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I'm invested in the Google ecosystem, and have recently got myself a Pixel Slate that I carry everywhere as my primary computing/ media device (no more separate

by sridca 8y ago

I'm invested in the Google ecosystem, and have recently got myself a Pixel Slate that I carry everywhere as my primary computing/ media device (no more separate laptop and tablet). It would now be silly of me to use Firefox in place of Chrome. Moreover I have got nothing to hide, so all these privacy-fears don't concern me; in fact I often feel like they are being overblown.

pault 8y ago
The right to free speech is important even if you don't have anything to say. Privacy is no different.
dictum 8y ago
> Moreover I have got nothing to hide Don't mean to insult you, and some people just have an easier time opening up about everything, but a life with nothing whatsoever to hide sounds limited, uninventive and uninteresting.
- sridca 8y ago
  No insult taken. > a life with nothing whatsoever to hide sounds limited, uninventive and uninteresting. Ever familiar with the phrase "un unexamined life is not worth living"? Here, of course, the thing to be examined is your belief that a life with nothing whatsover to hide is limited, uninventive and uninteresting.
SimeVidas 8y ago
> It would now be silly of me to use Firefox in place of Chrome. Why? In what ways is Chrome more useful than Firefox on Chrome OS?
- sridca 8y ago
  Chrome is deeply integrated in ChromeOS devices (should be obvious from the naming), of which the Pixel Slate is what I own. A bunch of PWAs (arguably the future of android apps) also require Chrome. Moreover I use Chrome to sync my Google account, including passwords (which I can't live without) and browsing history.
Hippocrates 8y ago
People who feel that they have “nothing to hide” don’t quite understand the extent to which they’re being mined for personal data. Google offers all of this amazingly polished software for free so naive people like you will feed them your browsing history, email, location and search queries. They will then monetize that data by targeting ads to you, which generates over 80% of their revenue. If you are ok with that and still think you have nothing to hide, ask yourself if you’d be ok with this trove of data ever being exposed publicly. Ever googled something embarrassing? Perhaps a medical condition or symptom? Sent a very personal email? Visited a less than savory location, or lied to an employer about your whereabouts? I’d be willing to bet most people have some data that could be weaponized for blackmail. Surely many people (especially the ignorant) will find Google’s products and services “worth using” but privacy concerns are anything but overblown.
- sridca 8y ago
  > ask yourself if you’d be ok with [your browsing history, email, location and search queries] ever being exposed publicly. I already did, and the answer was "Yes, I'd be okay" (although the likelihood of that happening is extremely rare). > Ever googled something embarrassing? Use incognito mode. > Perhaps a medical condition or symptom? I have only one medical condition, which I'm not embarassed to talk about publicly (I already do it). > Sent a very personal email? I rarely send "very personal"/ intimate information over email in lieu of just talking over phone. > Visited a less than savory location, Never in my life. > or lied to an employer about your whereabouts? I never had to do it (why would I?). > I’d be willing to bet most people have some data that could be weaponized for blackmail. If--note "if"--I were to engage in an activity that could potentially be used to blackmail or harm me in any way, I would of course be doing it in as private manner as possible. However it would be silly to spend the rest of my normal life cowering and being phobic to technological advances. > Surely many people (especially the ignorant) will find Google’s products and services “worth using” but privacy concerns are anything but overblown. You confuse being naive (in its original sense of the word) with being ignorant. But I guess that's what fear does to one.
  - starshadowx2 8y ago
arkh 8y ago
> I have got nothing to hide So if you don't mind would you share some nudes, your CC numbers and your medical history with us?
- fucking_tragedy 8y ago
  What about his address, and his family and friends' addresses, as well? What about his income, where he works, the time he leaves for work and the time that he gets back? And the street he grew up on and his mother's maiden name?
CamperBob2 8y ago
Moreover I have got nothing to hide That's not your call to make.
- dzader 8y ago
  what?
  - CamperBob2 8y ago
    People who own more guns than you do are the ones who decide whether or not you have "something to hide."
braythwayt 8y ago
> I've got nothing to hide. I'm sure you believe that's true, but I suggest that your belief is based on a certain confidence that the people pouring through your data are fundamentally acting in good, or at worse neutral faith. However, if this data ever gets into the hands of someone acting in bad faith, even the most innocent behaviour can be weaponized against you. Let's say, for example, that you are wrongly suspected of committing a crime, and the investigating police are more interested in cooking up a conviction than determining if you actually did it. All sorts of details about your life can be leaked and "spun" to make you look very, very bad. You went to a bar on a certain evening? So did these known crime figures. Were you meeting them? You spend time on Hacker News. HACKER NEWS. You could find yourself the target of a smear campaign designed to turn public sentiment against you. "If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him."—Cardinal Richelieu If you hand over your data without hesitation to a nation-state or to powerful and unscrupulous corporations, I believe you will discover that there is no such thing as "nothing to hide."
- sridca 8y ago
  That's not an unreasonable point, but with that alarmist logic why are you then not living off the grid?
  - leesalminen 8y ago
    This seems like a fallacious argument in that you’re attempting to conflate “alarmist” with “extremist”. Someone could be alarmed about the state of privacy in society and not want to take an extreme action. It seems entirely reasonable to want to remain a part of civilization and advocate for change on a topic you are passionate about.
  - baroffoos 8y ago
    Because the only 2 possible options is to hand over all your data or live off the grid

by sridca 8y ago

pault 8y ago

The right to free speech is important even if you don't have anything to say. Privacy is no different.

