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The fact that this article exists actually makes me sad. When did we as a society give up our privacy for such a small amount of convenience? Or has it been gr

The fact that this article exists actually makes me sad. When did we as a society give up our privacy for such a small amount of convenience? Or has it been gradually chipped away until we have reached this point? I feel sorry for my children and the future in which they are going to live in. I also feel a sense of shame for participating in a society that has normalised these things. Sorry kids. We got greedy. We boiled the planet and normalised blanket spying for profits.

wodenokoto 7y ago
“Privacy is a currency for which you do not know the exchange rate” Read it on a Mozilla blog a few years ago and I think they quoted it too from somewhere else. But I feel like it sums the whole thing up nicely. For many, it does not feel like somebody is watching us. Just that data about us is dumped in a huge archive too vast for anyone to dig around in. This (Wrong) sentiment makes many assume that the currency is probably cheap.
- Tijdreiziger 7y ago
  Why is this sentiment wrong?
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
    - gtfratteus 7y ago
      That didn't answer the question at all.
  - wodenokoto 7y ago
    Because data is not too vast to be mined
discordianfish 7y ago
The fact that this article exists actually makes me sad as well. But because Alexa isn't eavesdropping on us and believing this is the tech equivalent of antivaxxers: "If you don't believe it, you're part of the conspiracy"
- cowmoo728 7y ago
  Vaccines can't be remotely enabled to spy on you. For example, if you buy a laptop from the internet and the CIA or NSA wants to spy on you, they can easily intercept the laptop in shipment and tamper with it. https://www.theverge.com/2013/12/29/5253226/nsa-cia-fbi-laptop-usb-plant-spy https://www.theverge.com/2013/12/29/5253226/nsa-cia-fbi-lapt... They could also compel Amazon to install an update that makes your Alexa record everything.
  - bencollier49 7y ago
    > Vaccines can't be remotely enabled to spy on you. That's what they want you to think. /s
  - javagram 7y ago
    The CIA ran a fake vaccination program to catch Bin Laden. That doesn’t make vaccines bad though.
- falcolas 7y ago
  Do you recall the “ghost” incident, where Alexa believed she was being asked to laugh? What was Alexa hearing in your everyday life to believe that not only the trigger word, but the whole phrase was being said aloud? Also, do you recall the fix? They remotely changed the activation phrase that triggered the laugh. Do you recall the Google home devices with a minor physical flaw that caused the pucks to record and transmit everything? Do you recall how these recordings are given to third parties to evaluate to improve the quality of the service? I guess what I’m trying to say is that we don’t know when or if these devices are recording us. Yes, the same is true with our phones as well (though this bracelet from the article would work on them too). It might not be out of malice, but its safe to say that we as the customers have no real idea of how much they hear.

wodenokoto 7y ago

“Privacy is a currency for which you do not know the exchange rate” Read it on a Mozilla blog a few years ago and I think they quoted it too from somewhere else. But I feel like it sums the whole thing up nicely. For many, it does not feel like somebody is watching us. Just that data about us is dumped in a huge archive too vast for anyone to dig around in. This (Wrong) sentiment makes many assume that the currency is probably cheap.

Tijdreiziger 7y ago
Why is this sentiment wrong?
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
  - gtfratteus 7y ago
    That didn't answer the question at all.
- wodenokoto 7y ago
  Because data is not too vast to be mined

discordianfish 7y ago

The fact that this article exists actually makes me sad as well. But because Alexa isn't eavesdropping on us and believing this is the tech equivalent of antivaxxers: "If you don't believe it, you're part of the conspiracy"

cowmoo728 7y ago
Vaccines can't be remotely enabled to spy on you. For example, if you buy a laptop from the internet and the CIA or NSA wants to spy on you, they can easily intercept the laptop in shipment and tamper with it. https://www.theverge.com/2013/12/29/5253226/nsa-cia-fbi-laptop-usb-plant-spy https://www.theverge.com/2013/12/29/5253226/nsa-cia-fbi-lapt... They could also compel Amazon to install an update that makes your Alexa record everything.
- bencollier49 7y ago
  > Vaccines can't be remotely enabled to spy on you. That's what they want you to think. /s
- javagram 7y ago
  The CIA ran a fake vaccination program to catch Bin Laden. That doesn’t make vaccines bad though.
falcolas 7y ago
Do you recall the “ghost” incident, where Alexa believed she was being asked to laugh? What was Alexa hearing in your everyday life to believe that not only the trigger word, but the whole phrase was being said aloud? Also, do you recall the fix? They remotely changed the activation phrase that triggered the laugh. Do you recall the Google home devices with a minor physical flaw that caused the pucks to record and transmit everything? Do you recall how these recordings are given to third parties to evaluate to improve the quality of the service? I guess what I’m trying to say is that we don’t know when or if these devices are recording us. Yes, the same is true with our phones as well (though this bracelet from the article would work on them too). It might not be out of malice, but its safe to say that we as the customers have no real idea of how much they hear.