11–20 of 44 posts
My first thought was this scenario: Company A with software X. Employees from Company A defect to Company B and "recreate" software X. Hence Traitorware! Have to start clicking before thinking. But getting on track with topic, we could also consider cookies a somewhat primitive form of Traitorware...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Cookies are often used for good. Based on the examples in the article, "traitorware" as herein termed is a specific implementation of a technology that betrays its user, and not the component parts that make up that software. So, a cookie may be part of traitorware (say, an ad network that tracks your movements across every page it can (Facebook)), but cookies themselves are not traitorware.
Facebook tracks your movement across every page with a Facebook asset? Does Google do something like this as well?
Many ad networks try that to varying degrees, Google may own or run some, I don't know.
> Traitorware is not some science-fiction vision of the future. It is the present. Indeed, the Sony rootkit dates back to 2005.
We're firmly in science-fiction territory and most everyone who would pay attention to this article knows it.
This reminds me of when the EFF pleaded with its audience not to buy an iPad. What good is a boycott by sympathetic developers going to do? Keep them from making web apps work well on the iPad, and giving developers tasked with building a business app that works well on an iPad a choice to keep using an open platform?
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I don't think most people know about this sort of thing. Most non-techies I've talked to are actually quite surprised about the printer thing: the idea that a printer would secretly print a pattern of light yellow dots on your paper that wasn't in your source file is very surprising to everyone I've mentioned it to. It's the sort of thing that's weird enough that some people think I must be telling them a conspiracy…
Yea, it's true. Companies aren't really acting in our best interests - probably the legals driving this one. It should also be mentioned that your car probably has a black box that records what you're doing - already used in many court cases.
Bullshit. My camera's serial number in the file is what enables me to get paid. When I want anonymity I'll use EXIFtool and wipe the metadata because I feel like it. EFF are annoyingly patronizing sometimes, and this is one of them.
Bullshit. My camera's serial number in the file is what enables me to get paid. When I want anonymity I'll use EXIFtool and wipe the metadata because I feel like it. EFF are annoyingly patronizing sometimes, and this is one of them.
The EXIF metadata is a problem for people who would like anonymity and don't know how to use EXIFtool. The EFF is concerned with them, not outliers like you.
I love the coining of this word - let's claim the language high ground on this. Do mainstream people even know/care about this yet?
We are losing this battle because very few people care about privacy any more.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yea, it's true. Companies aren't really acting in our best interests - probably the legals driving this one. It should also be mentioned that your car probably has a black box that records what you're doing - already used in many court cases.
I've heard of trucks being equipped with black boxes to ensure that employees aren't slacking off on the job, but that's the 1st I've heard about cars. Wouldn't surprise me though.
I love the coining of this word - let's claim the language high ground on this. Do mainstream people even know/care about this yet?
Most people don't care about things like this at all. Look at how many of them happily use Facebook. If Apple put in a warning screen that said, "Angry Birds is requesting the following information: your location, your contact list, and your phone number. Is that ok?", then I would bet at least 90% of the users would just click "sure, no problem". We are losing this battle because very few people care about privacy a…
... and that makes selling the whole "if you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide" thing a lot easier.