Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Privacy Revolution in Action

tcsltesting.blogspot.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 21 posts

Re: The Privacy Revolution in Action

#11

Post by newscracker »

I’m deeply frustrated on reading this, but not shocked really. It seems like people are being numbed into helplessness and powerlessness while they’re still ignorant and unaware. By the time many people realize how bad the privacy situation is and the impact it could have, resignation to the status quo may be the only choice — corporations and governments collecting and using data in ways people consider grossly inappropriate, creepy and a violation of their dignity and freedom — would be “too big and too rigid to change”.

I fear the worst is yet to come, and people’s neglect of these issues (for whatever reason) is going to be an irreversible crime against future generations (like climate change). How dare we consent to these or accept these or let these be?

Re: The Privacy Revolution in Action

#12

Post by open-source-ux »

"...the realization hit me, that if Good Guys like Google and RSA were collecting all this information, it was a given that Bad Guys were too, and we have no idea just who is."

Google is neither the 'good guy' or the 'bad guy'. They aren't there to look out for your best interests and we'd all be much better if we stop ascribing human qualities to gigantic corporations.

No other company tracks your online behaviour at such industrial scale as Google - and gets so little scrutiny for it.

For most of the tech community, Google's level of tracking is perfectly fine because Google has never had a data breach (that we know of). That somehow makes everything fine.

When it comes to matters of privacy, there's a lot of hypocrisy from the tech community.

Re: The Privacy Revolution in Action

#13

Post by 908087 »

open-source-ux wrote: post #12

"...the realization hit me, that if Good Guys like Google and RSA were collecting all this information, it was a given that Bad Guys were too, and we have no idea just who is." Google is neither the 'good guy' or the 'bad guy'. They aren't there to look out for your best interests and we'd all be much better if we stop ascribing human qualities to gigantic corporations. No other company tracks your online behaviour a…

"Don't be evil" was one of the most successful pieces of feel good propaganda I've ever seen from any corporation. People still regularly quote it as "proof" that Google is an altruistic entity which only spies on you to "provide you with a better experience" and "change the world" (with "for the better" being implied).

It's amazing how easy it is to get the majority of people to completely shut down their critical thinking abilities. In this case, it only took 3 words.

Re: The Privacy Revolution in Action

#14

Post by rasengan »

newscracker wrote: post #11

I’m deeply frustrated on reading this, but not shocked really. It seems like people are being numbed into helplessness and powerlessness while they’re still ignorant and unaware. By the time many people realize how bad the privacy situation is and the impact it could have, resignation to the status quo may be the only choice — corporations and governments collecting and using data in ways people consider grossly inap…

You hit the nail on the head.

The method they are using is take advantage of the size and complexity of our society -- if they make subtle changes in small silos within our society, we will fail to notice as very few people watch the world at such a macro-level.

> people's neglect of these issues

SJ Res 34 was a prime example -- most major social mediums attempted to censor it among other things from the general society. Now, ISPs are allowed to harvest and sell your data to the highest bidder. Terrible.

How can we fix this?

1. Vote for the right people.

2. Write them letters (not emails) telling them how much they suck if they don't do things for the benefit of people.

3. Stop using things like youtube etc. This gives WAY TOO MUCH narrative power to the overlords running those sites (and their overlords who control them -- do you seriously think the Alex Jones thing was a bunch of unique, coincidental decisions to ban Alex Jones independent of what any other site will do given that they all cut him collectively, at the same time? I'm not in any way saying his rhetoric is good or not -- but he was censored, and his free speech was blocked).

4. Understand that the constitution was a draft of laws from a long time ago and our overall makeup/structure of society has changed -- we really need to make new laws to keep society safe, secure and prosperous.

Re: The Privacy Revolution in Action

#15

Post by newscracker »

rasengan wrote: post #14
newscracker wrote: post #11

I’m deeply frustrated on reading this, but not shocked really. It seems like people are being numbed into helplessness and powerlessness while they’re still ignorant and unaware. By the time many people realize how bad the privacy situation is and the impact it could have, resignation to the status quo may be the only choice — corporations and governments collecting and using data in ways people consider grossly inap…

You hit the nail on the head. The method they are using is take advantage of the size and complexity of our society -- if they make subtle changes in small silos within our society, we will fail to notice as very few people watch the world at such a macro-level. > people's neglect of these issues SJ Res 34 was a prime example -- most major social mediums attempted to censor it among other things from the general soci…

> How can we fix this?