dictum 8y ago

> Moreover I have got nothing to hide Don't mean to insult you, and some people just have an easier time opening up about everything, but a life with nothing whatsoever to hide sounds limited, uninventive and uninteresting.

sridca 8y ago
No insult taken. > a life with nothing whatsoever to hide sounds limited, uninventive and uninteresting. Ever familiar with the phrase "un unexamined life is not worth living"? Here, of course, the thing to be examined is your belief that a life with nothing whatsover to hide is limited, uninventive and uninteresting.

SimeVidas 8y ago

> It would now be silly of me to use Firefox in place of Chrome. Why? In what ways is Chrome more useful than Firefox on Chrome OS?

sridca 8y ago
Chrome is deeply integrated in ChromeOS devices (should be obvious from the naming), of which the Pixel Slate is what I own. A bunch of PWAs (arguably the future of android apps) also require Chrome. Moreover I use Chrome to sync my Google account, including passwords (which I can't live without) and browsing history.

Hippocrates 8y ago

People who feel that they have “nothing to hide” don’t quite understand the extent to which they’re being mined for personal data. Google offers all of this amazingly polished software for free so naive people like you will feed them your browsing history, email, location and search queries. They will then monetize that data by targeting ads to you, which generates over 80% of their revenue. If you are ok with that and still think you have nothing to hide, ask yourself if you’d be ok with this trove of data ever being exposed publicly. Ever googled something embarrassing? Perhaps a medical condition or symptom? Sent a very personal email? Visited a less than savory location, or lied to an employer about your whereabouts? I’d be willing to bet most people have some data that could be weaponized for blackmail. Surely many people (especially the ignorant) will find Google’s products and services “worth using” but privacy concerns are anything but overblown.

sridca 8y ago
> ask yourself if you’d be ok with [your browsing history, email, location and search queries] ever being exposed publicly. I already did, and the answer was "Yes, I'd be okay" (although the likelihood of that happening is extremely rare). > Ever googled something embarrassing? Use incognito mode. > Perhaps a medical condition or symptom? I have only one medical condition, which I'm not embarassed to talk about publicly (I already do it). > Sent a very personal email? I rarely send "very personal"/ intimate information over email in lieu of just talking over phone. > Visited a less than savory location, Never in my life. > or lied to an employer about your whereabouts? I never had to do it (why would I?). > I’d be willing to bet most people have some data that could be weaponized for blackmail. If--note "if"--I were to engage in an activity that could potentially be used to blackmail or harm me in any way, I would of course be doing it in as private manner as possible. However it would be silly to spend the rest of my normal life cowering and being phobic to technological advances. > Surely many people (especially the ignorant) will find Google’s products and services “worth using” but privacy concerns are anything but overblown. You confuse being naive (in its original sense of the word) with being ignorant. But I guess that's what fear does to one.
- starshadowx2 8y ago

arkh 8y ago

> I have got nothing to hide So if you don't mind would you share some nudes, your CC numbers and your medical history with us?

fucking_tragedy 8y ago
What about his address, and his family and friends' addresses, as well? What about his income, where he works, the time he leaves for work and the time that he gets back? And the street he grew up on and his mother's maiden name?

CamperBob2 8y ago

Moreover I have got nothing to hide That's not your call to make.

dzader 8y ago
what?
- CamperBob2 8y ago
  People who own more guns than you do are the ones who decide whether or not you have "something to hide."

braythwayt 8y ago

> I've got nothing to hide. I'm sure you believe that's true, but I suggest that your belief is based on a certain confidence that the people pouring through your data are fundamentally acting in good, or at worse neutral faith. However, if this data ever gets into the hands of someone acting in bad faith, even the most innocent behaviour can be weaponized against you. Let's say, for example, that you are wrongly suspected of committing a crime, and the investigating police are more interested in cooking up a conviction than determining if you actually did it. All sorts of details about your life can be leaked and "spun" to make you look very, very bad. You went to a bar on a certain evening? So did these known crime figures. Were you meeting them? You spend time on Hacker News. HACKER NEWS. You could find yourself the target of a smear campaign designed to turn public sentiment against you. "If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him."—Cardinal Richelieu If you hand over your data without hesitation to a nation-state or to powerful and unscrupulous corporations, I believe you will discover that there is no such thing as "nothing to hide."

sridca 8y ago
That's not an unreasonable point, but with that alarmist logic why are you then not living off the grid?
- leesalminen 8y ago
  This seems like a fallacious argument in that you’re attempting to conflate “alarmist” with “extremist”. Someone could be alarmed about the state of privacy in society and not want to take an extreme action. It seems entirely reasonable to want to remain a part of civilization and advocate for change on a topic you are passionate about.
- baroffoos 8y ago
  Because the only 2 possible options is to hand over all your data or live off the grid