101–110 of 360 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sorry to sidetrack here -- but any good recommendations for paid VPNs?
Why would you trust a VPN provider more than your ISP?
Disclaimer: I work for Google and these views are only my opinion, etc. From my perspective, Google's goals are aligned with improving the world by offering information services. Search, Gmail, Maps, Translate, basically all of the Other Bets, etc.--it's easy to imagine that the people behind them are more concerned with impact on the world than on generating profit or consolidating Google's power. To me, Facebook ha…
Google's idea of improving the world is hardly apolitical. Consider the YouTube rule changes on firearms -- whether or not they improve the world is going to depend on your views, but Google is surely throwing its weight around in a political way.
Your ISP tracking your every move is scarier than all of them after the ISP privacy bill passed. At least Facebook and Google give you something for it and you can route around them if you desire. No routing around ISPs unless you use a VPN but even then they are blocking those. Broadband/cable/telcos capture everything you do and can now sell that information and do[1]. That bill was the pre-cursor to removing net n…
No. Which company is more powerful with your information? That little ISP who has no real use of it, or Google, the most powerful ad agency with ties to American agencies in the world? You may be able to bypass Google but almost everybody else won't. It's time to open your eyes for what they are.
Not to be rude, but you clearly don't work in advertising or know much about it.
The major ISPs already create profiles on users & sell them to agencies & the like for physiographic profiles.
This is why Verizon's "Super-Cookie" -- not really a cookie, but a forced modification of all HTTP headers by the ISP to enable universal tracking of their users -- was all about.
https://www.theverge.com/2016/3/7/11173010/verizon-supercook...
Google is scarier in terms of its capabilities, but it's starting from a more solid ethical foundation.
I feel like this is a piece that people elide pretty frequently. The Google founders have spoken about tons of things over the years, and consistently come across as being principled and passionate, even if your moral foundation is different from theirs. Zuckerberg, on the other hand, set the tone with the "dumb fucks" IM and has only recently gotten better at not projecting contempt for his users. I honestly couldn'…
Sergey cheated on his wife with a Google employee (who was like 20 years younger and dating another executive) and got a widely publicized divorce [2]. We don't have transcripts for Sergey and Page, but how do we know they didn't also think their users were "dumb fucks", or weren't nice people in college?
I am of the opinion that to become a billionaire you have to step on a lot of people; I am not one to think that Zuckerberg or Bill Gates are moral guides for anyone, and this very much applies to Page and Brin too.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priscilla_Chan_(philanthropist...
[2]: http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/entertainment/life-aft...
EDIT:
> I honestly couldn't even pin down what his ethical foundations are, given that they seem to swing with the tides of public opinion and what PR message is currently convenient
Two points on this:
1. Google's mission is to "organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful". What's the "ethical foundation" behind that? Do we know this will make the world a better place? "Useful" for whom?
2. Both Google and Facebook are advertising companies. They optimize to sell ads.
Google can be used without logging in or tracking.
That is the critical difference for me - to use Facebook you have to actively be part of the social graph and share your identity. Google wants you to sign in, but you don't have to (apart from Gmail etc)
To block tracking from most people you can:
* Block third party cookies in your browser.
* Use DuckDuckGo.
* Block ads.
* Use a VPN (to get differing IP addresses).
This will neuter 99% of tracking approaches that rely on cookies, IP matching, purchase history, or being logged in. For Google and others too. Some will use more exotic approaches to tracking (e.g. canvas fingerprints) but there is a browser extension arms race to handle that.
The first 3 of those things take 90 seconds to do once then forget about and never deal with again. It's not hard. VPNs are more commitment and come with their own problems, but add some extra obfuscation. If you don't want to use android then obviously you can get another phone. Firefox is viable again these days.
There are fewer and fewer excuses for this attitude - Google is not inescapable IMO, but you cannot escape Facebook if you want to use it.
It just comes down to how much you care and how much you value their services - you might need to ask yourself some hard questions about what you really value and what you are prepared to go without before complaining about how these companies are run in order to offer you free services.
(views are my own opinion)
edit: perhaps I wasn't clear: ad blockers and/or disallowing third party cookies will prevent Facebook like buttons (or tracking pixels from other parties) from tracking you as effectively, especially if you cycle your IP addresses with a VPN. You just look like a totally different user each time.
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I'm very happy to pay them, just like a utility.
I don't feel like many people would though, even if it was a one-time $0.99 purchase.
Maybe, maybe not. But, it would be a wasted opportunity not to kill Facebook right now because the political will of the resist-trump crowd makes the attempt more likely to succeed.
They'd definitely hop in and try at a social network again too. They have your voice, your live location, your email, your texts, your photos including a model of your face, your search history, your youtube viewing preferences, and they wouldn't miss the chance to hop in for your social graph and "likes" too.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why would you trust a VPN provider more than your ISP?
Your ISP is a near-monopoly with vast wealth and political connections, and no trust to lose. A VPN is used by a much smaller group of people who will ditch them en masse if any hanky panky comes to light. There is a ton of competition in the VPN space, and they’re mostly selling the same product, so if they lose trust, they’re done. TL;DR Very different incentives
That's not true for many parts of the world, especially Central/Eastern Europe.
$ whois AS204880
Yikes.