> 1. Vote for the right people.

> 2. Write them letters (not emails) telling them how much they suck if they don't do things for the benefit of people.

I believe a prerequisite for these is more awareness among the people who vote. The ones in power don’t seem to care. The ones who care about privacy are not numerous enough (depends on the country) to vote the right people into power or get any traction on legislation and enforcement of laws.

I still feel that the Edward Snowden revelations didn’t achieve much at all in terms of real and long lasting change (perhaps my expectations are too high).

At the same time, I don’t mean to imply that we’re not seeing more awareness and concern from the masses. We need this to be accelerated and for the masses to be energized to take action. Lots of work to do still!

Re: The Privacy Revolution in Action

#16

Post by sixstringbudha »

908087 wrote: post #13
open-source-ux wrote: post #12

"...the realization hit me, that if Good Guys like Google and RSA were collecting all this information, it was a given that Bad Guys were too, and we have no idea just who is." Google is neither the 'good guy' or the 'bad guy'. They aren't there to look out for your best interests and we'd all be much better if we stop ascribing human qualities to gigantic corporations. No other company tracks your online behaviour a…

"Don't be evil" was one of the most successful pieces of feel good propaganda I've ever seen from any corporation. People still regularly quote it as "proof" that Google is an altruistic entity which only spies on you to "provide you with a better experience" and "change the world" (with "for the better" being implied). It's amazing how easy it is to get the majority of people to completely shut down their critical t…

>It's amazing how easy it is to get the majority of people to completely shut down their critical thinking abilities. In this case, it only took 3 words.

One amusing thing I have noticed is that how fast all of the internet got converted into google catcha system which was originally supposed to convert books, but now a days just show traffic lights, cars, buses and fire hydrants. And no one, bats an eye. And even worse, still calls google the "good guy".

Do you know how many images it makes you click if you try to access it with a clean state?

Re: The Privacy Revolution in Action

#17

Post by snaky »

newscracker wrote: post #11

I’m deeply frustrated on reading this, but not shocked really. It seems like people are being numbed into helplessness and powerlessness while they’re still ignorant and unaware. By the time many people realize how bad the privacy situation is and the impact it could have, resignation to the status quo may be the only choice — corporations and governments collecting and using data in ways people consider grossly inap…

People are very adaptable and will consider all that data collection less and less 'grossly inappropriate, creepy and a violation of their dignity'. XIX century Americans would consider an income tax in a peacetime 'grossly inappropriate, creepy and a violation of their dignity' after all.

Re: The Privacy Revolution in Action

#18

Post by spking »

rasengan wrote: post #14
newscracker wrote: post #11

I’m deeply frustrated on reading this, but not shocked really. It seems like people are being numbed into helplessness and powerlessness while they’re still ignorant and unaware. By the time many people realize how bad the privacy situation is and the impact it could have, resignation to the status quo may be the only choice — corporations and governments collecting and using data in ways people consider grossly inap…

You hit the nail on the head. The method they are using is take advantage of the size and complexity of our society -- if they make subtle changes in small silos within our society, we will fail to notice as very few people watch the world at such a macro-level. > people's neglect of these issues SJ Res 34 was a prime example -- most major social mediums attempted to censor it among other things from the general soci…

Which specific parts of the Constitution would you change?

Re: The Privacy Revolution in Action

#19

Post by snaky »

spking wrote: post #18
rasengan wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You hit the nail on the head. The method they are using is take advantage of the size and complexity of our society -- if they make subtle changes in small silos within our society, we will fail to notice as very few people watch the world at such a macro-level. > people's neglect of these issues SJ Res 34 was a prime example -- most major social mediums attempted to censor it among other things from the general soci…

Which specific parts of the Constitution would you change?

Rewrite it to something like that, I suppose.

> The constitution repealed restrictions on voting and added universal direct suffrage and the right to work to rights guaranteed by the previous constitution. In addition, the constitution recognized collective social and economic rights including the rights to work, rest and leisure, health protection, care in old age and sickness, housing, education and cultural benefits.

Re: The Privacy Revolution in Action

#20

Post by raintrees »

Bruce Schneier's most recent newsletter had an excerpt that shows a fictional account of this playing out at the Nation-State level: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2018/08/future_cyberw...

This would seem to me to be the next logical step, given what humans have now in information collection and what can be done with current tools...

Post reply on HN