3 ms·

I'm thinking it is time to have phones "deny by default" and flip the sharing model around. Same with addresses of any kind. If a business wants my phone numb

I'm thinking it is time to have phones "deny by default" and flip the sharing model around. Same with addresses of any kind. If a business wants my phone number, the transaction should be: hey $COMPANY, YOU tell ME the number you will call from so I can whitelist that number (and remove it later once our business is concluded). Why should it be so easy to sell and share and link up personal information? At every step, individuals should have the equivalent of a revoked key at their disposal to prevent sharing.

tvanantwerp 10y ago
I've blocked at least three different numbers from Comcast because they keep trying to upsell me. I hope they never have a legitimate reason to call be--they'll never get through on account of their previous abuse.
- Gracana 10y ago
  I absolutely loathe comcast. They're the only ISP in my area and they operate accordingly. Their range of offerings has a huge gap, so either you pay too much for a slow connection ($45/mo for 6mbit) or go up to the next level and pay too much for more than most people would need ($85/mo for 75mbit). Recently when I begrudgingly had their service installed, I didn't rent any of their equipment, but they still charged a $100 equipment rental deposit. Last time I had their service, I had issues getting online at all, and probably spent ten hours total on the phone with them. Their agents were friendly and promised me the world, but they never fixed anything or kept their promises. Either they didn't care, or they didn't have the authority. I dropped them and went without a wired connection (used a couple gigs of cell data a month) for several months. If the modern web could serve me text articles without including 1500kB of javascript and advertisements on every pageload, I'd be happy to just stick with cell phone tethering. :|
  - makecheck 10y ago
    Honestly, to avoid data consumption, I think you are perfectly justified in installing multiple ad-blockers on your phone and even setting up router-level domain blocking.

tvanantwerp 10y ago

I've blocked at least three different numbers from Comcast because they keep trying to upsell me. I hope they never have a legitimate reason to call be--they'll never get through on account of their previous abuse.

Gracana 10y ago
I absolutely loathe comcast. They're the only ISP in my area and they operate accordingly. Their range of offerings has a huge gap, so either you pay too much for a slow connection ($45/mo for 6mbit) or go up to the next level and pay too much for more than most people would need ($85/mo for 75mbit). Recently when I begrudgingly had their service installed, I didn't rent any of their equipment, but they still charged a $100 equipment rental deposit. Last time I had their service, I had issues getting online at all, and probably spent ten hours total on the phone with them. Their agents were friendly and promised me the world, but they never fixed anything or kept their promises. Either they didn't care, or they didn't have the authority. I dropped them and went without a wired connection (used a couple gigs of cell data a month) for several months. If the modern web could serve me text articles without including 1500kB of javascript and advertisements on every pageload, I'd be happy to just stick with cell phone tethering. :|
- makecheck 10y ago
  Honestly, to avoid data consumption, I think you are perfectly justified in installing multiple ad-blockers on your phone and even setting up router-level domain blocking.