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Ilandar

@Ilandar@aussie.zone

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Is Privacy Worth It? (blog.thenewoil.org)

When I announced I would be closing my communities earlier this year, a curious thing happened: a surprising number of regulars replied with some variation of “I think this is my exit.” While some were specifically talking about Matrix, claiming that mine was the only room they were really active in and therefore they saw no...

Ilandar ,

That was an excellent read. I have often wondered myself how other people are going when I see them so adamant that they'll never use a mainstream social media/messaging service ever again and now refuse to be friends with anyone who does. I've heard "if my friends won't value my privacy, they're not real friends", or variations of it, so many times in privacy communities.

Ilandar ,

This is even more concerning (or funny, depending on how dark your humour is) when you realise that it will be replaced by AI-generated webpages. Humanity's presence on the internet is disappearing before our eyes.

Ilandar ,

I think the Wikipedia article needs to be updated to be honest. Continuing to describe it as a "conspiracy theory" is quite misleading given the phenomenon is already underway and only picking up pace.

Ilandar ,

groups are great at isolating you from the weird conspiracy theory public content in comments.

Joining groups is actually what drives people into those conspiracy black holes because of the way the recommendation algorithm is designed. It will recommended you more and more extreme groups because they are what keeps people using the platform for longer.

Ilandar ,

The thing people miss when they boast "wElL I DoNT uSe iT sO nOt mY pRoBlEm" is that an increasingly large proportion of our society does use these shit platforms, and for longer periods too. We have to live in this world with all the brainrotted zombies so it is actually our problem too.

Ilandar ,

Depends whether you're relying on the algorithm (recommendations) to find new groups or whether you're manually searching for and vetting these groups yourself. If it's the latter then it's not luck, that's a safe and smart approach to take with social media.

Ilandar ,

I would argue the opposite. These big companies have discovered what they believe to be the Holy Grail of technology (generative AI) and are now in a race unlike any seen before to deploy it as quickly as possible to the world and gain market dominance. Big tech is completely out of control right now, even the CEOs are describing it as "frantic" behind the scenes.

Ilandar ,

Oh, it will impact a lot more than one private search engine. Watch The AI Dilemma presentation given by Asa Razkin and Tristan Harris last year if you want an idea of what could be coming.

Ilandar ,

Slightly outdated already, with AutGPT being a thing.

That's the really disturbing thing and what makes this challenge so different to all others humanity has faced to date. I think Asa even referenced in the presentation that some of his slides were going out of date on a daily basis, that's how fast the technology was moving.

Coming to terms with no longer having privacy and control over my technology

I miss the days of VHS and DVD shelfs in homes, for example. If you bought the tapes and had them in your home, no corporate entity could alter those tapes without your consent, monitor how many times you watch them, sell your data to whomever they please without your knowledge, roll out new mandatory conditions to a 'user...

Ilandar ,

I understand and relate to how you feel and I hope these changes feel positive to you and not forced. Please remember that these values do not have to be absolutist in their implementation and that there is a place for "hypocrisy". No human is perfect and it's okay to make concessions if you are struggling with a complete lifestyle transformation. Too often I see people start down this path of full on zealotry only to rubber-band weeks or months later because it was just too difficult for them to maintain that level of commitment to whatever their cause was. Instead of readjusting to find a better balance, they give up entirely and then feel really miserable about the experience because it seems like the things they valued in life were completely unattainable. This is all just a long way of saying take care of yourself on the journey.

Ilandar , (edited )

I get where you're coming from and I have often felt the same. However recently I have been listening to a podcast called Your Undivided Attention which has given me a bit of optimism about the future. It's not specifically about digital privacy, but that is one of the areas they are aiming to improve through their advocacy for a more sustainable and ethical business model within the tech industry (as opposed to the surveillance capitalism we live with now).

It's really easy to feel like the fight for digital privacy is just an impossible one for people like us to win, because the tech industry has so many more resources at their disposal than us. So this podcast gives me a little more hope because it's an example of people from within that industry acknowledging that there is a problem and working together to brainstorm and advocate for solutions. It helps me to know that there are really smart and creative people out there who are on my side and dedicating their lives to finding solutions to the problems the tech industry is causing.

Ilandar ,

Agreed, I think it is a mistake to think we are somehow above it and that only stupid people fall for this stuff. The Social Dilemma explained this idea really well, I thought. One one side of the screen we have computers that are gaining power exponentially and constantly improving algorithms designed by graduates from the top universities in the world. On the other side of the screen is our monkey brain which has barely improved at all across hundreds of thousands of years. Who do you really think is going to win in that battle, particularly when we throw generative AI into the mix? Maybe I can sort the fake from the real today, but if we continue on the same trajectory then that is going to change very quickly.

Ilandar ,

Just be aware that everyone has a different idea of how much privacy they need and who/what from. Whilst it is absolutely true that there are more private custom ROMs available, that does not necessarily mean that /e/ is universally "bad for privacy". Depending on the extent to which you are attempting to deGoogle your life, it may be good enough.

