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Why we should end the data economy

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Re: Why we should end the data economy

#311

Post by notamy »

SavantIdiot wrote: post #80
cs702 wrote: post #54

No one sane would ever want their relatives, friends, work colleagues, and neighbors to be able to know (quoting from the OP): > who you sleep with because both you and the person you share your bed with keep your phones nearby > whether you sleep soundly at night or whether your troubles are keeping you up > whether you pick up your phone in the middle of the night and search for things like "loan repayment" > your…

This is a great list. SO many times people have said to me, "Let them track me, I've got nothing to hide." And you hit them with a few things off this list and they immediately change their mind. There should be a tinurl for website I can send people to that shows a simple list of all the ways personal information can be used.

> There should be a tinurl for website I can send people to that shows a simple list of all the ways personal information can be used.

I just now set up a small site for it at https://whynottrack.com/! It's open source -- GitHub link in the footer -- so anyone can PR changes / reasons / etc.

Re: Why we should end the data economy

#312

Post by _vertigo »

anm89 wrote: post #2

Explaining to people what they should do regarding matters that there are no ways to achieve the stated goals is the laziest, lowest value category of journalism. It's a plague.

You can point out a problem without having a solution. Part of the reason why this issue feels unsolvable is that people don't really care enough to do anything. A piece of journalism that makes people care more is a step in the right direction.

Re: Why we should end the data economy

#313

Post by thegagne »

saddlerustle wrote: post #249
zikduruqe wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You cellular company has first party signal data, that even the big tech companies don't have.

All the internet access examples on that list would use encrypted connections, so a cellular company wouldn't be privy. Cellular companies do have course location data, but to be pedantic that doesn't really apply to any of OP's list.

Server name indicator from ssl is not encrypted and neither are most dns queries.

Re: Why we should end the data economy

#314

Post by path2power »

TchoBeer wrote: post #285
fuckyouriotshit wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I never heard any convincing argument about why privacy has value. You have either _never_ had to keep a secret (which I highly doubt, unless you happen to be a literal child) or you simply aren't arguing in good faith. Assuming that you are arguing in good faith, let's consider a potential reason why someone might value their privacy: Some people are born attracted to the same-sex (gay, lesbian, bi, pan, etc.). Th…

Obviously the problem is laws that outlaw homosexuality and not a lack of privacy.

To the people whose lives are at stake, what difference does it make?

Re: Why we should end the data economy

#316

Post by 2dog »

I'm in the data business, this article is wrong on many levels but whatever...

The biggest faux pas is "your PII is sold to the highest bidder". Not true, your PII (and mine) is sold to any bidder who hits the minimum threshold/rate, currently less the 12cents CPM

Re: Why we should end the data economy

#317

Post by eropple »

saddlerustle wrote: post #249
zikduruqe wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You cellular company has first party signal data, that even the big tech companies don't have.

All the internet access examples on that list would use encrypted connections, so a cellular company wouldn't be privy. Cellular companies do have course location data, but to be pedantic that doesn't really apply to any of OP's list.

> use encrypted connections

TLS SNI.

Re: Why we should end the data economy

#318

Post by pezezin »

cs702 wrote: post #54

No one sane would ever want their relatives, friends, work colleagues, and neighbors to be able to know (quoting from the OP): > who you sleep with because both you and the person you share your bed with keep your phones nearby > whether you sleep soundly at night or whether your troubles are keeping you up > whether you pick up your phone in the middle of the night and search for things like "loan repayment" > your…

> how fast you drive, even if you don't have a smart car, because your phone contains an accelerometer

Minor nitpick: you can't measure speed with an accelerometer, at least not with a cheap one like the one in your phone. I mean, in theory you can numerically integrate the acceleration to get the speed, but in practice the noise will be so big as to render the result useless after a few seconds. It's much better to have a GPS and derive the speed from the position.

Signed: someone who spent too long programming an IMU and fighting with stupid bosses full of misconceptions.

Other than that, I totally agree with your comment.

Re: Why we should end the data economy

#319

Post by [deleted] »

xibalba wrote: post #173
cs702 wrote: post #54

No one sane would ever want their relatives, friends, work colleagues, and neighbors to be able to know (quoting from the OP): > who you sleep with because both you and the person you share your bed with keep your phones nearby > whether you sleep soundly at night or whether your troubles are keeping you up > whether you pick up your phone in the middle of the night and search for things like "loan repayment" > your…

Would you please demonstrate to me how I, Joe Q. Public, can find out, via collected data that I can access, with whom another person is sleeping with? Or, in lieu of that, walk me through how that would be done with Facebook's, Google's, or Apple's data via your first-hand knowledge of those data and where and how they are stored and accessed? These fear mongering comments about data collection have never demonstrat…

[deleted]

Re: Why we should end the data economy

#320

Post by z77dj3kl »

pezezin wrote: post #318
cs702 wrote: post #54

No one sane would ever want their relatives, friends, work colleagues, and neighbors to be able to know (quoting from the OP): > who you sleep with because both you and the person you share your bed with keep your phones nearby > whether you sleep soundly at night or whether your troubles are keeping you up > whether you pick up your phone in the middle of the night and search for things like "loan repayment" > your…

> how fast you drive, even if you don't have a smart car, because your phone contains an accelerometer Minor nitpick: you can't measure speed with an accelerometer, at least not with a cheap one like the one in your phone. I mean, in theory you can numerically integrate the acceleration to get the speed, but in practice the noise will be so big as to render the result useless after a few seconds. It's much better to…

I'm pretty sure it'd be easy to at least fingerprint/classify your "driving style" given enough of even crappy accelerometer data.
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