operating systems, because some people do benefit from them. I just really wish that there was a single, global setting for "I am an adept. Go away. Do not ever bother me with anything, ever, even new things that you think are sexy or important two years from now."
I don't feel I have a double standard but I'm primarily a Mac user. On Apple's side, coming from XBL I was excited about the possibility of Gamecenter. Moments after creating my account and adding all my online contacts I realised I was unwittingly sharing my real name with everyone. Not something that was made clear on setup.
I don't put Apple on a golden pedestal when it comes to protecting privacy.
XBL: Mr GT Chris
I dislike the auto opt-in that seems to be default, instead of the other way around.
I've started to actively not use services from MS, FB and Google.
Switched to Ubuntu, which was quite the performance hit and my gaming library shrunk by quite a bit.
Fb account deleted
Gmail account still there, but have a new email account with tutanota. Taking my time switching registration information everywhere. And when I'm pretty sure I got it all, then gmail also gets the boot.
Have Signal for texting, video chat and chat. But not enough ppl on it now. And at work (Navy) they use
whatsapp so much right now, it's crazy (and very unsecure!). Still in training, after that, I will review if I will
keep whatsapp or not.
I think the only real change we can make is to create an efficient blocking system for at least some of this info, and sell it ourselves. The tech is not going away; consumers need a way to monetize it, just like content creators and advertisers and corporations.
The two sides to every story are true and false, not yours and theirs. Facts are not political; lies are. - Deven Green (Mrs. Betty Bowers)
Aral Balkan has written an interesting piece about the internet and privacy/data gathering:
We didn’t lose control – it was stolen
I go to great effort to defeat surveillance. And it's not because I think they're listening to me specifically, but to help protect those who are being targeted unfairly. The harder a target I am, the less hard targets stand out.
In essence, every time I can, I use an envelope to send my letters, instead of jotting them on postcards. Why? Not because I'm worried about what I'm writing on the postcards, but because people sending envelopes shouldn't stand out.
I'm being super privacy conscious to help protect everyone else, not me so much.
Sounds like something a super secret spy would say.
“Christianity, sprung from Jewish roots, represents the counter-movement to any morality of breeding, of race, privilege: it is the anti-Aryan religion.” Friedrich Nietzsche, The Twilight of the Idols, on why Christianity should be rejected.
Nomad VS Malor!
I`m Artsy Partsy Gun For Hire
Red Flag Windows: Microsoft modifies Windows OS for Chinese government
This seems like the right thread for this: Congress Moves to Strike Internet Privacy Rules From Obama Era
the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence's list of hotlines
It's crazy how they just think they are entitled to that information AND can resell it.
Where are the governments when you need them....
Going to look into a reliable VPN.
The First Horseman of the Privacy Apocalypse Has Already Arrived: Verizon Announces Plans to Install Spyware on All Its Android Phones
"Shampoo in the morning. Coffin in the afternoon."
Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche
Swtich Friend code
SW-6859-7825-4962
It would be awesome if companies could at least pretend like they weren't out to f*ck us. Couldn't they wait a month?
"I'm everybody's hero, I'm Batman's Batman"
Possy Niblet Posse
Let's face it, even under the Obama ruling they would just have given "notice" via super fine print hidden somewhere in a huge contract that likely no one would ever read. Implied acceptance on use, etc.
see also facebook and/or google TOU.
Or consider for example the warnings about your cell phone exceeding FCC guidelines for exposure if under 15mm from your body, for example if the phone is on in your pocket, how many people do you know who have read that part of their phone manual (or any part for that matter)? of those who have how many do you know who actually adjust behavior accordingly? While it's frightening that the ISPs wont even have to give that much notice to sell our data I suspect the reality is the average consumer would never have noticed or cared about any sort of notice given to them.
The ending isn't any more important than any of the moments leading to it.
Can you uninstall the app?
Fear the flames...
http://steamcommunity.com/id/wizkid2005
http://www.tf2items.com/id/wizkid2005
Or block it's access to services in the OS settings?
Steam
GWJ Boss Key Master List
Blizzard: Antichulius#1897
Switch: 1632-3232-2634
From what I heard on a podcast: you can opt out, but default is opt in.
You cannot delete the app, which makes me doubt that opting out will actually do something.
Standing behind the corporations with their hands out and a greedy glint in their eye.
The True Remedy for the Fugitive Slave Bill is a good revolver, a steady hand, and a determination to shoot down any man attempting to kidnap. - Frederick Douglass
I posted this in the general political news thread, but then I remembered that this thread exists...
Why one Republican voted to kill privacy rules: “Nobody has to use the Internet”
the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence's list of hotlines
What color is the sky, in Sensenbrenner's world?
The two sides to every story are true and false, not yours and theirs. Facts are not political; lies are. - Deven Green (Mrs. Betty Bowers)
I'm pretty sure that in Sensenbrenner's world color hasn't been invented yet.
slender Aphrodite has overcome me
with longing for a girl.
That gave me flash backs to every time some decrepit f*ck told me kids these days just need to learn responsibility, because he put himself through medical and law school by selling his horse and becoming a journeyman under the local abacus maker, there's no reason we can't do the same..
PSN: SpacePProtean
Unsound Methods
The King of Cups Expects a Picnic: A podcast dedicated to the joys and sorrows of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
He'll likely take a page from Trump.... "Who knew the Internet was so important these days?"
The two sides to every story are true and false, not yours and theirs. Facts are not political; lies are. - Deven Green (Mrs. Betty Bowers)
Uber's been in the news lately. Not for what you'd expect, but because it turns out that they're even worse than I thought they were:
One way that Uber has been tracking people is by buying email data from places like Unroll.me:
the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence's list of hotlines
Taxis for life!
XBL: Mr GT Chris
I admit I took great pleasure, last time I was in San Francisco, in hailing a cab from right in front of Uber's offices.
the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence's list of hotlines
Firefox Will Give You a Fake Browsing History to Fool Advertisers
"With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want." - Christopher Columbus
"There's only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you've got to be kind." - Vonnegut
https://adnauseam.io/ is an extension that works with uBlock Origin to click on every blocked ad. The goal is to make click-through tracking useless.
This space unintentionally left boring.