Focus shift.

[oldSock]

Good day everyone, I hope you are doing well.

 

First and foremost, my apologizes for bad grammar and spelling.

 

Please do your own research, and make your own conclusions.

Please do not take anything I write on face value, do not accept it as fact.

 

 

As all of you know, tech is not just a word anymore. It is not just a lifestyle. Medical tech saves lives, give us understanding and even allow us to plan for our future.

 

In many ways, many of us today are connected to tech. Not just socially, but more to the point our survival is now reliant on technology.  

 

The scary reality is tech is no longer just a modern convenience, it is a sadly trap and one we need to be aware of.

 

We invite social media into our homes, lives and even allow these services to collect data about us. Then operating systems started to collect data, before long we saw banking "services" becoming more involved and will even go so far as to refuse service if they deemed it necessary.

 

So to sum it up for you.
Social media = data collection that gets used in many ways.
Operating systems are collecting data.

 

We install applications on our mobile devices and have you noticed what access they demand? In one situation I downloaded software for a Bluetooth speaker and it refused to work until I turned on my phone's GPS.

 

Why was that needed? Why is any of it needed? What is happening?

 

Well this is a tech forum, all of you can imagine how this information can be used  and how access to our devices can be accessed by "agreement" and then  abused.

 

Have you ever tried selecting the "I do not agree" function when installing software? Have you noticed what happens at that point in time. Now since as a user, functionality of the software is needed. Does the user really have the ability to say no?

 

The more serious tech person has their VPN and their VM loaded with a OS that may not be mainstream. They have their burner email account and all the rest.

 

The sad part is, profiling is a real thing. It really happens. Also consider that the VPN will only work IF the ISP allow it to work. They can block it and in some countries they do block it. Not only do they block it but they investigate it.

 

The question I represent to you is this. Why are we allowing any of it? Surly as a collective, petitions can be drafted, bills can be created. As a collective we should have the last say in all of this. The right to say NO one do not want my info on some server. NO one do not want software to access the GPS unless it is a application that actually NEED that permission.     

What is happening to us? Why is this even a thing?

 

A Little while ago I stated TECH IS DEAD. I complained about the pricing, explaining that even basic hardware "depending on geographic, currency and so on" is truly beyond the reach of many consumers.

 

It is not that those consumers don't have the money. It is that those consumers would rather spend that money on something else. A vacation or car or something else they would rather have.

The reality is, technology and its infrastructure is a trap. Not only is it a trap, it is a way to force users to conform.  Tinfoil hat or not, it is happening.

 

I hope this little piece of writing will make you think. Make you think about what it is that you are agreeing to when you click on the agreement. What is in that agreement and is it reasonable.

If you pay for a device, it should be your device. If you pay for a service you should be in control of that service. The service should not be in control of you. It should not have the right to stop you from earning a income, or monitor you on how you spend your time money and the like.

 

Hardware is hardware and if you are the OWNER of that hardware you should be allowed to take OWNERSHIP of that hardware.  Software should make an allowance that one can read the agreement and only agree to the terms you want to agree to. It should not be a universal yes or no.

 

That is why, "in some countries" you have to sign each paragraph of a legal document. That you should have the right to question pats of it that you do not understand. And say no to the parts that are outrageous and or unfair.

 

Thank you for reading and please take care.

 

[LukeSavenije]

yep... pretty much true

 

but you're not the first that found out data collection exists...

[oldSock]

 

7 hours ago, LukeSavenije said:

yep... pretty much true

 

but you're not the first that found out data collection exists...

No i am not the first, I am however concerned.

 

It is not just about data collection anymore. It is about how data collection will be used. For example, lets say a person have a diary on a computer. In that diary this person has confessions about individuals, or has a unpopular belief. Now that data gets collected profiled and stored. 

 

Now that data is out in the wild. Who knows where it is going, how it is being analyzed and who had access to it. Now that company closes down, the data that was captured wasn't properly handled and somehow someone got access to it. "This already happened"

 

Now the question is, what happens next? The data can remain un-used, or worse case happens. I don't want to go into more detail because really if you do the research it gets scary.

 

Also at what point will "service providers" start to demand access to this data? So that they can decide IF they will provide you with their service. A service that will dictate on how you will earn money. This already happened.

 

Nothing here is new. The scary part is, what is happening is "far from over"

 

Imagine companies demanding meta data on you before employment. Already many companies want access to your social media. This is already a thing. Now to a good extent you can control your social media. What photos you upload, what conversations you are having. Your point of view and so on. Everything is open to scrutiny.

 

Now imagine if companies are allowed to see your inner most thoughts. The private stuff. Lets say for example you like to view funny cats online. This company may frown upon that behavior and just base on that one may not get employment.

 

See, the question we as users need to start asking is, HOW is all this data going to get used? What impact will it have on their livelihood? How will that data be handled long term? What security is being implemented to protect the user?

 

These are important questions. Near all of us have seen the social media platforms failing at some point. It can be security or data capture. The reality is, things do happen. It is scary.

 

See as it stands now, there is no law stopping these companies from withholding services that WILL impact the livelihoods of many. What is more, in many real world cases, these individuals haven't broken the law. Yet they are being denied service.

 

There is a true danger here.

