4 ms·

The privacy discussion is misguided. I don't care how much you make facebook, google et al promise not to "abuse" its users data. What I care about is educati

by sandov 8y ago

The privacy discussion is misguided. I don't care how much you make facebook, google et al promise not to "abuse" its users data. What I care about is educating people so that they choose software and companies that respect them. We should stop treating users & citizens as complete morons who need daddy state to take care of them.

forapurpose 8y ago
> We should stop treating users & citizens as complete morons who need daddy state to take care of them. We're treating them as intelligent human beings who can't possibly master knowledge of all the technology, confidentiality, and its implications in a world of analytics and adtech. Even I can only imagine some of it. Should we educate users to choose safe anesthesia and surgical techniques? To choose proper exotic financial instruments? I think we should require doctors to provide safe anesthesia, Wall Street to provide safe investments, and anyone handling user data to provide confidentiality and end-user control.
- tikkabhuna 8y ago
  Doesn't this all depend on how often you would be using that knowledge? Average computer literacy is horrendous and we use them every day. These devices are used for everything and becoming more and more integral to society. Surgical techniques and how to handle exotic financial instruments are specialist topics that are useful in extremely niche situations. In those situations you will speak to someone who is knowledgeable on them.
swebs 8y ago
The problem is that the companies that profit from harvesting user data (Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Amazon) also have a huge influence on what users see, and thus, public opinion. Unfortunately, they also have huge lobbyist budgets, so I don't think relying on the state is a good option either. I'm not sure anything will change until someone with money starts caring. The world needs another Mark Shuttleworth.

by sandov 8y ago

forapurpose 8y ago

> We should stop treating users & citizens as complete morons who need daddy state to take care of them. We're treating them as intelligent human beings who can't possibly master knowledge of all the technology, confidentiality, and its implications in a world of analytics and adtech. Even I can only imagine some of it. Should we educate users to choose safe anesthesia and surgical techniques? To choose proper exotic financial instruments? I think we should require doctors to provide safe anesthesia, Wall Street to provide safe investments, and anyone handling user data to provide confidentiality and end-user control.

tikkabhuna 8y ago
Doesn't this all depend on how often you would be using that knowledge? Average computer literacy is horrendous and we use them every day. These devices are used for everything and becoming more and more integral to society. Surgical techniques and how to handle exotic financial instruments are specialist topics that are useful in extremely niche situations. In those situations you will speak to someone who is knowledgeable on them.

swebs 8y ago

The problem is that the companies that profit from harvesting user data (Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Amazon) also have a huge influence on what users see, and thus, public opinion. Unfortunately, they also have huge lobbyist budgets, so I don't think relying on the state is a good option either. I'm not sure anything will change until someone with money starts caring. The world needs another Mark Shuttleworth.