It's Time to Panic About Privacy • Hacker News Board

Re: It's Time to Panic About Privacy

#61

Post by Infernal » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 5:08 PM UTC

mherrmann wrote: post #36

This was surprisingly weak. Security cameras? Who cares? Here's what we really should be worried about: Google. They know everything . Our browsing history. Probably which porn sites we visit. Our emails. Which services we use. Our passwords (if stored in Chrome). Our schedule. Where we are and where we're going (Maps). Security cameras? Laughable. Google (and to some extent FB, Microsoft and Amazon) is where the dan…

All that /plus/ security cameras. My neighbor just got a Nest outdoor camera that necessarily captures part of my driveway and front yard. That felt kinda creepy but, hey, security is good? (they had gotten burgled recently)

And then a few days later he off-handedly commented about the time I left for work that morning.... what a gross feeling.

Re: It's Time to Panic About Privacy

#62

Post by qnsi » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 5:12 PM UTC

SmellyGeekBoy wrote: post #43

mherrmann wrote: post #36

This was surprisingly weak. Security cameras? Who cares? Here's what we really should be worried about: Google. They know everything . Our browsing history. Probably which porn sites we visit. Our emails. Which services we use. Our passwords (if stored in Chrome). Our schedule. Where we are and where we're going (Maps). Security cameras? Laughable. Google (and to some extent FB, Microsoft and Amazon) is where the dan…

> Google (and to some extent FB, Microsoft and Amazon) is where the danger lies. Not that it excuses the behaviour of the others of course but Facebook is by far the worst offender in this list. They've been repeatedly and consistently caught misusing the data they collect. At least Google are only using it to sell better targeted advertising (for now). Facebook is also the easiest to avoid.

For me personaly its hard to avoid FB. All my friends talk via messenger and they invite me to events using FB. I can use DDG, Fastmail and Firefox, but I cant so easily ditch FB

Re: It's Time to Panic About Privacy

#63

Post by brentadamson » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 5:16 PM UTC

StavrosK wrote: post #39

mherrmann wrote: post #36

This was surprisingly weak. Security cameras? Who cares? Here's what we really should be worried about: Google. They know everything . Our browsing history. Probably which porn sites we visit. Our emails. Which services we use. Our passwords (if stored in Chrome). Our schedule. Where we are and where we're going (Maps). Security cameras? Laughable. Google (and to some extent FB, Microsoft and Amazon) is where the dan…

So switch off them. Fastmail is better than Gmail, Firefox is better than Chrome, DuckDuckGo is pretty good, etc. Even switching some stuff is better than not switching any of it.

I run Jive Search so I might be biased: How is DuckDuckGo any more private than Google? They are similarly closed source and just as opaque.

Re: It's Time to Panic About Privacy

#64

Post by profstasiak » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 5:17 PM UTC

sevensor wrote: post #26

jlc wrote: post #6

I wonder if there's an interesting essay behind that interface. I'll never know.

There's not. I use w3m, so there was no annoyance other than a very lightweight argument and a call for panic. Panic does not make for good public policy. Don't panic. Text follows: Privacy is a thing we all say we want. You get mad when it’s invaded or mishandled. Say, when Equifax leaks your credit info, when your nudes show up on 4chan or when your health data is held ransom. But privacy is also something a lot of…

This is soft paywalled (you get few articles a month) so you are sharing text that is not freely available

Re: It's Time to Panic About Privacy

#65

Post by jak92 » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 5:26 PM UTC

js2 wrote: post #40

Imgur version for folks who are having trouble with the interactivity: https://imgur.com/a/ibC1RZa

Thanks, but javascript still required for the album..

Re: It's Time to Panic About Privacy

#66

Post by WalterSear » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 5:27 PM UTC

toasterlovin wrote: post #54

StavrosK wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So switch off them. Fastmail is better than Gmail, Firefox is better than Chrome, DuckDuckGo is pretty good, etc. Even switching some stuff is better than not switching any of it.

Seriously people, Duck Duck Go is fine for most work-a-day search. I occasionally use Google search for some obscure technical stuff, but that's it.

IME, Duck Duck Go is not a usable alternative - for any 'kind' of searching. And not because it knows less about me: I would copy text directly from a web page and not have it show up.

It's particularly bad for academic journal searches. Since those pages change so infrequently, this points to further shortcomings in the breadth of their search methods. Ostensibly, they are polling 'many' sources, but whatever their strategy, it's not working.

Re: It's Time to Panic About Privacy

#67

Post by yoz » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 5:33 PM UTC

mherrmann wrote: post #36

This was surprisingly weak. Security cameras? Who cares? Here's what we really should be worried about: Google. They know everything . Our browsing history. Probably which porn sites we visit. Our emails. Which services we use. Our passwords (if stored in Chrome). Our schedule. Where we are and where we're going (Maps). Security cameras? Laughable. Google (and to some extent FB, Microsoft and Amazon) is where the dan…

> Google (and to some extent FB, Microsoft and Amazon) is where the danger lies.

You can't point to any single company and blame them for this mess, because the problem is in the interactions /between/ companies. There are hundreds of companies you've never heard of whose entire business is the gathering and merging of data, then trading it with others. This isn't a surveillance state, it's a surveillance market, and that's a much harder thing to track.

Sure, it would be good and valuable to make the Big Names less dangerous. But it's important to understand: if you just cut G, F, A & M out of your life, you won't be much safer. Most of the data about you is being gathered from sources with which you have no easily-manageable relationship.

Re: It's Time to Panic About Privacy

#68

Post by defanor » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 5:43 PM UTC

noarchy wrote: post #11

Is there an article here? I couldn't navigate beyond the initial page.

Not exactly an article: it's more like a series of statements, and apparently requires JS to navigate (which is tricky even then). But more easily readable with CSS disabled (or in textual browsers with no CSS).

Re: It's Time to Panic About Privacy

#69

Post by whoopdedo » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 5:50 PM UTC

rchaud wrote: post #55

lotu wrote: post #24

This kinda feels like worrying about how the telephone would allow people to spread rumors and damaging information about each faster and further. Or perhaps discriminate against a potential job applicant based on their voice, instead only getting to see a letter. This feels like a non-tech person has realized what tech people realized 20 years ago. Technology makes everything we do faster and more efficient even if…

> This feels like a non-tech person has realized what tech people realized 20 years ago. Really? 20 years ago, tech people realized that billions would be carrying electronic devices that pinged their location and constantly phoned home to 6-10 large corporations?

Cell phones are older than 20 years. Those corporations were AT&T, MCI, Sprint, and GTE (I'm forgetting a few I'm sure). And shockingly, you could even have your conversations eavesdropped on by anyone with a $100 radio scanner.

So yes. Tech people have been aware of the privacy issues for a while.

Re: It's Time to Panic About Privacy

#70

Post by FakeComments » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 5:50 PM UTC

rchaud wrote: post #55

lotu wrote: post #24

This kinda feels like worrying about how the telephone would allow people to spread rumors and damaging information about each faster and further. Or perhaps discriminate against a potential job applicant based on their voice, instead only getting to see a letter. This feels like a non-tech person has realized what tech people realized 20 years ago. Technology makes everything we do faster and more efficient even if…

> This feels like a non-tech person has realized what tech people realized 20 years ago. Really? 20 years ago, tech people realized that billions would be carrying electronic devices that pinged their location and constantly phoned home to 6-10 large corporations?

In 1999 when Palm Pilots and Blackberries were there, showing a clear trend towards greater handheld power after things like brick cellphones and gameboys?

Yeah, that was the general consensus about what the future would be.