 

[LukeSavenije]

look... i get it, but you might already know that isn't new info. i know facebook for example had those breaches before, i know data has to be processed in some way. but as i always say: everything is hackable, even if they say it isn't. it will always be, and that's why i watch out with what data they can collect and the data that i share. you might know my name and know my location pretty accurately, but you have no idea what i look like. it's good that you give attention to this, but except for letting know you're against it and letting them collect as little as possible, there's not much more you can do. gdpr seems to be pretty helpful already...

[zassou]

ill say you haven't get to the worst part yet, data collection is nothing compared to something else. hint: nineteen eighty-four 

[oldSock]

Here is the thing.

 

It is not just about data collection, the self-appointed morality police or even your identity. Realistically each and every one of us has a profile. We should have one, it is called "Identification documentation" Everyone needs this to a greater extent. 

 

I have seen a lot of claims over the years. "we do not log your info" Well unless this provider "who ever it may be" uses magic to communicate to and from your device, they have to keep logs. They need to know your IP address, ISP and that is it. 

 

But all of this, many of us already know. The scary part are not the corporations, or even the self-appointed morality police. It is not the logs, meta data and all the rest. The scary part is the user. Millions of people use the internet on a day to day bases. 

 

How many have come together and said. No... We don't want this, that and the other thing? or We want our freedoms protected?

 

The scary part is the inaction of the many millions of users... That is why this will continue to happen and may even get worse. People don't care... That is the scary part.

 

 

 

 

[Radium_Angel]

One of the greatest compliments I've ever been given was from a job interview. 

"You are very hard to find online"

 

Yes. Yes I am. This is on purpose. One only has to read EULAs to see, right out there in the open, what companies are trying to do to you.

Firewalls, VPNs, LiveCD/USB OSes, open wifi, disposable cell phones; all of these can be utilized for your advantage.

 

From a song here:

 

"Don't use your phone and don't use mine
Don't speak treason, they're tapping the line

Break-in, stake out, tell it in code
Everything is legal, anything goes
The nights get darker and the ill wind blows
Your life's in a databank at ASIO"

 

 

[Canada EH]

Please if you are concerned about data collection.

Delete Facebook

Do not use Google, Youtube, Google Maps, Gmail or any online mail

Use a VPN or better yet TOR

Start using cash for everything

If you must use a credit card, buy a prepaid and use a mail dump

Live off the grid

[Radium_Angel]

7 hours ago, Canada EH said:

Please if you are concerned about data collection.

Delete Facebook

Do not use Google, Youtube, Google Maps, Gmail or any online mail

Use a VPN or better yet TOR

Start using cash for everything

If you must use a credit card, buy a prepaid and use a mail dump

Live off the grid

I used to think Theodore Kaczynski was a lunatic. Turns out he was just ahead of the curve...(wrt: living off the grid, not the bombing stuff)

[Canada EH]

5 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

lunatic

Thats what people said about Hitler as well, but more then one reputable book author has said what a genius he was, however misguided as fuck Hitler was. Near the end, he was twitching hard due to the 100's of drugs he was on. Prescribed by his lifelong "doctor" hahaha he was an animal vet even by that era's standards. Still misguided as fuck!

 

Thats the thing, people are misguided, con artists for example. Imagine them putting their skills to do good instead of evil.

 

Mark Suckerberg could also be a genius, but I'd put him on the level of con artists and evil. But if Faceplant wasnt around, it would just be something else. So gotta blame whatevers going on with human nature. Consumers are gullible. Whats the percentage of people who actually read the fine print before clicking I agree.

[Radium_Angel]

1 hour ago, Canada EH said:

Whats the percentage

Near as makes no difference to zero...

[wasab]

What's your point......?

[oldSock]

tonight i spoke to someone from Canada or so he said. He believes that the internet will evolve and find away.

 

The reality is this. When Governments say "encryption is banned" it means, if a user uses encryption the user will face a government imposed penalty like prosecution and jail time. 

 

The sad reality is that encryption ban will impose on our right to privacy, but unless we start to lobby for those rights and start asking for protection for those rights we will lose those rights to the point that owning tech is like inviting "Big brother" into your home, to stare at you 24/7 "forever"

 

There will be no legal steps needed. They will simply have the right to access everything the user does. The only way around this is to unplug. Then there is physically nothing to see.

 

Sadly this is the more important part of tech,

 

It is not about that sweet new GPU or CPU or brightly PC case. Basically someone you don't know, will be staring at you legally and read what you write, monitor what you do and flag you when they feel it is needed. Sure there will be a criteria but we have seen systems failing people before. None of this is new. 

 

But never before have we seen action being taken on this scale before.

 

I am a writer of fiction and is currently doing programming courses. My ideas is valuable to me. To the point that I got a second system "second hand yes" but still a second system that ONLY gets used by me. It has a dedicated backup on optical media. And more to the point NO outside anything. No internet or any thumb drive or anything like that.

 

That way i can protect my intellectual data. I don't care if people know who i am or where i live. i am not a bad person so i don't care about my online traffic. But my intellectual property should be MINE. Until I can copyright it and take official ownership. So i do not want windows key-logging and snooping, It is my code, my ideas and my work.

 

That is what is not being respected by all of the above. That is why this is important. We really need to know who is looking at our stuff and why. Not because we don't trust them but because intellectual property has real value thus we need to know if the person looking at our stuff can be trusted to do so.