Why I think Google Home spying on you doesn't really matter.

[SenKa]

17 minutes ago, Sauron said:

-Snip-

Although our opinions differ, I can't really find much to logically rebut with here. You brought up some very good points I hadn't thought of, such as a well-thought-out thief using smart products to know when a house is vacant.

 

Anything I could respond with would be pure opinion, the highest sin of debating. GG Sauron.

[Jtalk4456]

On 1/19/2019 at 6:34 PM, Xanthe_2871 said:

 

@Jtalk4456 I understand your reasoning. You have to pick your battles in life. In this case, if we consider Google to be the thief then I can block out Google altogether, or I can put up with the theft. Google is like a good friend who steals from you. You can call the cops, or just stop hanging out with them... or you can accept the good with the bad and replace whatever they take. There is no counseling option here. No deep serious conversation about your friend's habits. Google is taking whatever it wants to take, and you can allow it or not.

To clarify, I'm not considering them so much a thief. In the case of unannounced spying, yeah, but in the argument over whether I should even have a google account, It's different. They offer a service, and I pay for that service with my data. The issue is that most don't understand the arrangement well enough to make a well thought out decision

[Amazonsucks]

On 12/29/2018 at 3:50 AM, Xanthe_2871 said:

• Technology is spying on us everywhere. Google Home isn't really that much of an addition.
• Hackers will always have a way into our lives. We shouldn't live in fear of them.
• Whoever is watching us, Google, NSA, etc. will keep on doing so regardless of our actions. All we can do is make it easier or harder. We can't stop them.

Except all of those are false premises.

 

• You may be spied on and tracked in public constantly, but that doesnt mean that you normally would be in your home, or other peoples' private residences or even businesses.

 

Why continue to normalize it instead of doing what you can to stop it or minimize it?

 

• Hackers can usually pwn complex systems, but IoT garbage is exponentially easier to hack because its designed to be disposable junk targeted at ignorant consumers. Its very different from REAL hardware that professionals use.

 

And you shouldnt "live in fear" but you SHOULD take reasonable precautions and use security best practices to avoid having your bank account drained.

 

With all the documented vulnerabilities in IoT gadgets like those LED WiFi bulbs that allow complete access to the network they are on etc why would you make it easier? 

 

• "They" cant watch you unless you have "smart" BS devices for them to actually hack either. At least not in your own home. So thats just a blatantly false premise. You can stop them to a large extent. Saying that you can't is just FUD and fear mongering that makes other people give up too. What is the motive for spreading that fake news?

 

 

 

So here's my take. Assuming such a complacent attitude about that just makes it worse for EVERYONE.

 

You, and others who WILLINGLY buy hardware spyware like Google or Amazon trinkets that are pretending to be Jetsons futurists are making the world a worse place through your behavior and buying practices.

 

Imagine if people were generally informed instead of uninformed and made better buying decisions? The market forces would cause companies to make different products. They only make this insecure IoT garbage because people willingly buy it. If people stopped buying it they would be forced to change what they make. Its basic economics.

 

The defeatist attitude is the same mentality that allowed Walmart and outsourcing to China to make the west weak. Its the same mentality that has allowed Amazon to destroy so many ethical companies even though they are a scumbag company that sponges off the taxpayer.

 

Adopting a defeatist attitude and assuming "everyone else is doing it so i will too" is always a race to the bottom. Its objectively destructive and exactly the path that has led civilization into every dark age throughout history.

 

It is the same type of nonadaptive mentality that poses an existential threat to the continued existence of our species. So i ask you:

 

Why do you WILLINGLY contribute to a system that you know is unethical, instead of doing what you can to destroy that system?

 

Also, is the purpose of this thread positing a real question or simply looking to justify a position you know is unethical?

 

You have apparently already made up your mind that you and many others are nothing but livestock for the ruling class of tech billionaires. Are you attempting to see how many others have the same attitude?

 

Or are you actively attempting to convince and persuade other people that they should also adopt the same complacent, defeatist attitude and buy IoT spyware gadgets?

[mr moose]

The internet was a mistake.

 

Well actually it is just evolving to fast for us mere humans to be able to adapt to.  By the time we work out how to deal with data mining and ELUA's and encryption and spying and malware etc etc etc  it'll be largely too late for many.

[Blademaster91]

On 1/19/2019 at 5:34 PM, Xanthe_2871 said:

Yeah, I understand what you're saying. All I can say is: if Google wants to know what you're talking to your spouse about, Google will know. Google Home makes it easier, sure, but they will still find out another way. So I see two choices. 1) Avoid Google and similar tech all you can. 2) Give in and embrace all the services they offer. I don't really see the point of being in the middle.

I get that Google offers their services in exchange for some of my data, yeah maybe Google would find things in another way, but I can choose to give out as little data as possible and not share a lot of private info on social media to at least retain some privacy. Though being in the middle to me is not spending money on IoT home tech that I don't want or need, instead of completely giving into data mining in my own home.

[Amazonsucks]

13 minutes ago, mr moose said:

The internet was a mistake.

 

Well actually it is just evolving to fast for us mere humans to be able to adapt to.  By the time we work out how to deal with data mining and ELUA's and encryption and spying and malware etc etc etc  it'll be largely too late for many.

Exactly why one shouldnt buy or use any of this IoT spying junk.

 

Better to be proactive and outpace the competition on the evolutionary fitness landscape than go the way of the dinosaurs.

 

Buying and using this stuff is tantamount to jumping off a cliff with other lemmings.