4 ms·

If you don't like Facebook/Google/etc., wouldn't you be better off just not using them rather than spending time trying to hurt them? How will data vandalism m

If you don't like Facebook/Google/etc., wouldn't you be better off just not using them rather than spending time trying to hurt them? How will data vandalism make your life better?

the_snooze 8y ago
You can't meaningfully opt out of Facebook/Google/etc. They're embedded in tons of websites, and your friends will almost certainly give your information to those companies.
- andy_ppp 8y ago
  And they fingerprint and track you regardless of you having an account!
- efsavage 8y ago
  You can block trackers pretty easily, or just not visit those websites. You'll probably be a happier person if you just don't visit foo.com than spending any portion of your brief time on Earth trying to trick an ML model into thinking you're a single mother from Lithuania. Also, if your friend gives someone else information about you, do you expect that you should be able to control it? I'm pretty sure many of the details of my life appear in other people's emails, voicemails, journals, etc. that will never have a "forget me" button. I'm mainly suggesting that there are lots of ways to improve this situation, from market forces to legislation, and it's sad to see people wasting time on things that won't work.
  - JohnFen 8y ago
    > You can block trackers pretty easily, or just not visit those websites. And since they're buying data from non-internet data brokers such as credit card companies, retailers that track you in their stores, etc., blocking the trackers and avoiding the websites doesn't actually stop the spying. To stop them from spying on you pretty much requires that you stop engaging in large swaths of real-world society.
- ams6110 8y ago
  You can choose to not use Facebook and Google services, and you can use ad/tracker blocking browser plugins, and null their domains in your /etc/hosts file. That would deny about 98% of their activity as far as you are concerned. You can't really control what your friends are telling them about you though. Personally, I've just about opted out of the entire internet except for work, email, and a few web sites that I read regularly. The flotsam is just too thick to be worth the bother.
bryanrasmussen 8y ago
What if instead of don't like them you identify them as an active enemy?
ARandomerDude 8y ago
> data vandalism Words are powerful. Normalizing terms like "data vandalism" is the road to being legally required to use FAANG in such a way that maximizes their profitability. Probably not a great idea.
qwertbrw1 8y ago
These companies, have systematically penetrated it, completely skewing it in their favor to monetize from us. Whilst these overlords have undoubtedly helped develop the technological capabilities of the internet as we know it, the internet is no longer free and our human experience on it is manipulated and monetized. An insidious Trojan horse into our lives and habits. Fuck them and everyone who helps them.
JohnFen 8y ago
> If you don't like Facebook/Google/etc., wouldn't you be better off just not using them rather than spending time trying to hurt them? I don't use Facebook/Google/etc., but they collect data about me without my consent anyway, and there is no way to delete that data or to make them stop. That's what makes me so furious with them and all other ad companies. Since they're never going to change, I wish that they'd go out of business pretty much every day.

If you don't like Facebook/Google/etc., wouldn't you be better off just not using them rather than spending time trying to hurt them? How will data vandalism make your life better?

the_snooze 8y ago

You can't meaningfully opt out of Facebook/Google/etc. They're embedded in tons of websites, and your friends will almost certainly give your information to those companies.

andy_ppp 8y ago
And they fingerprint and track you regardless of you having an account!
efsavage 8y ago
You can block trackers pretty easily, or just not visit those websites. You'll probably be a happier person if you just don't visit foo.com than spending any portion of your brief time on Earth trying to trick an ML model into thinking you're a single mother from Lithuania. Also, if your friend gives someone else information about you, do you expect that you should be able to control it? I'm pretty sure many of the details of my life appear in other people's emails, voicemails, journals, etc. that will never have a "forget me" button. I'm mainly suggesting that there are lots of ways to improve this situation, from market forces to legislation, and it's sad to see people wasting time on things that won't work.
- JohnFen 8y ago
  > You can block trackers pretty easily, or just not visit those websites. And since they're buying data from non-internet data brokers such as credit card companies, retailers that track you in their stores, etc., blocking the trackers and avoiding the websites doesn't actually stop the spying. To stop them from spying on you pretty much requires that you stop engaging in large swaths of real-world society.
ams6110 8y ago
You can choose to not use Facebook and Google services, and you can use ad/tracker blocking browser plugins, and null their domains in your /etc/hosts file. That would deny about 98% of their activity as far as you are concerned. You can't really control what your friends are telling them about you though. Personally, I've just about opted out of the entire internet except for work, email, and a few web sites that I read regularly. The flotsam is just too thick to be worth the bother.

bryanrasmussen 8y ago

What if instead of don't like them you identify them as an active enemy?

ARandomerDude 8y ago

> data vandalism Words are powerful. Normalizing terms like "data vandalism" is the road to being legally required to use FAANG in such a way that maximizes their profitability. Probably not a great idea.

qwertbrw1 8y ago

These companies, have systematically penetrated it, completely skewing it in their favor to monetize from us. Whilst these overlords have undoubtedly helped develop the technological capabilities of the internet as we know it, the internet is no longer free and our human experience on it is manipulated and monetized. An insidious Trojan horse into our lives and habits. Fuck them and everyone who helps them.

JohnFen 8y ago

> If you don't like Facebook/Google/etc., wouldn't you be better off just not using them rather than spending time trying to hurt them? I don't use Facebook/Google/etc., but they collect data about me without my consent anyway, and there is no way to delete that data or to make them stop. That's what makes me so furious with them and all other ad companies. Since they're never going to change, I wish that they'd go out of business pretty much every day.