Join devRant
Do all the things like
++ or -- rants, post your own rants, comment on others' rants and build your customized dev avatar
Sign Up
Pipeless API
From the creators of devRant, Pipeless lets you power real-time personalized recommendations and activity feeds using a simple API
Learn More
-
@TheCapeGreek I'm in exactly your situation but the only difference is that I simply said 'fuck it' and removed whatsapp. People realized I really didn'tuse it anymore and started to use the alternatives I gave them.
I do realise that it doesn't work like that for everyone, though! -
@ThatDude You on Signal as well by any chance?
-
@linuxxx Nice that it worked out for you. Thing is for me though I try and have a large social capacity so can't exactly be obscure in my uses. Your approach of "take it or leave it" seems cool, I'll consider it! Starting to think the same of FB itself. It's a distraction.
-
@demiko Awhh, I'l consider that a compliment, thanks!
@TheCapeGreek I gave up facebook about two years ago anyways ;) -
@ThatDude Damn a fellow Signal user! If you're a linuxer/privacy guy, we've got a Signal dev group chat going on? mostly Linuxers/privacy/dev people haha
-
@ThatDude Not sure how your comment relates the my last one towards you? 😅
@demiko Hey, let's at least make sure that you know that I genuinely care about you! Seriously, you're a very nice person (as far as I can see on devRant), you're mostly the first one to upvote my rants which I appreciate very much and I think we at least partly share the same views! -
@ThatDude Woah. Just focus on getting better right now, okay!
-
Hey guys :)
Just wondering, why are we actually so afraid of the information that is out there about us?
I'm not talking about the phone number/address which is pretty obvious why we want to keep it to ourselves.
I'm talking about things like our search history, places we've been to, etc (if someone is afraid about his fetish being exposed, just use incognito, and put a tape on the web cam ;) ) -
@MaxS I'm tired. @Ashkin @runfrodorun might be able to tell you something about that!
-
@MaxS
"(if someone is afraid about his fetish being exposed, just use incognito, and put a tape on the web cam ;) )"
In the immortal words of Glen Greenwald: "Over the last 16 months, as I've debated [privacy] around the world, every single time somebody has said to me, "I don't really worry about invasions of privacy because I don't have anything to hide." I get out a pen, I write down my email address. I say, "Here's my email address. When you get home email me the passwords to all of your email accounts, not just the nice, respectable work one in your name, but all of them, because I want to be able to just troll through what it is you're doing online, read what I want to read and publish whatever I find interesting. After all, if you're not a bad person, if you're doing nothing wrong, you should have nothing to hide."
Not a single person has taken me up on that offer. I check and I check that email account religiously all the time. It's a very desolate place." -
@RiderExMachina in my opinion there's a big difference between giving someone your password (I won't do it because of banking information... I won't like my money being stolen) and between trying so hard to get off the grid by using VPN/Tor/DDG etc.
-
-
@RiderExMachina well... I'm trying to make a serious conversation, actually understanding your way of thinking and all you can do is try and make fun of my comments...
I guess that your type of people can get into devRant too....¯\_(ʘ_ʘ)_/¯ -
@MaxS
Sorry, the /g/entooman slips out sometimes.
I used to not really care about privacy myself. I thought that better ads targeted towards me were actually helping--and in some, SOME isolated cases it does--when in reality, it's gotten scary.
One example: I have no interest in EVE Online, but my coworker is a huge fan and talks about it a lot. I have never searched for EVE information online, but one day I got a notification from Google about EVE. In other words, Google had been "listening" to my conversations with my coworker and had thought that a story about EVE would be interesting to me.
That's something small, but what if you scale it up? I've brought it up before, but if you're a part of a group that later gets deemed as "a hate group," at what point do you take privacy seriously?
As a white, male Christian in the US, if I don't start taking privacy seriously, I could be thrown in or an internment camp because of who I am or the values I hold. (cont) -
@MaxS
This (being interned for my race/values) actually happened in the US during WWII to Japanese Americans, so the threat is very real.
So at what point does your privacy matter to you? Hopefully before you face a life or death situation. -
@MaxS with the amount of information Google collects, it really is no different than having a keylogger and a webcam pointed at your screen 24/7.
They don't need your banking info when the information they collect and mine is worth considerably more to their customers. Besides, with everything they know about you, they can begin to predict your actions and purchases. And that is worth even more yet.
And it's not just your own personal information. It's all the information you share about others.
Google is scary. -
@RiderExMachina I'm a libertarian, and pretty outspoken against the liberal insanity I see, of which Google is absolutely a part. (Have you seen their values page? Or the things they've done? Immoral as hell!)
So, am I listed as a likely member of "hate groups"? Almost a bloody guarantee.
And in response to your EVE Online comment... I've noticed very similar things, and started turning my phone off whenever I'm having a political discussion with someone.
You're not paranoid if they're actually listening. 😞😖 -
@RiderExMachina
*nods gravely* -
@RiderExMachina thank you for this answer man...
Follow up question: Can you really see a future where you - a white, Christian male, in the US - could ever become a subject of prosecution? -
@Ashkin I know that it's scary... But on the other hand I find it so comfortable!
For example, I can see exactly where I have been two years ago, while traveling the world... I can get updates on the route I take to work and back home based on my frequent path...
I can get ads on things that might really be of interest to me...
