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I read the privacy policy before using it. I guess it doesn't upload anything. Is it naive to trust the privacy policy stated here? https://github.com/noahleven

I read the privacy policy before using it. I guess it doesn't upload anything. Is it naive to trust the privacy policy stated here? https://github.com/noahlevenson/stealing-ur-feelings/blob/master/privacy_policy.md https://github.com/noahlevenson/stealing-ur-feelings/blob/ma... > The information is processed locally in your browser and is never transmitted or stored externally.

malvosenior 7y ago
I would say if you are very concerned about privacy, you should never grant a website or app access to your camera. I'm not, so it's no big deal to me, but the parent poster seems to be.
- _jal 7y ago
  Curious, why would you think that? Plenty of people who want to live long lives drive cars and take showers, even though those are two of the most dangerous activities normal people get up to. At least as I practice it, privacy protection is risk analysis, not blind minimization.
  - malvosenior 7y ago
    You need to take a shower and drive to work. No one needs to use an app like this.
- sfink 7y ago
  If you use a blanket rule like that, then the most likely outcome is that you'll stick to your guns for a while, but once the benefit gets large enough, you'll give up and stop thinking about it at all. Which, in the long run, results in the worst outcome. It's much more effective to do a lightweight risk analysis and set some sort of standard for what you're ok with given different levels of benefit. For example, if you're generally ok with a privacy policy, maybe you're fine sending your image to random experimental sites that don't have any obvious motive to profit from abusing your data. (Which is actually not quite the case here -- the site in question is specifically thinking about privacy risks, and so probably ought to be given a better prior than a random site.) Then again, I'm a total hypocrite. If I were to do my own analysis, I would not be ok with having a live mic potentially sending any audio it picks up to a company I already distrust. Especially when their privacy policy is not at all reassuring. And yet, I can see the Echo from where I'm sitting...
gitgud 7y ago
Well it is open-source, so you can validate that claim by auditing/reading the code...
- malvosenior 7y ago
  You don't know if that's what's running on the server though.
  - gitgud 7y ago
    True, but if you don't trust the website, just run the code locally

malvosenior 7y ago

I would say if you are very concerned about privacy, you should never grant a website or app access to your camera. I'm not, so it's no big deal to me, but the parent poster seems to be.

_jal 7y ago
Curious, why would you think that? Plenty of people who want to live long lives drive cars and take showers, even though those are two of the most dangerous activities normal people get up to. At least as I practice it, privacy protection is risk analysis, not blind minimization.
- malvosenior 7y ago
  You need to take a shower and drive to work. No one needs to use an app like this.
sfink 7y ago
If you use a blanket rule like that, then the most likely outcome is that you'll stick to your guns for a while, but once the benefit gets large enough, you'll give up and stop thinking about it at all. Which, in the long run, results in the worst outcome. It's much more effective to do a lightweight risk analysis and set some sort of standard for what you're ok with given different levels of benefit. For example, if you're generally ok with a privacy policy, maybe you're fine sending your image to random experimental sites that don't have any obvious motive to profit from abusing your data. (Which is actually not quite the case here -- the site in question is specifically thinking about privacy risks, and so probably ought to be given a better prior than a random site.) Then again, I'm a total hypocrite. If I were to do my own analysis, I would not be ok with having a live mic potentially sending any audio it picks up to a company I already distrust. Especially when their privacy policy is not at all reassuring. And yet, I can see the Echo from where I'm sitting...

gitgud 7y ago

Well it is open-source, so you can validate that claim by auditing/reading the code...

malvosenior 7y ago
You don't know if that's what's running on the server though.
- gitgud 7y ago
  True, but if you don't trust the website, just run the code locally