I’ve been using Noscript on firefox for a while. It basically blocks any JavaScript (and other stuff) unless you specifically allow it. It’s not something that I would recommend for a casual user, because it breaks lots of sites. By using it, I’ve discovered how much nonessential stuff is jammed into your browser. Most of it is analytics and tracking. One home improvement store has over 25 scripts when less than a quarter are needed for a functioning site.
Some of the biggest offenders: offenders:
- home improvement stores
- car dealerships
- some big box retailers
Also, a shoutout to decentraleyes, a plugin to use local copies of JavaScript code so that it’s not downloaded (and reported back to) Google.
You have some good points. I’m curious about the scenario where you need encrypted communications with an untrusted party.
I guess if you are leaking insider information to the press and need to be anonymous, but then use an anonymous account. Why would you need to send information to someone but not trust them to use the information responsibly?
You’re exactly right on both counts. When you hear it from politicians, the sound bite (byte?) is “to protect the children” which is ambiguous. I take it to mean to protect the data of my children, somebody else takes it to mean to protect my children from being brainwashed and the children running the social media companies take it to mean it’s protecting their right to wealth. It’s win win win!
If the US govn’t were serious about protecting people, they’d implement GDPR and put data privacy into the hands of the individual.
One thing I forgot to add to this was a different article by the same author: https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/19/apologetics-spotters-guide/
Referencing a book, the article lays out the corporate BS playbook for pushing back on changes. In the anti monopoly ad space, they’re currently running play 1: there is no problem, people want targeted ads.
I feel like the whole advertising machine needs to be reimagined. I’m not opposed to learning about new and better products, but I’ve been conditioned to immediately distrust anything coming to me in the form of an ad. Pair this with the mindset of advertisers that they can’t do their job without stalking every individual and it’s a recipe for a global-level human rights violation.
Jeff? Is that you, son? I told you that it was nonnegotiable, now get off the internets, I’m expecting an important telephone call and don’t want you tying up the lines.
While there are a lot of good technical suggestions here, I’ve found that a conversation goes a long way. In my experience, when talking with loved ones, explain your emotions. Not “I hate this” or “the governments are listening!”, but those core emotions. “Having a device in my room that is always monitoring me makes me feel anxious and I don’t feel comfortable in a place where I should feel safe.” Make sure that the dialog is calm and remains about your feelings until you know that you’re being heard. If you aren’t, try other phrases or examples.
Once you’ve established your feelings, address their concerns and feelings (active listening). It sounds stupid at first, but it works. “I hear that you are frustrated when I don’t come down for dinner immediately.” Finally, propose some solutions that meet everybody’s needs and that the parties can select one to try out for a week and evaluate it’s effectiveness, trying new things until a mutually beneficial solution is found.
Good luck. Please post the outcome!
Thank you for a thoughtful post with citations and quotes. After reading the whole page by Mozilla, it seems like they’re taking steps to show advertisers how they can get what they want while preserving people’s privacy. I can live with that. They’re trying to build a win-win scenario.
I’ll still block ads. I’ll still reject cookies, but I feel like it’s a reasonable feature THAT I CAN SHUT OFF. I’m still in control of my browser! Great!
Look at the strangler pattern in microswrvice architecture. Applying this to your scenario, set up a front end to YouTube, cache the results locally (probably host in a place that allows it). Also host videos from other platforms like peertube. Once you have a lot of users, slowly prioritize “free” videos over YT content.
It’s not likely to happen, but it’s the pattern that FB uses to present news. First they showed a link to the story and you’d click through, then they required more of the story, then when all were hooked, they demanded the whole story to be displayed, effectively stealing all the users and the ability to advertise.
You’re 100% correct on the tactile difference in the buttons. I didn’t think of that. A similar complaint is every feature is a “button” on the infotainment screen. I saw this on a Dodge. My current car has no touchscreen and I have driven it long enough to just know where all the buttons are without looking. In my opinion, distracted driving should include these types of things that take your attention off of the road.
I don’t know what your criteria is other than privacy. This guy’s post looks interesting.
I’m just speculating here, but I’ve seen where app developers pull in a framework for a feature and it comes with all sorts of hidden gems since the framework was developed by a large corporation. The small development team now needs to consider writing their own framework (an established anti-pattern), find another (that may have the same problems or be less mature, etc) or include the privacy invading code and plan to replace it in a future release (which never happens because users want new features and the privacy concerned users have left).
Any device that requires an app to function is an immediate deal breaker for me. Same for most things that require “the cloud” to work. Garage door openers, doorbell or other cameras, cooking appliances, door locks, cars, even a basic pedometer to name a few. All of these things will only work temporarily until the company decides it’s end of life for any reason.
In using ASK with swore, but as you can see, it’s not yelling accurate. I wish that the namespace key would remove the while worked, not letter by letter.
(I’m using ASK with swipe, but as you can see, it’s not terribly accurate. I wish that the backspace key would remove the whole word, not letter by letter.)
I won’t click on a site if it has clickbaity headlines because I already know that it’s light fluffy stories with no meat. I happen to already subscribe to pluralsite on my RSS feed, so I knew what the story was all about. Aren’t there bots here that will visit links and provide a TL;DR summary so that I know if it’s worth the click?
For me, it was an advertisement in my gmail for something my spouse had searched for on a separate computer that I had never logged on to. I don’t recall what it was, but it was something like a new cookware set. It was odd. I started noticing it happening again with other people whom I correspond with for items I don’t need (dog kennels near you). I wasn’t on any social media except maybe YouTube.
Later, I started reading about the profiles companies keep, how you have no control over what is collected, for how long or if you want it to stop. I found myself using the computer less and less, feeling uncomfortable being watched if I looked up medical symptoms or just shopping around for things.
My family would show how cool it is that Google knows when you have a doctor appointment and where you are and what traffic is doing so that you need to leave in 10 minutes to get there on time. I found it creepy.
I awoke to see cameras everywhere, tracking cookies, apps tracking me for no reason. People willingly putting spy cameras next to their front door, pointing directly at my bedroom window, where I walk, sending data to Amazon. I started reading how it’s their data and they’ll willingly turn it over to anyone who asks or pays for it. I read about a guy who was arrested (and later released after hiring an attorney with his own money) for being near a home where a murder occurred, unbeknownst to him.
I have nothing to hide, but I have everything to hide. Now mind your own business!
It sounds like you’re encouraging the poster to include a brief summary of the article vs duplicating the title in the summary. Something like,
The [American] Consumer Finance Protection Bureau … has proposed new rules limiting the trade between brokers and bureaux, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, putting strict restrictions on the transfer of information between the two.
One of the complaints about Signal is that although the content is encrypted end to end, the sender and receiver are in the open. This is analogous to a postal service letter where the contents are unviewable. Signal now offers something to obscure the sender (like not putting a return address on a letter), but the receiver must be known to the servers in order to properly deliver it.
Although the Signal protocol is probably sent to the Signal servers encrypted, privacy enthusasts contend that it’s possible that the maintainers of Signal could be coerced into providing the sender and receiver of messages, even if the messages are not viewable.
You’re both right. I’d do the same to jump ship before the enshitification sets in. Often, I’ve seen how innocuous policy and feature changes creep in and before you know it, the switching costs are too high.
I had an app on my phone and one day they removed the export function. I only used it for backing up my data but when they raised rates and started slamming with ads, I wanted to leave but could not take my data with me. I ended to just uninstalling and starring over elsewhere.
Also, this is exactly what happened to reddit. They cut the api first so it was harder to take your communities and saved stuff with you.