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Is Facebook Really Scarier Than Google?

nautil.us

301–310 of 360 posts

Re: Is Facebook Really Scarier Than Google?

#301
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> those ads are from real companies or organisations - they aren't fake bots or astroturf groups algorithmically designed to tell me what I want to hear. How do you know this? As far as we know Google was also used to spread misinformation by Russian entities in the elections [1]. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Google invented targeted advertising. Hell, this is the company that boasted about A/B testing shades of blue…

I'm in the UK not US so I'm n to totally sure what sort of fake news US electors get. However during Brexit and UK elections I get political ads and memes via FB. Google don't push that stuff at me. Google if it (rarely) pushes politics at me pushes links from political parties or identifiable campaign groups. So if it is lies or fake then I and others can hold them to account. FB often seems to be pushing fake stori…

> Google don't push that stuff at me.

Start using Google News.

Re: Is Facebook Really Scarier Than Google?

#302
I was expecting some more points on how Google actually does scary things, too. I can recount more points off the top of my head than this article lists and the headline seems to suggest that this would be the main-point of the article. Instead, it's mostly just a platform for this François Chollet's opinion, which is even biased into quite the opposite direction.

Re: Is Facebook Really Scarier Than Google?

#303

One of the few times a headline ends with a question mark the obvious answer is in fact: "yes" Google is evil. Facebook is worse.

I disagree. Facebook is just less clever about being evil. Google instead looms in every corner that remains too complicated for most people to understand and quietly harvests data.

And the article really does a piss-poor job at trying to pursue its question. Heck, most of it is directly quoting the opinion of a Google engineer.

Re: Is Facebook Really Scarier Than Google?

#304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They still see every DNS request.

Not if your browser sends it over HTTPS. Mozilla implementing it: https://www.ghacks.net/2018/03/20/firefox-dns-over-https-and... Google's: https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/dns-over... Apparently Chrome uses this over QUIC, and Chrome's Data Saver also uses it IETF charter: https://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/doh/about/ The unfortunate side-effect of preventing your OS from doing DNS queries is DNS-bas…

DNS over HTTPS is great for the average Joe/Jane, but if you're technical and care about dns leaks ... I'd suggests a DNS over TLS (unbound) + filter setup.

This way your dns traffic is still encrypted, and you retain the capability to block/proxy.

Re: Is Facebook Really Scarier Than Google?

#305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On https sites there's not a lot ISPs can track without breaking encryption. With shared IPs they may not even know the domain for certain (although as IPv6 takes off it will be easier to map IP to domain).

They can make a fair guess at which websites you're accessing. A lot of websites that are related to your particular interests aren't behind shared IP addresses these days. Consider this: * Build a list of domains you're interested in. There's fun community build blocking lists that can help you, if you need it. * Periodically resolve every domain. Odds are if you're an ISP your servers already have the records cache…

Wholly agree. Your whole life is reflected as in a mirror in the 'metadata' logs collected by ISPs. VPNs are essential.

Re: Is Facebook Really Scarier Than Google?

#306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uh, Google and Mozilla and a handful of organizations are converting all web traffic to HTTPS through subtle manipulation of standards and user interface. They even proxy mobile traffic from their search engine. ISPs can't even see what IP you're visiting because it's all fronted by CloudFlare. Even your DNS is being hidden by an HTTPS tunnel in the browser. Your ISP soon won't be able to see anything you do online.…

Next from Comcast: You must install this privacy-busting add-on to "optimize your experience".

Or, more likely: a discount for installing it.

Re: Is Facebook Really Scarier Than Google?

#307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

You can easily block Facebook and Google via host loopback or blocking their scripts. I have never seen so many pro ISP tracking/privacy people on HN.

I suppose I can ask all my contacts to remove my details from their address books on their phones. Do not email me from gmail, Tag me should they ever take pictures of me. But that is all besides the point. We _should_ not have to jump through hoops to keep them from spying on me. Besides, _most_ people do not even know how clear the browser cache, let alone running scripts or modify their host files with every changing DNS entries.

Re: Is Facebook Really Scarier Than Google?

#308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not if your browser sends it over HTTPS. Mozilla implementing it: https://www.ghacks.net/2018/03/20/firefox-dns-over-https-and... Google's: https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/dns-over... Apparently Chrome uses this over QUIC, and Chrome's Data Saver also uses it IETF charter: https://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/doh/about/ The unfortunate side-effect of preventing your OS from doing DNS queries is DNS-bas…

Can't the ISP still have reverse dns on whatever IPs you connect to?

I logged my own traffic for a while in order to have an insight about this.

It came out that in a world of reverse proxies, ddos protection and large tech conglomerates, reverse dns is not a big deal (depends on you behaviour too, smaller websites with a dedicated IP are easier to catch).

But traffic analysis may be a big deal, and the risk of this kind of exposure is not something you can evaluate by yourself. Mix networks are a mitigation.

Re: Is Facebook Really Scarier Than Google?

#309
post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are giving Google way too much credit here. Google collects your location by default. I know so because I bought an Android phone just this month. Here is the setup screen, shown with default settings. [1] Google encourages developers to use the Play Services SDK for location services. This means that it is impossible to provide your location to just one app (say, Lyft) without also providing it to Google. [2] Yo…

> Google encourages developers to use the Play Services SDK for location services. This means that it is impossible to provide your location to just one app (say, Lyft) without also providing it to Google. [2] This is a straight up lie. Yes, Google encourages fused location because it provides better experience (it bootstraps location via cell towers / bluetooth / wifi which requires data from Google servers). Howeve…

>However it does NOT make it "impossible" to directly request data from location services on the phone which DOES NOT go through Google servers. Please don't lie.

Can a Lyft user disable fused location and force Lyft to request location data directly without going through Google? I'm not an Android user so this is not a rhetorical question.

By the way, "lying" is to _knowingly_ make a false statement.

Re: Is Facebook Really Scarier Than Google?

#310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You cannot be honest if you are asking this question. You are comparing MapQuest with Google Maps and are asking me, in all earnest, what is that I find better in GMaps? Similarly with Protonmail and GMail. How about email spam to start with? Or maybe email search? What about automatic filters? Or what about the fact the Protonmail is a subscription service if you want to use their advanced features.

ProtonMail does have filters...am I missing something?

If you want to add more than 1 custom filter on ProtonMail, you have to be on the paid plan: https://protonmail.com/support/knowledge-base/filters/
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