Ilandar ,

Here's a comparison of the main ones. They are all good projects in their own right so take a look at their features and which phones they support. Some are focused more on hardcore security and privacy, while others are more casual in their implementation. Some only support Google Pixels while others support a pretty wide range of new and old devices.

Ilandar ,

"Who work for Telegram"

Ilandar ,

I am pretty over these videos of people whining about the amount of data big tech collects while refusing to move to alternatives because "muh convenience".

Ilandar ,

Some further clarification on the closed source thing from their FAQ:

Why is Magic Earth free? What is the business model?

Magic Earth is free for all our end-users but we also have a paid Magic Earth SDK for business partners. For instance Selectric.de (a supplier for navigation solutions for ambulances and fire trucks), Smarter AI (developing ADAS systems) or Absolute Cycling (using the platform on bicycles). For more info on the SDK, you can check magiclane.com.

Will Magic Earth be Open Source?

No; since it is also used commercially (we have a paid Magic Earth SDK for business partners), we cannot make the code public.

Ilandar ,

Well change can only be done through voicing disapproval first

Yes, but if you as the consumer never actually stop giving the company your money and/or data then there is little incentive for them to change. Just complaining by itself does absolutely nothing to a company the size of Google. You need to actually follow it up by using your limited power as a consumer to support an alternative. Only then, and if enough people do the same, will the first company consider making changes. If they don't, at least you are supporting an alternative project and helping it to improve so that it may one day feel like less of compromise.

Ilandar ,

Those people aren't complaining. The guy in the video specifically mentioned Open Street Maps as an alternative, but only in the context of "well maybe one day Google will go in this direction". He has zero interest in actually switching and ends up making a bunch or excuses justifying his Google Maps usage. He is not trying to be part of a solution here, he is just whining.

Ilandar ,

Can't you just open that in a web browser? Take the address, put it in an alternative map app. Problem solved.

Ilandar ,

Sorry, I'm a bit confused. Is your problem that you feel forced to use Google Maps? Or that you feel forced to ignore your friends because they use Google Maps? I assumed the former with my initial reply, but now it sounds like your have the latter problem.

Ilandar ,

Is that actually a problem for you? It's their life, they are free to do whatever they want. I'm trying to understand how this actually affects you since your original reply started with "the problem for me is...".

Ilandar , (edited )

The "user" reviews on Google Maps (and similar platforms like Yelp) can be fake. Go to the Fake Review Watch channel on YouTube or visit their website if you want to see real examples of this. This is a service that businesses of all sizes, all over the world are paying for - sometimes on a massive scale.

However if you still really want to rely on Google reviews, use GMaps WV.

Ilandar ,

I think they cause a lot of people psychological distress, either because they can't handle disagreements or because they interpret them as a personal attack. If this sounds like you (the person reading this comment), please do yourself a favour and disable scores in Lemmy's settings. You don't have to live with reddit's moronic upvote/downvote culture here.

Ilandar ,

It is neither, their AI search features only optional at this stage. It is one of the most private implementations of AI that I've seen though.

Ilandar ,

Privacy policies.

Ilandar OP ,

I'm not sure about that. The only examples given in the article of this actually "working" were from people directly advertising the product. The women in the videos are quite likely to be associates or paid actors, as is the case with most of this stuff on social media. The whole concept of the product relies on the misogynistic myth that women only care about money and/or fame, so to assume the app itself is actually working is kind of implying that you believe there is some truth to that myth.

Ilandar ,

The really interesting part of this article for me is the list of "mental tactics" Chinese people are using to distance themselves/cope with surveillance. I have heard every single one of those used by Westerners, some of them extremely frequently. Westerners often seem to believe that they are somehow immune to the type of mass surveillance you see in authoritarian states like China, but this suggests to me that we are actually extremely susceptible to it ourselves. The mindset already exists and we are already making those mental exceptions for civil liberties infringements in the name of "security" (government surveillance) or convenience (company surveillance). The only difference is our governments have not yet taken surveillance to the same extremes or, if they have, are less transparent about how they're doing it, so there is still a misguided belief that the same thing cannot happen where we live.

Ilandar ,

Least eurocentric user.

Ilandar ,

I've only used DuckDuckGo's implementations of GPT and Claude. I haven't really found a use case yet. I don't trust it enough to for queries related to things I don't understand (gaps in my knowledge) and would rather solve these problems or learn these skills through exisiting sources of information that I know have had at least some level of human refinement/vetting. Personally I enjoy the challenge of problem solving in life, particularly when the solution involves learning a new skill that I can utilise again in the future. I find it interesting that AI is advertised as being able to maximise our capabilities as humans, because it appears to be used for the complete opposite in most cases. People want to use their brains less and just be spoonfed the answers.

Ilandar ,

Which privacy tests? Are you referring to the ones conducted by a Brave employee where he compares browsers in their default setup? Since Vivaldi asks you on first launch how you want to configure it, he decided to choose the worst settings and use that for the comparison.

Ilandar ,

Not a brave employee

"This website and the browser privacy tests are an independent project by me, Arthur Edelstein. I have developed this project on my own time and on my own initiative. Several months after first publishing the website, I became an employee of Brave, where I contribute to Brave's browser privacy engineering efforts."

