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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

#221

Post by kerkeslager »

ProAm wrote: post #144
kerkeslager wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, money talks. Which is why free software that is guaranteed to stay free is a resilient solution if we can develop it. Privacy violations exist so middle men can make money. Cutting out the middle men solves the privacy problem AND motivates people by saving them money.

> Cutting out the middle men solves the privacy problem AND motivates people by saving them money. Too many middle men. How many middle men are inbetween you and me right now with this post? Probably 5 companies at a min? People are interested in saving money but not at the expense of their time or convenience. I agree with you, but it's just never going to happen.

There is definite value in cutting out a few of those middlemen or even just decreasing their capabilities.

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

#222

Post by EGreg »

Chardok wrote: post #60

"Opting out doesn’t work. It’s nonsense to tell people not to carry a credit card or not to have an email address. And “buyer beware” is putting too much onus on the individual. People don’t test their food for pathogens or their airlines for safety." This is a brilliant line and it works so well because he is absolutely right: it should not be on the burden of the consumer to make sure their products are safe, be it…

The question is, can the curation and rating be done by private agencies like Zagat instead of the Meat Inspection Act? Can it be turtles all the way down? Or must there be monopolies?

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

#223

Post by EGreg »

KSteffensen wrote: post #178
ballenf wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think we've all seen the story over and over: populist politician gets in power and forgets everything. They start to sacrifice principles in return for staying in power in order to ostensibly do the right thing later. But later never comes. So, maybe theoretically we can influence, but understanding the nature of what a self-interested, pragmatic government beaurocrat values is incredibly important. I think the pa…

Elect the parliament by lottery. 4 years of service if you get drafted, replace 25% of seats per year. Would be far more representative of the people than current way and less susceptible to populism. People often think I'm joking when I propose this but I haven't heard a good argument against it yet.

Similar idea:

http://magarshak.com/blog/?p=212

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

#224

Post by EGreg »

benbenolson wrote: post #4

The difficult part isn't getting people to understand that Internet privacy is important or at risk; nearly every person that I know (tech-savvy or not) understands that companies like Google and Facebook are in the business of collecting their data, and don't want them to. However, companies like these have human habit on their side: most people use these services daily, and will continue doing so unless it's easier…

http://magarshak.com/blog/?p=169

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

#226

Post by lordCarbonFiber »

SimbaOnSteroids wrote: post #218
lordCarbonFiber wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love how, in a thread about the uncertainty of internet privacy, you're here slinging praises to a walled garden service that owns all of your chats. Another walled garden interested in collecting information and slinging adds to pay back VC funds is the last thing the internet needs and the fact that it's so successful is a better indicator than anything else that the consumer doesn't care a lick about privacy.

You can't unopen Pandora's Box, and trying to close it is a bit of a sisphyian task. Might as well enjoy the terrors of the box.

But there are better chat solutions out there. Discord is pretty awful, terrible audio quality, limited room sizes, the aforementioned privacy concerns stemming from no self hosting and lack of interoperability with other chat protocols.

When technologies like Matrix [matrix.org] exist and we've had superior dedicated voip programs (mumble et al) for decades there's nothing appealing about discord is the AoL mail of chat clients; great for people with 0 interest in technology, but, why.

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

#227

Post by carapace »

"Internet privacy" is an oxymoron.

I've come to believe that total surveillance is the perfection of democracy, not its antithesis.

We are experiencing a fundamental phase shift in the entire structure of society.

The true horror of technological omniscience is that it shall force us for once to live according to our own rules. For the first time in history we shall have to do without hypocrisy and privilege. The new equilibrium will not involve tilting at the windmills of ubiquitous sensors and processing power but rather learning what explicit rules we can actually live by, finding, in effect, the real shape of human society.

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

#228

Post by mirimir »

Chardok wrote: post #60

"Opting out doesn’t work. It’s nonsense to tell people not to carry a credit card or not to have an email address. And “buyer beware” is putting too much onus on the individual. People don’t test their food for pathogens or their airlines for safety." This is a brilliant line and it works so well because he is absolutely right: it should not be on the burden of the consumer to make sure their products are safe, be it…

It's impractical to opt out, yes. But one can compartmentalize. So I have a rich online life using my real name. But it's not in English. Everything that Mirimir does online is interlinked. But it's not at all linked to my real name. Or to my other online personas.

For sure, I'm a zealot about this. I use nested VPN chains and Tor, and multiple VMs on multiple hosts. But anyone can use a VPN service that respects privacy. Such as AirVPN, IVPN or PIA. Not HideMyAss, however ;)

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

#229

Post by hsdfusa »

hnaccy wrote: post #8

I'm already extremely pessimistic about these things. 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. Additionally machine learning asymmetrically benefits those with the resources to fully leverage large amounts of data collection…

How did you come to your conclusion about computers so firmly? Also in what way is this worth taking your life over? Does it really make it impossible to enjoy it?

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

#230

Post by hsdfusa »

gglitch wrote: post #44
hnaccy wrote: post #8

I'm already extremely pessimistic about these things. 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. Additionally machine learning asymmetrically benefits those with the resources to fully leverage large amounts of data collection…

> 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.

> something unavoidable and self-destructive about human nature.

What specifically? Wanting power and control?

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