Live data from Hacker News

Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min

bbc.com

231–240 of 799 posts

Re: Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min

#231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> can’t lay off someone to replace them with AI This measure would either be toothless or it would make it impossible for the most toxic (non-criminal) team members to be fired.

> or it would make it impossible for the most toxic (non-criminal) team members to be fired. The issue at present is that everyone is being laid off. If we accept this anti-union trope, let's t least accept that it is strictly better than the current situation where no job is safe.

In my native country unions have crippled the job market and most of my peers don’t see any benefit from them, we actually hate them for the most part.

Unions are just another way to find a single solution that fits everyone and we all know how that turns out. They’re just be another bureaucratic institution for corrupt politicians.

Tons of evidence out there, especially in EU.

Re: Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min

#232
post #51

I have a serious question to anyone working at Meta and reading this: HOW can you still work at this company!? Why don't you quit this very toxic company, and start working at another place or even on your own? I genuinely don't understand... Let just Meta die!

Post some links to companies hiring at similar compensation levels. Or, are you suggesting that every Meta employee is in a position to just like off of any random job they can find, or even no income at all while they go off "on their own"?

Sometimes you need to realize you need to choose between having the cake and eating it.

Re: Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min

#233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you do that on the employer-provided device? I just use another laptop and my smartphone. I am even using headphones if I want to listen to something for privacy, no idea if my company would go as far as recording from my microphone but I am not willing to take the risk.

You bring a personal laptop to work with you?

I have been working from home for the last 8 years but when meeting the team onsite I have seen people bringing small personal laptops and ipads so it seems quite common. Those days at the office were so sporadic that I could do with my smartphone only.

Re: Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min

#234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think we need to unionize, across companies. We need to be able to block stuff like this, and to be able to demand that you can’t lay off someone to replace them with AI (bringing US workers rights up to the bar set by China). We also need to be able to hold our leadership to some kind of code of ethics. I don’t want to work for a company that makes kill bots, or can renege on climate pledges.

The best way to unionize is to follow what Mahatma Gandhi did: Non-cooperation movement. It consists of two broad strategies: 1. Consumer Non-Cooperation (Boycott): Boycott of stuff sold, or given by these companies, irrespective of how attractive it is. 2. The Constructive Program (Self-Reliance): Building and supporting alternatives, even if they cost you a little bit more. All it needs is little self-discipline an…

Massive individually coordinated group actions only work is very dire circumstances which means for most everyday things they cannot be relied upon.

Re: Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min

#235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is more to life than money. I've turned down FANG roles my entire career, especially Meta. There is lot of work out there.

Lol you've turned down offers or recruiter reach outs? Two very different things lololol.

I turned down a 285k/yr +MM RSU staff engr offer from Google in 2021.

I’d probably still be in that job and would have a few million in the bank (instead of $10,000) if I had taken it, but I would have sold out my principles.

So yes some of us live by principles

Re: Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min

#236

I don't work for Meta, but how many more years do I need to work in tech? I'm in my 40s and my kids are young. I've already set up 529s for them, and am paying for some expensive home upgrades. Maybe when that is finished and I've built up a buffer I can switch industries for the last 5-10 years of my working life. Curious if anyone here has any similar plans.

I quit tech at 40. I still do cool things with technology, but now at a community-owned grocery co-op. I can't recommend leaving tech highly enough. My cortisol levels are so much lower than they used to be. I don't have to schedule my life around EMEA and APAC meetings outside of my normal hours. I only work more than 40 hours a week if I feel like it, which I sometimes do, because I actually enjoy my work now. I ma…

>I had been used to six figure salaries

Great post but this is what it reduces to.

99% of people on the planet work because they have to work, not because they want to work.

This is hardly news for anybody but it still has to be pointed out from time to time.

Re: Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min

#238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You bring a personal laptop to work with you?

I have been working from home for the last 8 years but when meeting the team onsite I have seen people bringing small personal laptops and ipads so it seems quite common. Those days at the office were so sporadic that I could do with my smartphone only.

I've never seen anyone do that across almost two decades in tech, it's a security risk that would absolutely get you the wrong kind of attention in an organization that takes itself seriously.

Re: Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min

#239

I have a serious question to anyone working at Meta and reading this: HOW can you still work at this company!? Why don't you quit this very toxic company, and start working at another place or even on your own? I genuinely don't understand... Let just Meta die!

People always answer this question with money. But if we think of it as a version of the prisoner dilemma (Meta is one prisoner, the employee is the other), the right move is probably to work somewhere else for a lower salary. By working for Meta, they are defecting against you (openly screen recording you to train your AI replacement). Choosing to work somewhere else would be like you defecting against Meta. Extreme…

After 5 years, you'll have an extra $1M in savings, and you can safely pay yourself 4% or $40k each year in perpetuity without doing any work.

This is also a really extreme version of the prisoners dilemma. In the standard formula, there are 2 prisoners, so it's somewhat practical to not defect, but there are hundreds of thousands of qualified candidates for working at Meta in these roles, so your personal decision to defect or not has likely no effect on the ultimate outcome. I.e. for the second option to work, you actually need to organize a unified labor movement with no defectors, which is probably impossible.

Re: Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min

#240
post #207

I don't work for Meta, but how many more years do I need to work in tech? I'm in my 40s and my kids are young. I've already set up 529s for them, and am paying for some expensive home upgrades. Maybe when that is finished and I've built up a buffer I can switch industries for the last 5-10 years of my working life. Curious if anyone here has any similar plans.

Already did it. Own a coffee shop now. I still do some tech work, but it's mostly for my own use.

Does it make a profit? I looked into it but the startup and running costs means I would have to sell more than 100 pretty expensive coffees per day just to break even.
Post reply on HN