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Is Facebook Really Scarier Than Google?

nautil.us

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Re: Is Facebook Really Scarier Than Google?

#131

Post by digitalantfarm »

I hear so many people talking about this like there's literally no way about going around these issues.

Is it that unimaginable to use an alternative search engine like DuckDuck go? To use tor? To use a VPN? To disable javascript? To block ads? To put some IPs in your /etc/hosts? To use OpenOffice instead of Google Docs and MS Office? To use Proton Mail instead of Gmail?

These products even have nice user interfaces these days! Privacy isn't that hard. These companies offer a service for free (mostly). If you can't do it, I think it's mostly because you just don't care.

Re: Is Facebook Really Scarier Than Google?

#132

Post by ocdtrekkie »

koolba wrote: post #58
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very few ISPs can track you no matter where you physically go, as your mobile, home, and work ISPs are likely all different. And ISPs are regional, none carry the level of threat of Facebook or Google. Of course, when states tried to reintroduce privacy protections... That covered ISPs and tech companies alike... Big tech stepped in and opposed. They weren't interested in protecting users, they just didn't want the c…

> Very few ISPs can track you no matter where you physically go, as your mobile, home, and work ISPs are likely all different. There's a lot of consolidation happening in that space. Verizon offers FiOS and phone service. Comcast is getting into the mobile game. That aside, any device by itself is enough to get a picture of the user using only tracing IP addresses (i.e. DNS lookups and outbound requests). They don't…

Google also has Fiber and Fi, but in reality, I think the likelihood any given user has land and mobile access through the same company is relatively low, and you usually have the option to switch at least one of them.

AT&T is probably the biggest player in succeeding at being the ISP for you everywhere though.

Re: Is Facebook Really Scarier Than Google?

#133

Post by Blahah »

ultimoo wrote: post #68
drawkbox wrote: post #11

Your ISP tracking your every move is scarier than all of them after the ISP privacy bill passed. At least Facebook and Google give you something for it and you can route around them if you desire. No routing around ISPs unless you use a VPN but even then they are blocking those. Broadband/cable/telcos capture everything you do and can now sell that information and do[1]. That bill was the pre-cursor to removing net n…

Sorry to sidetrack here -- but any good recommendations for paid VPNs?

Personally I've settled on ExpressVPN, largely because about 50% of their endpoints work with Netflix. They are also very popular, meaning more protection of anonymity, and I have never seen any evidence to counter their claim that they don't keep logs.

As a bonus their software works very well, better than most generic VPN clients.

I previously was using my own private VPN servers set up with Streisand, but those provide no anonymity, only masking of the endpoint.

Re: Is Facebook Really Scarier Than Google?

#134

Post by jerheinze »

tgtweak wrote: post #120
drawkbox wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That little ISP who has no real use of it Those little ISPs like Comcast, Verizon, Cox, AT&T etc. I can't imagine those small companies would want your data or want to use it after bribing politicians to get the right to do it. Everyone knows Google tracks you, same with Facebook. They offer a service and people understand that. You aren't paying you are the product. You are paying your ISP for access to the intern…

Not entirely true, you can use a vpn, but then you're placing trust in a vpn provider.

Why use paid privacy-by-policy systems when you can use free privacy-by-design systems like Tor and i2p?

Re: Is Facebook Really Scarier Than Google?

#135

Post by jerheinze »

arca_vorago wrote: post #125
q3k wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you trust a VPN provider more than your ISP?

To be honest all a VPN does is add another layer of protection. It's not that secure because they can be subpoenaed or NSL'ed into giving data over, which is why a VPN's log policy is important to pay attention to. So in reality, you are mostly just trying to not reveal traffic to your ISP which the various LEA's can get access to far too easily (read: without a warrant). For those really serious about privacy that's…

Why use paid privacy-by-policy systems when you can use free privacy-by-design systems like Tor and i2p?

Re: Is Facebook Really Scarier Than Google?

#136

Post by moreorless »

drawkbox wrote: post #11

Your ISP tracking your every move is scarier than all of them after the ISP privacy bill passed. At least Facebook and Google give you something for it and you can route around them if you desire. No routing around ISPs unless you use a VPN but even then they are blocking those. Broadband/cable/telcos capture everything you do and can now sell that information and do[1]. That bill was the pre-cursor to removing net n…

> Yet Facebook and Google at least built products you wanted that you willingly gave up privacy to use and at least got something for it

I never agreed to FB collecting data on me. I have no account with them. I do not use their services. Yet here we are.

Re: Is Facebook Really Scarier Than Google?

#137

Post by jerheinze »

adam12 wrote: post #40
drawkbox wrote: post #11

Your ISP tracking your every move is scarier than all of them after the ISP privacy bill passed. At least Facebook and Google give you something for it and you can route around them if you desire. No routing around ISPs unless you use a VPN but even then they are blocking those. Broadband/cable/telcos capture everything you do and can now sell that information and do[1]. That bill was the pre-cursor to removing net n…

Thanks for reminding me about this. I'm seriously thinking about getting a VPN subscription again.

Why use paid privacy-by-policy systems (VPN) when you can use free privacy-by-design systems like Tor and i2p? In fact, even if you use a VPN browser fingerprinting is still an issue unless you use something like the Tor Browser.

Re: Is Facebook Really Scarier Than Google?

#138

Post by SamReidHughes »

robotresearcher wrote: post #96
SamReidHughes wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clinton only won the popular vote by a few million, so I don't think she was able to sway public opinion very much. What might have been 46% is now 48%, at worst. That's hardly mass mind control.

How many millions of people do you need before it’s mass?

Depends on the total population, I'd say on the order of 30% would be getting there.

Re: Is Facebook Really Scarier Than Google?

#139

Post by LeoPanthera »

drawkbox wrote: post #11

Your ISP tracking your every move is scarier than all of them after the ISP privacy bill passed. At least Facebook and Google give you something for it and you can route around them if you desire. No routing around ISPs unless you use a VPN but even then they are blocking those. Broadband/cable/telcos capture everything you do and can now sell that information and do[1]. That bill was the pre-cursor to removing net n…

I've been forwarding all outgoing connections on port 80 (and a selection of other commonly-unencrypted ports) through a VPN (in the router) for a while now - but leaving all other ports (including most importantly 443) connecting directly.

It feels like a good compromise between privacy and speed.

Re: Is Facebook Really Scarier Than Google?

#140

Post by aurelianito »

jerheinze wrote: post #135
arca_vorago wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be honest all a VPN does is add another layer of protection. It's not that secure because they can be subpoenaed or NSL'ed into giving data over, which is why a VPN's log policy is important to pay attention to. So in reality, you are mostly just trying to not reveal traffic to your ISP which the various LEA's can get access to far too easily (read: without a warrant). For those really serious about privacy that's…

Why use paid privacy-by-policy systems when you can use free privacy-by-design systems like Tor and i2p?

Latency and throughput
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