Re:The Fantasy of Opting Out
by einpoklum on Thursday February 18, 2021 @02:08PM
(#26184093)
> but that's fine because they don't conspire behind our backs to create a comprehensive record that's handed over to the government.
> I don't mind if the building security records me entering the building, or the bank records me using the ATM
Actually, I would pretty much bet the government in a bunch of states in the world can access your bank records. Places like the US, or China, or Russia. But let's ignore that.
> What I object to is if all of those are stitched together and handed over to advertising agencies or my employer.
The thing is, once the information is gathered, and stored, it's an easy transition to feed it somewhere. And judging by current trends, - some company will soon offer pay those disparate surveillers to feed such data to it, constantly - since it can processed and analyzed en masse, and monetized. Oh, and they'll probably send the government a copy of everything too (judging by what FAANG do, for example).
> Likewise I don't care that Google knows what I searched for
That's not "likewise". Google is already a huge stitcher of surveillance - the kind you said you disapprove of. And, again, they send everything to the US government.
> that latter is mainly between me and Amazon.
You mean between you and the entity controlling a huge chunk of all on-line commerce and whose operations are larger in monetary terms than most states in the world? And that acts like a government with its own body of rules and internal judicial system for disputes? ... yeah, it's "just" between you and them.
> I don't mind if the building security records me entering the building, or the bank records me using the ATM
Actually, I would pretty much bet the government in a bunch of states in the world can access your bank records. Places like the US, or China, or Russia. But let's ignore that.
> What I object to is if all of those are stitched together and handed over to advertising agencies or my employer.
The thing is, once the information is gathered, and stored, it's an easy transition to feed it somewhere. And judging by current trends, - some company will soon offer pay those disparate surveillers to feed such data to it, constantly - since it can processed and analyzed en masse, and monetized. Oh, and they'll probably send the government a copy of everything too (judging by what FAANG do, for example).
> Likewise I don't care that Google knows what I searched for
That's not "likewise". Google is already a huge stitcher of surveillance - the kind you said you disapprove of. And, again, they send everything to the US government.
> that latter is mainly between me and Amazon.
You mean between you and the entity controlling a huge chunk of all on-line commerce and whose operations are larger in monetary terms than most states in the world? And that acts like a government with its own body of rules and internal judicial system for disputes? ... yeah, it's "just" between you and them.