I don't know... I understand what you guys are saying. But again, it is just so damn comfortable... -
@MaxS
Yes actually; many countries like China state that the Christian religion is punishable by imprisonment, up to death. There are many stories of Christian missionaries who have been tortured in such countries.
With the current political climate that is reaching to the far, far left in the United States, many people see being white, male, Christian, or any combination of the three as a bane, and already we are being prejudiced against.
Groups such as 3rd Wave Feminism and Antifa would love to see the fall of white men or people such as myself (respectively), and I fear that if such groups gain more power than they already have, people like me and @Ashkin will be put into concentration camps or similar (I hope you're okay with me bringing you into this, @Ashkin). -
@RiderExMachina Well, it's the truth. 😖
-
@MaxS
"It's just so comfortable"
It is. It really is. And that's why it makes it hard to be a private person. Because it's nice to look at your map history and fill in certain gaps (I was wondering why I'd left work early some days, but Google had my back).
But at the same time, sometimes you have to make sacrifices. I get your side of the argument too. I really do. But in the current world we're in, I'm starting to worry for my safety and would rather start taking security seriously now rather than later when my friends and family are being rounded up for their beliefs. -
@QueenMorgana it reached 2020 now(or at least it had when I first loaded the thread)
-
It's a scary world. I try regularly to make the switch, but in reality, I'm too dependent on other people that it's simply not a possibility to simply quit Facebook. And frankly, most people don't really care because "they have nothing to hide".
That's the worst part of it; knowing all the current and potential consequences, but not being able to do a thing about it because most people don't care. -
@devs That last sentence. Exactly.
-
@Ashkin Oo then what's up with you and @RiderExMachina? (if you guys aren't comfy with telling that's alright!)
-
@linuxxx
We're just becoming friends through you, just like, presumably, you and I are becoming friends!
Honestly, we don't talk outside of devRant, we just happen to share some similar values! -
@RiderExMachina Oh it's the caring about privacy thingy?
-
@linuxxx
Yes(?). We just happen to be outspoken Libertarians who care about privacy.
Are you reading into something that's not there? -
@RiderExMachina Reading into something that's not there? I'm getting confused now 😅.
In my defense, i have NOT had coffee yet :/ -
@gitpush exactly, but what can you do about it? Everyone likes the convenience of using these platforms; I don't blame them. But still, what can you do? Maybe 75% of my online conversations are forced to be on Facebook.
I try my hardest to get people on Signal, and so far I have managed to get 2 contacts. -
@linuxxx
I'm just as confused as you are. I inferred from your comment that you assumed @Ashkin and I are dating or something. I dunno, that was just the first thing that popped into my head after I read it. -
@RiderExMachina Nooooo i didnt assume that xD. Someone said something about Christians and then about something else and they (you I think?) mentioned @Ashkin and then I wanted to know what that was about 😆
-
@RiderExMachina Also I thought @Ashkin mentioned somewhere that she lived together with someone which mostly means they're not single haha
-
@linuxxx
Ooooh! No, we were talking with @MaxS about privacy and why it's a good idea. When I learned that @Ashkin and I are both Libertarians, I mentioned her as an example of people who could be rounded up and locked away for our beliefs--in the US there's a major tension between the political parties, and both major players (the Democrats and Republicans) are being deceptive in their own ways.
Right now it seems like the Democrats are winning, and those people are more in favor of being fascist--as in if you do not accept these social norms (read: hindrances), you will be punished.
I was also saying that I'm a Christian, and right now there is a major hostility in the United States against Christians for various (and honestly some valid) reasons.
I'd read through the comments after your coffee, and it'll make a lot more sense ;)
As far as @Ashkin's partner: good. My GF will be more than happy to hear that. -
@devs that's the sad part, made us addict on those platforms and now it's hard for people to leave them
-
@RiderExMachina Ah right!
Well the Christian thing won't literally affect me that much I hope since I'm an atheist but yeah :/.
Well if she's taken, there goes my chance 😞😜 -
@linuxxx
"Well the Christian thing won't literally affect me that much I hope since I'm an atheist but yeah :/."
Well, and all of this is US-centric. The political climate differs in each country, which, you know, makes sense...
But so long as you fight and/or speak out for the right to privacy for everyone, regardless of who and/or what they are, I think you're doing the Flying Spaghetti Monster's work.
And being a libertarian is just that: recognizing what both of those aforementioned sides are fighting for/against and defending the rights of violated parties where applicable. -
@ThatDude I'm both 😉😊
-
@coufefe That wasn't my message with this rant but yah the fb part is true :P
Related Rants
Privacy is a legend
So WhatsApp introduced number linking (with facebook) to its users a while ago.
I know a lot of people who opted out (this option was introduced by facebook because of european laws) because they didn't want their number linked. They said that it infringed their privacy (or however the fuck you spell that).
A few months later we found out that that checkbox thingy didn't do anything and facebook would link everything anyways. They got a 10 million euro fine I thought.
I found one thingy very disturbing though. Told some friends about the ability to opt out (when the scandal hadn't happened yet) and they did right away.
Then later on the scandal became public.
Told them about that.
'Oh but I don't have anything to hide, it's alright!'.
Jesus fucking christ how deep can people sink?! First you say that you opt out because you don't want your fucking data linked and when the fucking scandal gets public you act like everything is fine because 'you have nothing to hide anyways'.
Fucking hell.
undefined
are you fucking kidding me?
fuck whatsapp
privacy
fuck facebook
mother of god