41–50 of 170 posts
There is coming a point in time where every person must have a mark in order to buy or sell. It will be your access and citizen membership to a new global order. Enjoy your temporary freedom. History has a nasty way of modernizing itself.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I also try to find a compromise. If we're talking pragmatic, as opposed to ideal, my suggestions in the current environment are: 1) Be offline as much as possible. I have banished the webbrowser from my phone and tablets. The main computer is completely airgapped; I keep an old laptop around to go online. But I installed an app called Self-Control and use it in whitelist mode. I keep a separate To Do list for things…
If you're happy with that kind of marginal existence, then that's great. It works for you. I don't want to lose touch with people, because I don't view my contact with people as being part of a "hivemind". I view my time on Earth as one marked by civic and human engagement, where I want to share my ideas, bounce them off other people, strive to improve my community and the world, etc. Stepping away from that to be a…
I respect that sentiment, and agree with it. However, I think that it's much harder to do what you're talking about online. I would go so far as to say that the tendency of the internet is to encourage the "hivemind" and other bad practices. See, e.g., the eternal September, endless takes on how to moderate forums, algorithmic content filtering, etc...
I think the internet works great for making transactions between total strangers possible. I can collaborate on an open-source project or buy some widget. But I think that to really connect with people or improve my community or to delve deep into ideas, IRL is where it's at.
Why doesn't Firefox ship with third-party cookies disabled? What would it break that isn't user-hostile? ( edit Chrome, IE, Safari, I understand, but privacy is one of Firefox's main differentiators.)
Why doesn't Firefox ship with third-party cookies disabled? What would it break that isn't user-hostile? ( edit Chrome, IE, Safari, I understand, but privacy is one of Firefox's main differentiators.)
Mozilla seems to not want to interfere with online advertising practices.
from the article - "Notice and consent is an absurd legal fiction." it shouldn't be. "Notice and consent" should instead be a class taught in high schools. The ability to read, understand and NEGIOTIAGE these agreements should be within the mental grasp of everyone.
This problem was solved in an earlier age of commerce through a Uniform Commercial Code (throughout most of the US), or equivalent statutory or case law in other domains. Essentially, contracts were reduced to a common set of standard components. Exceptions might be allowed for specific cases, including unilateral "contracts of adhesion", but these too were generally limited.
In particular, ordinary transactional terms are limited by:
1. The scope and extent of the transaction. The term is for a single purchase or transaction, not an ongoing "relationship", with few exceptions (utilities, rental agreements, subscriptions).
2. There's a limit to the data exchanged. In general, the minimum amount of data required for a transaction is what's provided. Even where personal information was taken down, it was recorded on and remained on paper forms, rarely being converted to electronic form. This is no longer the case, where, say, a license number (or a license held as surity) for, say, an hourly boat or bicycle hire might be scanned electronically, OCRd, entered into a database, and matched with other records.
3. As noted above, information one organisation gathered on you was only rarely shared with others. This is no longer the case. As my awareness of such practices has spread, I've become vastlty less interested in transactions in which I'm aware my information is being exchanged: magazine subscriptions, credit or debit card purchases, anything with an email or postal code, etc. For a good decade or more, I refused to sign electronic signature pads. I still generally balk at this.
But until terms of service are both standardised and codified with users' interests in mind, the present situation will only get worse.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Companies can still track me, my data's still out there. I don' think this is right. When you were being a "luddite" you probably had less data collected about you, but you couldn't see that. All you can see is the cool tech stuff you are missing out on, so you feel that keenly. I think the reason a lot of people give up their privacy is that they feel like they have lost it already, so they might as well "Get what…
Yes, I think this is right. I have very privacy-conscious tech habits, and companies have some data on me, but probably far less than on the typical user of modern services. Some ways I protect myself: 1. Google account - I have one because it's required for Android, but I have never used Gmail, do not search from my Google account or ever log into it from my browser. 2. Facebook or any subsidiaries - never. 3. Gener…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Companies can still track me, my data's still out there. I don' think this is right. When you were being a "luddite" you probably had less data collected about you, but you couldn't see that. All you can see is the cool tech stuff you are missing out on, so you feel that keenly. I think the reason a lot of people give up their privacy is that they feel like they have lost it already, so they might as well "Get what…
Yes, I think this is right. I have very privacy-conscious tech habits, and companies have some data on me, but probably far less than on the typical user of modern services. Some ways I protect myself: 1. Google account - I have one because it's required for Android, but I have never used Gmail, do not search from my Google account or ever log into it from my browser. 2. Facebook or any subsidiaries - never. 3. Gener…
I haven't run stock Android in a while (and instead just CyanogenMod), but I'm pretty sure that it's not actually required, i.e. you can skip account creation during setup and then install alternative app stores like F-Droid, Aptoide or Amazon.
If we include CyanogenMod or other ROMs, then it's definitely possible, though. I do own and use an Android phone and deleted my Google-account probably half a year ago...
I used to feel strongly about not trading my privacy away for some convenience. For a long time I took a luddite pride in not being on various services, having a dumb phone, keeping it turned off, etc. Over time, though, I've found myself having a change of heart. What started as little inconveniences have turned into big ones, as I'm more and more out of touch with my peers, contemporaries, and family. I don't like…
> Companies can still track me, my data's still out there. I don' think this is right. When you were being a "luddite" you probably had less data collected about you, but you couldn't see that. All you can see is the cool tech stuff you are missing out on, so you feel that keenly. I think the reason a lot of people give up their privacy is that they feel like they have lost it already, so they might as well "Get what…
Why doesn't Firefox ship with third-party cookies disabled? What would it break that isn't user-hostile? ( edit Chrome, IE, Safari, I understand, but privacy is one of Firefox's main differentiators.)
According to Gervase Markham of Mozilla: "If you believe you have a right to access all the free content on the Internet while blocking the ads which fund it, you continue to believe that [..]" Mozilla seems to not want to interfere with online advertising practices.