11–20 of 458 posts
Is this even reasonable?
So, can you use macOS offline for extended periods of time?
A common refrain in arguments that we don't need laws to protect privacy is that the market will take care of it. The market can't act against what it can't see. Privacy loss is often irreversible. A common refrain in arguments that we don't need to reject closed source software to protect privacy is that being closed source doesn't hide the behaviour, and people will still notice backdoors and privacy leaks. Sometim…
> The market can't act against what it can't see. Privacy loss is often irreversible. You're not wrong, but on the other hand has "the market" shown any serious signal that it cares about privacy? From what I can see people seem more than glad to trade privacy and personal information for free services and cheaper hardware. Take Samsung putting ads on their "smart" TV's UI and screenshotting what people are watching…
Depends on what you consider a serious signal of care. If 'voting with you wallet' is the measure, increasing levels of income inequality, stagnant wages, weakening employee rights through the gig-economy, etc. are effectively taking away that choice, as most market participants cannot afford to make the choice.
Also, what is the paid alternative to Apple or Google photos that allows me to have the same end user experience, without giving up my privacy? "the market" doesn't even have such an offer that I can see. The closest I can find (and that's through here) is photostructure.com, and even that's lacking all the local-ML-foo that makes Apple/Google photos a compelling option over anything else.
> Take Samsung putting ads on their "smart" TV's UI and screenshotting what people are watching for profiling, that's been known for a while now.
Known by who? I'd wager a year's salary that >50% of Samsung TV owners (and bump that number up to >75% of Samsung TV users) do not know this is happening.
"Privacy is not a feature".
A common refrain in arguments that we don't need laws to protect privacy is that the market will take care of it. The market can't act against what it can't see. Privacy loss is often irreversible. A common refrain in arguments that we don't need to reject closed source software to protect privacy is that being closed source doesn't hide the behaviour, and people will still notice backdoors and privacy leaks. Sometim…
> The market can't act against what it can't see. Privacy loss is often irreversible. You're not wrong, but on the other hand has "the market" shown any serious signal that it cares about privacy? From what I can see people seem more than glad to trade privacy and personal information for free services and cheaper hardware. Take Samsung putting ads on their "smart" TV's UI and screenshotting what people are watching…
I'd argue that's more of what parent was talking about with regards to visibility.
"Privacy" isn't something anyone can see. What you see are the effects of a lack of privacy.
Given the dark market around personal data (albeit less in the EU), how are consumers to attribute effects to specific privacy breaches?
If Apple sells my app history privately to a credit score bureau, and I'm denied a credit card despite having a stellar FICO, how am I supposed to connect those dots?
However, it's not an isolated problem. It feels that every other week something happens that undermines my confidence in Macbook as good device for making music.
A common refrain in arguments that we don't need laws to protect privacy is that the market will take care of it. The market can't act against what it can't see. Privacy loss is often irreversible. A common refrain in arguments that we don't need to reject closed source software to protect privacy is that being closed source doesn't hide the behaviour, and people will still notice backdoors and privacy leaks. Sometim…
> The market can't act against what it can't see. Privacy loss is often irreversible. You're not wrong, but on the other hand has "the market" shown any serious signal that it cares about privacy? From what I can see people seem more than glad to trade privacy and personal information for free services and cheaper hardware. Take Samsung putting ads on their "smart" TV's UI and screenshotting what people are watching…
Your average consumer doesn’t know the extent of what they’re trading. Take Facebook, even with high profile stories and documentaries it’s reasonable for your average consumer to assume that what Facebook tracks about them is what they actively give to Facebook themselves.
I’ve had conversations with people that say, “I rarely even post on Facebook” and “If they want to monitor pictures of my food/dog/etc whatever who cares”, without any solid understanding of what even having the app installed alone is giving Facebook.
A common refrain in arguments that we don't need laws to protect privacy is that the market will take care of it. The market can't act against what it can't see. Privacy loss is often irreversible. A common refrain in arguments that we don't need to reject closed source software to protect privacy is that being closed source doesn't hide the behaviour, and people will still notice backdoors and privacy leaks. Sometim…
As the ecosystem grows, the cost of switching increases. Therefore market starts acting more and more inefficiently.
This is why countries have state intervention in such cases. And anti trust exists.
If the option was a mac with privacy vs a mac without privacy but $10 cheaper, I'd think the market would pick the mac with privacy. No such choice within the budget exists, and if a company has a monopoly on the ecosystem, then the market cannot react when held hostage. The cost to transition to a different ecosystem is thousands of $'s when you've been using a mac your entire life. It's not like you'd want to relearn many things when you get older, perhaps the sunk cost fallacy as many would define it.
It's a bundled deal, it's not like you can pick the parts you like and throw away the ones you don't like it would be in an efficient market.
If even someone like me cannot be bothered to move to more privacy friendly platforms, then I don't have hope for other people. It's just not worth it. Until the majority face the consequences of their apathy, any action you take is fruitless. Let them taste the pain, then offer the solution.
I know I can be tracked. So what? I can't verify the silicon in my device, can I? Gotta trust someone, maybe blockchain will solve the problem of trust among humans, in a verifiable way.