4 ms·

I think the point of the OP was that there is no mechanism in place to enforce your promises. It basically asks people to just trust some guy on the internet th

by roel_v 16y ago

I think the point of the OP was that there is no mechanism in place to enforce your promises. It basically asks people to just trust some guy on the internet that they've never seen or met and most likely never will, and who may or may not be who he says he is. I don't have an answer, I just think it's a valid concern and if your only response is 'oh but I won't do that', well to me that shows that you don't understand the actual concern.

rdl 16y ago
If the operator of Ackwire used this data in sufficiently malicious ways, I think there would be potential civil liability (at least enough to bring a credible suit; maybe not to win). I wouldn't trust a random person with this data, but I'd trust a member of a somewhat-meritocratic community like hackernews or quora, university alumni association, etc. It's fairly clear why this data is being collected, what is being done with it, and my potential downside risk is fairly capped. At some point, being overly paranoid is too much of a cost. Yes, a technical solution to this class of problem would be preferable to social trust. (and is one of the things I'm working on, actually...)
- swombat 16y ago
  I think you're not being paranoid enough. The "HN member" in question has a karma of 18 (yes, karma does count), and I don't recognise his username. The questions you need to ask yourself is: 1) is there any potential downside whatsoever to submitting my data here? If this data is on the front page of the new york times tomorrow, and everyone I know knows it, do I stand to lose anything because of it? 2) is there any real upside to submitting my data here? (seeing other people's data has obvious upsides) Unless 2 is clearly bigger than 1, submitting your salary info here is an irrational decision.
  - rdl 16y ago
    Actually, I mixed up the submitter and the creator (892 vs. 18); I agree I'd trust someone I recognized as a member of the community more than others, but I still think hn-member alone is worth something. So, I don't disagree with you.

by roel_v 16y ago

rdl 16y ago

If the operator of Ackwire used this data in sufficiently malicious ways, I think there would be potential civil liability (at least enough to bring a credible suit; maybe not to win). I wouldn't trust a random person with this data, but I'd trust a member of a somewhat-meritocratic community like hackernews or quora, university alumni association, etc. It's fairly clear why this data is being collected, what is being done with it, and my potential downside risk is fairly capped. At some point, being overly paranoid is too much of a cost. Yes, a technical solution to this class of problem would be preferable to social trust. (and is one of the things I'm working on, actually...)

swombat 16y ago
I think you're not being paranoid enough. The "HN member" in question has a karma of 18 (yes, karma does count), and I don't recognise his username. The questions you need to ask yourself is: 1) is there any potential downside whatsoever to submitting my data here? If this data is on the front page of the new york times tomorrow, and everyone I know knows it, do I stand to lose anything because of it? 2) is there any real upside to submitting my data here? (seeing other people's data has obvious upsides) Unless 2 is clearly bigger than 1, submitting your salary info here is an irrational decision.
- rdl 16y ago
  Actually, I mixed up the submitter and the creator (892 vs. 18); I agree I'd trust someone I recognized as a member of the community more than others, but I still think hn-member alone is worth something. So, I don't disagree with you.