Facebook snooped on users' Snapchat traffic in secret project, documents reveal | TechCrunch
techcrunch.com
external-link
A secret program called "Project Ghostbusters" saw Facebook devise a way to intercept and decrypt the encrypted network traffic of Snapchat users to study their behavior.

This is the problem with using VPN services in general, you have to have complete trust in the service provider.

@yogthos Is anyone surprised by this anymore? Facebook is evil- full stop. We don’t need any more reasons to obstain from using their products but “mArKeTplAcE” and “mY cOuSiNs WoNt SwiTcH.”

Maybe the idea is to show the folks who keep complaining about defederating from Threads that they either don’t know or have forgotten just exactly what kind of company Meta is.

Izzie🥑
link
fedilink
12M

deleted by creator

☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆
creator
link
fedilink
12M

Network effects do make it really hard for any new platform to displace the incumbents.

I’m trying really hard to get my family to use something else for communication but they won’t. It’s a fucking drag.

gradyp
link
fedilink
7
edit-2
2M

I feel you. I’ve spent the last couple years building up self hosted replacements for these enshittified services as they flop. But despite all the work I’ve put in, I can’t even get them to log off facebook to look at what I’ve got.

What does yours have of value to them that Facebook doesn’t?

gradyp
link
fedilink
7
edit-2
2M

You make an excellent point, without use it’s mostly just there for nothing… but, specifically I build shit that they complain about. I have my personal photo site up with all my digital photos from the last 25 years catalogued and available from anywhere, I did this because they complained about not having them accessible. Hasn’t been logged into by anyone but me…

But I don’t really blame them, I get it. The easy button is right there.

gradyp
link
fedilink
02M

deleted by creator

ian
link
fedilink
42M

Marketplace is pretty useful. I hope a solid open-source alternative comes along.

mox
link
fedilink
7
edit-2
2M

What’s important here is not the source code, but whether the service collects unnecessary information.

Craigslist does a pretty good job of respecting privacy.

ian
link
fedilink
22M

I agree. However, I think that most people won’t use Craigslist simply because it doesn’t have a lot of the modern niceties, specifically modern messaging solutions. The email system they have is pretty painful to use.

mox
link
fedilink
32M

It’s easy enough to do messaging via text, or whatever other contact info you choose to give out. I like that I can use Craigslist without giving them much info about myself.

If you’re suggesting that a messaging system built into the venue is critical for success, then I suppose all of us wanting privacy are out of luck for now… but perhaps Craigslist (or some other privacy-friendly venue) could make it happen by integrating Matrix.

ian
link
fedilink
12M

I agree that most messaging services are problematic, but Facebook having Messenger is part of the moat that’s keeping FB users on Marketplace. I think offering any non-email messaging solution would be hugely beneficial. I like the Matrix idea quite a bit.

mox
link
fedilink
42M

Europe’s new Digital Markets Act might help in this department, too, through legally mandated interoperable messaging. Let’s hope it works out in our favor.

strawberry
link
fedilink
02M

Craigslist also doesn’t have shit on it. try and buy a car on there. if you’re looking for a beater, sure. but a halfway decent sports car, fb marketplace is the only place

its still OK for other stuff, I’ve bought tools and whatnot off Craigslist, but for vehicles fb is unfortunately still king

mox
link
fedilink
7
edit-2
2M

What you’re describing is the network effect in action, not a flaw in Craigslist.

(It will be the same with every alternative you find, except perhaps one that’s well funded with outside money, which will be awful on the privacy front, of course.)

The way we overcome a network effect is piece by piece:

  • First we switch to the privacy-friendly service for everything we can. That immediately reduces our exposure, reduces the power of the incumbent, and makes the alternative more useful by giving more users a reason to switch.
  • Then, over time, we switch for the remaining things as we find a suitable service for each one. (This might even be the same privacy-friendly alternative we started with, after it has grown a little.)

If I felt I had to buy a sports car, and some awful invasive site like Facebook was somehow the only viable venue, I would buy just the car there. I wouldn’t make them the middle man for every other transaction in my life.

strawberry
link
fedilink
22M

well yea its not Craigslist itself that’s the issue, its the fact that its a smaller platform. and yea I use eBay or Craigslist for everything but vehicles.its sad that Craigslist has been forgotten though.

Create a post

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

  • Posting a link to a website containing tracking isn’t great, if contents of the website are behind a paywall maybe copy them into the post
  • Don’t promote proprietary software
  • Try to keep things on topic
  • If you have a question, please try searching for previous discussions, maybe it has already been answered
  • Reposts are fine, but should have at least a couple of weeks in between so that the post can reach a new audience
  • Be nice :)

Related communities

Chat rooms

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

  • 0 users online
  • 84 users / day
  • 537 users / week
  • 1.5K users / month
  • 6.58K users / 6 months
  • 1 subscriber
  • 2.36K Posts
  • 55.4K Comments
  • Modlog