It is also closed source

It is ~95% open source. The remaining 5% of closed source changes are to the web-based UI.

Ilandar ,

That is a valid criticism of their setup process. My guess would be that "No Blocking" is set as the default option to ensure that the average user clicking through the setup process does not encounter difficulties accessing cerain parts of the web and mistakenly attribute it to Vivaldi being an inferior browser. Like all browsers, their target market will be people moving from the market leader, which is currently Chrome. As is well known by now, Chrome does not provide users with these protections by default and so many of its users do not know or care about them and just accept the experience as normal. Vivaldi and others therefore base their default installation options on what a Chrome user would expect, as opposed to what is objectively the best setup for privacy. If a user does care about their privacy, they are almost certainly going to select another option during setup.

I think a fairer and more relevant way to compare these browsers would be based on their optimal, in-house GUI setup options, without going into things like Firefox's about:config or extension stores. To me this is a more realistic way to present information to a user who is concerned about their privacy and looking for a new browser. The assumption that someone concerned with their privacy would just blindly install a browser and never enter the settings or make any adjustments is a pretty silly one. Vivaldi would still not be the best, but the tests would better reflect its ability to offer privacy to its users.

Ilandar OP ,

As far as I know you still don't actually need an email address to create a reddit account. They try to make users think it's compulsory but there are workarounds during sign up.

Ilandar OP ,

You don't even have to enter an email address. Just click next and you skip straight to username/password confirmation.

Ilandar ,

Some of these suggestions are the over the top for what you need. Just get a Garmin Forerunner and don't sync it with your phone. They are easy to find secondhand if you want to save money and can be connected to a PC via USB without the need for a Garmin account.

Ilandar ,

Pretty weird that so many people in a privacy community apparently use neither Firefox nor a decent ad-blocker when browsing the web. Like you, I had no problems accessing the article..

Safest way of using WeChat on Android?

I live in Canada. My girlfriend is Chinese (also living in Canada), and while we are able to communicate via SMS, her mobile carrier isn't the best, and so there have often been issues for us with regular texting. She expressed a strong preference to use WeChat, at least as a backup option for when texting fails us. While I...

Ilandar ,

Ignore the dumbass "why dOn'T yOu jUsT uSe sOmEtHinG bEtTeR" replies. Anyone who has a partner knows that the onus is generally on the privacy-conscious one in the relationship to make these types of concessions, since the other person is usually incapable/unwilling to use something better.

Ilandar ,

But to be honest maybe I'm not qualified for this question or something because I have a different attitude to this problem.
To me it's not my primary purpose to find a partner, and everything else is secondary.

It does strike me as quite strange that you would type up paragraphs and multiple comments accusing others of pursuing bad relationships when you appear to have very little experience yourself.

Is it just me or Rob Braxman has lost it lately?

I've never been super-impressed by Rob Braxman. I mean he's never truly wrong in what he was saying in his Youtube videos, but his explanations are over-simplistic, a bit of a shortcut (but fair enough to reach a wide audience I guess), and mostly designed to sell his meh deGoogled cellphones and equally meh privacy services....

Ilandar ,

I wouldn't say he's alone in this regard, the privacy community has always attracted extremely paranoid, conspiracy-driven types.

Ilandar ,

I would encourage people to watch the video and form a conclusion based on that. The title is quite clickbaity (which you would expect from YouTube) and at least half of the video is solely a critique of NordVPN, often followed up with "but Mullvad is better". He does make some worthwhile points but they are not universally applicable. Every country has different governments and laws; do not blindly trust the word of Americans because they likely do not know shit about your specific situation. For example, nothing in his video addressed Australia's mandatory data collection and retention laws, or the multiple high profile data breaches that have occurred here in recent years.

Ilandar ,

uBlock Origin + SponsorBlock + third party mobile client is the solution.

As the Internet Gets Scarier, More Parents Keep Their Kids’ Photos Offline (getpocket.com)

Here's a non-paywalled link to an article published in the Washington Post a few days ago. It's great to see this kind of thing getting some mainstream attention. Young children have not made an informed decision about whether they want their photos posted online.

Ilandar ,

It was explained in the first paragraph:

A month after her son was born, Samantha Taylor, 30, and her husband came to a realization: They didn’t want photos of their child posted online. They worried about how quickly artificial intelligence was advancing and how the photos could be used in addition to “creeps online in general.

Ilandar ,

I think a growing number of "normal" people do, they are just less willing to make sacrifices for it than the types of people who populate this community, for example.

Wikipedia is gauging interest for an extension that uses AI to see if any claim is cited on Wikipedia (meta.wikimedia.org)

A prototype is available, though it's Chrome-only and English-only at the moment. How this'll work is you select some text and then click on the extension, which will try to "return the relevant quote and inference for the user, along with links to article and quality signals"....

Ilandar ,

Obviously Wikipedia is not a definitive or 100% accurate source but this sounds like a genuinely positive use of AI to combat misinformation. The people it really needs to reach likely won't use it but it's still a good idea.

Ilandar ,

I'm sorry, but citing other examples of bad research practices does not magically make AI reliable. That is a whataboutism.

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