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ICE seeks industry input on ad tech location data for investigative use

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Re: ICE seeks industry input on ad tech location data for investigative use

#41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't lump me in that "we". I did no such thing. I know exactly how it could be abused and have spent 12 years intentionally not working for companies that perpetuate it.

Well I guess I mean the pubic in general. I also don’t necessarily mean willfully creating technology that can be abused. For example, we all stood by when we let Twitter and other US-based social media become the main way politicians communicate with the public. This has, in my opinion, had disastrous consequences on how they communicate and actively blocks politicians from achieving consensus. This is to say that y…

I think that expecting the public to reason through the myriad n-order effects that were going to happen from the whiplash of technology in the last 30 years is a little much.

However, I think a lot of people in tech could and did see those consequences coming and were pretty vocal about it. So, I don't think we all did stand by, we exercised what limited power we had. I don't want to seem accusatory here and I don't mean it harshly, but maybe you just didn't see the folks who have talked about problems like this.

We also as individuals [without billions] have fairly limited capacity to directly act against these things. I donate a fair bit to the EFF for instance and I've sent outreach to representatives multiple times over the years for specific bills and when its possible I vote against surveillance.

Re: ICE seeks industry input on ad tech location data for investigative use

#43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But those tools buy Teslas and $8 donuts and cardboard apartments in trendy neighborhoods for people too young to understand how money works.

Quite the high horse you got there

Considering there are hundreds or thousands of users on this site who have taken cash—either directly or indirectly—in exchange for building the world's most egregious examples of privacy-abusing software that were formerly only memes in 80s sci-fi movies. Yet they choose to focus their energy on getting upset over things they don't understand and can't control—like immigration enforcement.

No, my conscience is clean.

Re: ICE seeks industry input on ad tech location data for investigative use

#44

Hopefully this is a wakeup call to the software engineers and other employees at those companies - it's no longer a hypothetical future where the tools you are building might be abused, it's today.

NARRATOR: It wasn’t.

Re: ICE seeks industry input on ad tech location data for investigative use

#45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s worth pointing out that a non-insignificant subset of tech workers know the impacts and still don’t give a fuck though.

Is it worth pointing out? It seems counterproductive to respond to a call to action by sarcastically complaining about the people being called to action.

The call is coming from inside the house.

Re: ICE seeks industry input on ad tech location data for investigative use

#46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But those tools buy Teslas and $8 donuts and cardboard apartments in trendy neighborhoods for people too young to understand how money works.

Quite the high horse you got there

Hey there, I quit a job over similar concerns, knowing it would lead to a >70% decrease in comp. Without a significant nest egg or wealth, whether personal or through family.

Now let me say the same: But those tools buy Teslas and $8 donuts and cardboard apartments in trendy neighborhoods for people too young to understand how money works.

There, now there's no longer a high horse concern.

Re: ICE seeks industry input on ad tech location data for investigative use

#48
post #3

This is why you must block all ads always. No exceptions.

Do one better, block ads and give them false data on your profile using a solution like Ad Nauseam.

Ad Nauseam unironically gives ad networks massively more information and data points to track you than if you just straight up blocked the ads.

Re: ICE seeks industry input on ad tech location data for investigative use

#49
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

That implies a crime was committed. I think you’ll find people on HN fairly unsupportive of population wide surveillance. Getting a warrant from a judge is far better than ICE doing what they’re currently doing.

> I think you’ll find people on HN fairly unsupportive of population wide surveillance

Lately I'm not sure that's the case.

Re: ICE seeks industry input on ad tech location data for investigative use

#50

Hopefully this is a wakeup call to the software engineers and other employees at those companies - it's no longer a hypothetical future where the tools you are building might be abused, it's today.

[flagged]

"It is an interesting and somewhat macabre parlor game to play at a large gathering of [hackernews readers]: to speculate who in a showdown would go Nazi."

https://harpers.org/archive/1941/08/who-goes-nazi/

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