Looking for some perspective on this, interested how y’all think about it and if I’m isolated in my concerns.
I’ve grown to be a bit anxious when I’m out and about in any neighborhood. The wide use of doorbell cameras that connect to the internet and save data on company servers, listen in to your conversations, and could be used for spying on you as an individual gives me a sinking feeling.
I like walking around, I walk my dogs around the neighborhood and I know my neighbors. I’ve started being so aware that it’s changing my habits. I don’t turn my face towards houses while I’m walking if I notice a doorbell camera, and I’ve put my shirt over my face when dropping off something to a neighbor who has one. I probably gave them a fright but I don’t feel like I should’ve expected to be OK with you surviving me in a way that compromises my privacy that expansively. I’m considering keeping a bandana with me to cover my face if I need to go up to a door, but of course that would make people think I’m a bad actor and just a paranoid privacy nut.
I feel a bit like Winston in the 1984 novel, always feeling watched and trying to find an isolated corner where I can’t be seen. How have y’all been feeling on this? Would love to get perspective, thanks
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sane neighbors won’t take notes if you, they won’t build a profile of you that can meaningfully be used for nefarious purposes.
5G, yes, but how accurate is 4G for that purpose? 4G transmitters are not placed as densely as 5G, and the frequency range it uses also makes it less suitable for that, as I know.
for that you can limit your phone to 4G, it may even save you power. and you always have the choice to put your phone to airplane mode. if you find it useful and you are a little determined, you could even automate it with tasker.
you can choose a mobile OS that doesn’t do that. for now…
you mean by your MAC address, when your phone is scanning? better android roms randomize that too, maybe some phones do that on stock OS too.
you can win a lot by not installing any app a shop wants you to have. they are taking advantage of the gullibility of the average person. lots of those bait apps are just a website anyway, and if you use them in a browser, they have access ro much fewer things.
but you are talking about apps with location tracking. which ones you mean? I only allow that permission for apps that I trust. on modern android, you can can give only approximate location, which is somewhat better.
I don’t get this one. your devices, or those of others? BLE 5 has MAC address randomization
the government can barge in my door. does that mean I shouldn’t keep data brokers out of my life? to me it doesn’t. I think we already tackled network operators and OS maintainers too.
yes, there is, I think
To clarify I listed here behaviors that I believe is common. I’m NOT listing behaviors that somebody privacy conscious is. That same person could around the neighborhood with a hoodie, glasses, hygiene mask just the same way.
What I was trying to highlight wasn’t extreme behavior, one way or another, but rather typical ones.
these methods are available to anyone. if a person is bothered by the constant video surveillance of public spaces, they probably also care about other sources of data leaks, against which they can protect themselves.
there’s no need for defeatism.