The state tracking and manual fallback are the most interesting parts to me. For a tool like this, I’d really want a dry-run/audit mode that shows which fields would be submitted to which broker before anything is sent. The awkward threat model is that the tool reduces exposure, but a broken selector could also leak personal data to the wrong place.
Show HN: Auto-identity-remove – Automated data broker opt-out runner for macOS
51–60 of 147 posts
Re: Show HN: Auto-identity-remove – Automated data broker opt-out runner for macOS
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
Around the same time frame, my brother rented some rooms in his house to people who had the occupation of actually delivering those phone books. (This was in a different country, but apparently the Yellow Pages existed everywhere.) The delivery-people got overwhelmed and eventually just resorted to putting the stacks and stacks of phone books into piles and burning them. It took a long time until they got caught beca…
I sure do! Calling all local contractors for a quote VS falling for the SEO king.
whitepages vs yellowpages
Re: Show HN: Auto-identity-remove – Automated data broker opt-out runner for macOS
#53[flagged]
Re: Show HN: Auto-identity-remove – Automated data broker opt-out runner for macOS
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 2. It asks for access to your email via Apple's Mail app which I don't use Assumption that people use Apple services by default is wild
They probably built it just for themselves. More the first person in the post title.
They probably wouldn't have shared the GitHub repository with hn if this was the case.
Re: Show HN: Auto-identity-remove – Automated data broker opt-out runner for macOS
#55I tried this (as a Canadian): 1. It asks you to optionally sign up for a bunch of other services like Spokeo 2. It asks for access to your email via Apple's Mail app which I don't use 3. I got a lot of 404s anyway 4. Many sites require manual intervention to work Nice idea, but it needs a LOT of TLC to make it generally useful. I suspect that having a non-numeric "zip" code and a non-US address might be breaking a lo…
> 2. It asks for access to your email via Apple's Mail app which I don't use Assumption that people use Apple services by default is wild
Mail isn't documented as a requirement, but the first item in the Requirements section is "macOS (uses launchd for scheduling and Messages for iMessage)".
Re: Show HN: Auto-identity-remove – Automated data broker opt-out runner for macOS
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
Agreed. Any time I click an “Unsubscribe” link in an email, that takes me to a site where I have to provide my email or indeed, do anything more than click “confirm,” I leave. I assume it either resets some kind of consent trigger or sells my data to a new third-party vendor. The assumption of bad faith is now baked into my interaction with almost every corporate entity.
Sometimes the people who set up the email service just forget or don't bother to add the receivers email to the URL parameter when you click unsubscribe, so it'll ask for your email again which is always an annoying step.
Could be a way of saving computation, this way the email content is the exact same for everyone receiving it
Re: Show HN: Auto-identity-remove – Automated data broker opt-out runner for macOS
#57> 4. Solves CAPTCHAs via CapSolver (AI-powered, ~$0.001/solve) Right, so my suspicion was correct: I'm the only one being inconvenienced by the same old captchas.
It depends on the CAPTCHA, but there's a reason why Apple, Cloudflare, and Google are shifting towards remote attestation for proof-of-humanity. The reCAPTCHA v3 Enterprise version and MtCaptcha cost a whopping 3x as much ($3 per 1000 solves). Seems like they're the best CAPTCHAs to go for.
Captchas are getting so annoying and puzzling they will soon prove you're unlikely to be human if you pass them.
Re: Show HN: Auto-identity-remove – Automated data broker opt-out runner for macOS
#58[dead]
Re: Show HN: Auto-identity-remove – Automated data broker opt-out runner for macOS
#59I'm wondering if this isn't a nice automated way to send your information to 500 data brokers.
[dead]
Re: Show HN: Auto-identity-remove – Automated data broker opt-out runner for macOS
#60I tried this (as a Canadian): 1. It asks you to optionally sign up for a bunch of other services like Spokeo 2. It asks for access to your email via Apple's Mail app which I don't use 3. I got a lot of 404s anyway 4. Many sites require manual intervention to work Nice idea, but it needs a LOT of TLC to make it generally useful. I suspect that having a non-numeric "zip" code and a non-US address might be breaking a lo…
[dead]