The opt-out illusion: how we have acquiesced to losing our privacy
1–10 of 150 posts
Re: The opt-out illusion: how we have acquiesced to losing our privacy
#2Is that... a loading screen for a text-based news website? Christ.
Re: The opt-out illusion: how we have acquiesced to losing our privacy
#3Is that... a loading screen for a text-based news website? Christ.
Funny how a text based website doesn't work without JS.
Re: The opt-out illusion: how we have acquiesced to losing our privacy
#4Is that... a loading screen for a text-based news website? Christ.
Funny how a text based website doesn't work without JS.
It's amazing how many sites won't even load nor give you a warning when you just opt out of JS (e.g. by using an addon like NoScript). Even very big ones, like twitch.
Re: The opt-out illusion: how we have acquiesced to losing our privacy
#5Earlier quoted context omitted.
Funny how a text based website doesn't work without JS.
It's amazing how many sites won't even load nor give you a warning when you just opt out of JS (e.g. by using an addon like NoScript). Even very big ones, like twitch.
Twitch I can see. Very complicated interface and chat setup. But I was surprised to see a warning on stackoverflow.
Re: The opt-out illusion: how we have acquiesced to losing our privacy
#6Is that... a loading screen for a text-based news website? Christ.
Funny how a text based website doesn't work without JS.
Ironically, an excellent demonstration of the "opt-out illusion" as applied to JS.
It's not one of those sites where the content can be easily found in the source of the page either. The latter appears to be, at a cursory inspection, consist of tracking scripts, furthering the irony of this demonstration.
At least a site that calls itself "the TLS" is served via HTTPS...
Re: The opt-out illusion: how we have acquiesced to losing our privacy
#7I have been mulling cancelling my Facebook account for a while now. Today as I was browsing I saw several Scientology ads. I know Facebook doesn't have an agenda per se - you have the money, they have the adspace - but I was still struck by the brazenness of advertising something whose ethical dubiousness has been so thoroughly publicized.
Facebook will never change unless they are forced to. We have signed away perhaps one of the most important experiments ever in digital social networking to a behemoth that chips away at your humanity the longer you stay on it. People who think I'm being dramatic almost always underestimate exactly how much data Facebook, Google, et al. collect on you and the extent to which they use it to manipulate you emotionally or with your wallet. Every facet of Facebook is designed to coerce you into an addiction that results in you spending more and more time on the site while you consume ever more advertising content.
These enormous tech companies are kind of like the fast food of the Internet. They have erased individuality and served us an experience that is mass produced and shrink wrapped for our convenience. It's delicious and addictive, but we keep being told lies about the quality and safety of what we are consuming. We've become so reliant on it we've forgotten how to cook, if you'll extend the metaphor.
I increasingly hate a lot of the what the Internet is. I always feel watched and directed to the point where I have trouble trusting what I'm reading, like watching manufactured drama in a reality TV show. I'm planning on setting up my own website as an expressive space where I can go to be creative and try to consume thoughtful content and (hopefully) make thoughtful content for people in return. I'm hoping there's a world of expressiveness and fun to be had in interacting with people on the Internet on one's own terms.
Hope it turns out well!
Re: The opt-out illusion: how we have acquiesced to losing our privacy
#8>But the pop-up won’t let us pass without clicking “agree”. Opting out is an illusion.
I mean this is a weird way to phrase it but you definitely cannot participate in modern society without hindering yourself in various meaningful ways if you do not "opt-in" to giving up your privacy. "Opt-in" requirements have consequently struck me as "privacy theatre" which mostly irritates.
I don't see any solution for the current privacy situation other than regulation and enough liability attached to data breaches to make hoarding customer data a good way to go bankrupt.
Re: The opt-out illusion: how we have acquiesced to losing our privacy
#9I have been mulling cancelling my Facebook account for a while now. Today as I was browsing I saw several Scientology ads. I know Facebook doesn't have an agenda per se - you have the money, they have the adspace - but I was still struck by the brazenness of advertising something whose ethical dubiousness has been so thoroughly publicized. Facebook will never change unless they are forced to. We have signed away perh…
I deleted mine a couple years ago and I haven’t regretted it or missed it at all, though I agonized over the decision for a long time because of fomo.
Re: The opt-out illusion: how we have acquiesced to losing our privacy
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
Funny how a text based website doesn't work without JS.
It's amazing how many sites won't even load nor give you a warning when you just opt out of JS (e.g. by using an addon like NoScript). Even very big ones, like twitch.
I don't see how you could remove JS from twitch without gutting a huge chunk of the functionality.