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When it comes to internet privacy, be afraid, analyst suggests

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Re: When it comes to internet privacy, be afraid, analyst suggests

#161
post #58

Can someone explain to me why this so-called "privacy" is such a big deal on internet? Can't internet, or at least a major part of it, be considered a public place? I mean, when I walk in the street, I do not wear a mask (I suspect that'd be illegal in my country), yet I do not worry about someone using surveillance cameras to track all my activities. Sure, it could technically be done but I'm not that important : no…

It might take weeks for someone to identify you in real life based on a grainy still image from a camera. And then one would still have to correlate among people, other cameras, and locations to learn anything about you without surveillance. With the internet, because of data aggregation, I can go on piple and find all of that about you and more in 2 minutes. The power with which one may invade privacy over the inter…

So it's bad because it's faster? Or easier to automate?

Re: When it comes to internet privacy, be afraid, analyst suggests

#162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One particularly horrifying example of this is dating. In Brooklyn where I live, dating has moved online so thoroughly that many women I've talked to simply refuse to consider men they meet in person as potential partners. It's definitely still possible to date the old fashioned way, but it's obviously more difficult. I don't date online, but I've been blessed with fairly good looks, a successful career, and decent s…

If you are planning on sleeping with them I find it quite curious that you do not want them to know who you are.

I have no problem with dates knowing who I am. I do have a problem with Tinder knowing who I am in the same detail as someone I might date, however.

Re: When it comes to internet privacy, be afraid, analyst suggests

#163
When a company includes in their TOS a clause that prohibits their customer to speak online negatively about their product, everyone draw the pitchforks because that's an unacceptable violation of the freedom of speech. Why doesn't it happen for the right to privacy?

Perhaps people feel powerless or don't care. People are also powerless against the food industry or don't always care about security. One of the roles of states and governments is to fix those situations.

Law makers should focus their efforts on strongly protecting the fundamental right to privacy. It should be made easy (and free) for anyone to challenge those abusive EULAs, TOS and other contracts that require end users to abandon their rights in order to use a service. If the contract is deemed abusive, the service should be blocked until the contract is rewritten.

Re: When it comes to internet privacy, be afraid, analyst suggests

#164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One particularly horrifying example of this is dating. In Brooklyn where I live, dating has moved online so thoroughly that many women I've talked to simply refuse to consider men they meet in person as potential partners. It's definitely still possible to date the old fashioned way, but it's obviously more difficult. I don't date online, but I've been blessed with fairly good looks, a successful career, and decent s…

How old are you / the women in the demographic you are talking about, if you do not mind me asking?

If I'm not willing to give my personal information to Tinder, why would I post it on HN?

Re: When it comes to internet privacy, be afraid, analyst suggests

#165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> many women I've talked to simply refuse to consider men they meet in person as potential partners. There's no way for me to phrase this question without it sounding very insulting, so I apologize in advance, but - is this something women have told you, or are you inferring this from being turned down by women you meet in real life?

It's something women have told me. Women have good reasons; it's much safer to vet people online before you risk interaction in places that you go in your day-to-day. What I said should not be construed as a criticism of women's choices to date online. If anything, I think online dating is the way of the future; I just hope it moves toward decentralized models that give people more control of who they share their inf…

If I were in your place, I would ask them what prevents them from vetting someone online after meeting them offline. Is a Tinder profile any more likely to contain truth than my words?

Re: When it comes to internet privacy, be afraid, analyst suggests

#166
Internet privacy is a farce. From the way the technology was designed to the way the information that's collected is used/misused. I do think there are equal parts buyer beware on the client side as well as ethics on the implementation side.

I think that "internet privacy" will be akin to "the war on drugs" in the long term. A good idea but in the end just another way for government line it's pockets.

Until the internet is completely redesigned the best hope we've got it encryption and VPN's and that's a strech.

Re: When it comes to internet privacy, be afraid, analyst suggests

#167
post #20
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Perhaps this is a good reason to have some sort of technocracy element to the federal government Thought you were going to say "regulate privacy protections." Instead you went for breaking up monopolies. Impressive leap

He has a point though. Right now if you have an android smartphone, use gmail and google search you're telling google basically everything you do, where you are, what you have an interest in and the people you know. Each of these services in isolation can know a great deal about you but being able to correlate the data makes it so much worse. That's why I try to avoid putting all of my eggs in the same basket, I have…

If they were all different companies, eventually consumer data would be commoditized and they would sell that data to each other anyway.

Re: When it comes to internet privacy, be afraid, analyst suggests

#168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's something women have told me. Women have good reasons; it's much safer to vet people online before you risk interaction in places that you go in your day-to-day. What I said should not be construed as a criticism of women's choices to date online. If anything, I think online dating is the way of the future; I just hope it moves toward decentralized models that give people more control of who they share their inf…

If I were in your place, I would ask them what prevents them from vetting someone online after meeting them offline. Is a Tinder profile any more likely to contain truth than my words?

I'm not going to do that. If they're not interested in me I don't see any reason to persuade them. I would rather date people who are enthusiastic about dating me.

There's also an implicit assumption you're making that the women I've talked to about this are women I'm trying to date. That's not usually the case.

Re: When it comes to internet privacy, be afraid, analyst suggests

#169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I were in your place, I would ask them what prevents them from vetting someone online after meeting them offline. Is a Tinder profile any more likely to contain truth than my words?

I'm not going to do that. If they're not interested in me I don't see any reason to persuade them. I would rather date people who are enthusiastic about dating me. There's also an implicit assumption you're making that the women I've talked to about this are women I'm trying to date. That's not usually the case.

> There's also an implicit assumption you're making that the women I've talked to about this are women I'm trying to date. That's not usually the case.

Yeah, that was part of my potential insult.

I'm married with a kid, and most of my friends are paired up, so this topic rarely comes up for me. Thanks for letting me pick your brain.

Re: When it comes to internet privacy, be afraid, analyst suggests

#170
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Computers were a mistake and represent the greatest threat to freedom in human history. The ability of those in power to mass produce perfectly obedient machines that can perform complex tasks without rest allow for a nightmare society. I think about that a lot. It suggests to me that the real problem lies not with technology, but with something unavoidable and self-destructive about human nature.

> It suggests to me that the real problem lies not with technology, but with something unavoidable and self-destructive about human nature. Or the people in power not being fully clear about their means.

Look at the root cause. Humans are driven by the exact forces that caused evolution. Those forces are to gather resources and maintain social dominance. Anything other than that will never be a force that shapes the world.

"Not being fully clear about their means" is just a manifestation or symptom of someone's quest to acquire more resources. I repeat that you must look at the root force and not the symptom.

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