8 ms·

I read this honestly expecting a /s at the end. If you told me this was a failed attempt at obvious sarcasm now, I'd totally still believe you.

mav3rick 6y ago
What has Google done with your data ? Even I was expecting a /s at the end of your comment.
- mulletbum 6y ago
  isn't it more "what have they done" with your data that makes you think this needs to be /s?
yomly 6y ago
It reads like sarcasm but it's more a sign that our views do not leak out of our echo chamber. I have a friend who works for the government and laments at how much red tape there is to acquire or link any dataset and wishes for more data acquisition. To be fair, her use cases were sincerely benign - being able to target people who qualify for more welfare/govt assistance, and being able to make the govt website more helpful/discoverable for support. Though she definitely subscribes to her data being used for helpful purposes from bigtech
- leokennis 6y ago
  But that’s the thing. I work for a bank. If I had unlimited access to all transaction data without needing to request elevated access and jumping some more hoops, it would greatly speed up my daily work. But...it would also greatly increase the damage any hacker could do. Same applies to Google. It’s super convenient to have everything “on Google”. Until the day Google is exposed/hacked/turns evil. Then it’s a disaster. Hoping the above won’t happen is not a strategy but a gamble.
  - Tijdreiziger 6y ago
    > Until the day Google [...] turns evil You mean this hasn't already happened?
    - tormeh 6y ago
      I hear it's the least evil of the FAANGs. And then there are oil companies etc. I think relative to the average company Google's doing alright.
      - kenhwang 6y ago
        Now I'm curious what Apple and Netflix has done to deserve being considered as more evil than Google.
        obmelvin 6y ago
        I'm not really trying to come out against Netflix here, but I personally think their desire to compete with every other way one could spend their time doesn't have human's best interests at heart. I recognize the agency (most) everyone has to spend their time as they will, but I don't like how I feel mentally if all my free time gets sucked into consuming content. YMMV
        mynameisvlad 6y ago
        But YouTube is ok? At least Netflix asks you every few hours if you’re still alive. YouTube will happily play you videos forever. And they’re only a sliver of the company.
        ZephyrBlu 6y ago
        > YouTube will happily play you videos forever That's actually not true, at least in playlists. I regularly get the "Are you still watching" or whatever it is for YouTube when I put on music playlists.
tejohnso 6y ago
Expected /s as well, but at home I often hear the "I don't work for the CIA" argument against privacy paranoia so I'm not surprised.
nl 6y ago
I agree with this at least to some degree. I think you'll find a lot of smart tech people do, but don't post on HN because it disagrees with the prevalent view so you just get downvoted, or called an astroturfer.
krageon 6y ago
At first I thought this would be a paid positive troll, but then the post went so far into absurd fandom I figured you couldn't make this up if you tried.

mav3rick 6y ago

What has Google done with your data ? Even I was expecting a /s at the end of your comment.

mulletbum 6y ago
isn't it more "what have they done" with your data that makes you think this needs to be /s?

yomly 6y ago

It reads like sarcasm but it's more a sign that our views do not leak out of our echo chamber. I have a friend who works for the government and laments at how much red tape there is to acquire or link any dataset and wishes for more data acquisition. To be fair, her use cases were sincerely benign - being able to target people who qualify for more welfare/govt assistance, and being able to make the govt website more helpful/discoverable for support. Though she definitely subscribes to her data being used for helpful purposes from bigtech

leokennis 6y ago
But that’s the thing. I work for a bank. If I had unlimited access to all transaction data without needing to request elevated access and jumping some more hoops, it would greatly speed up my daily work. But...it would also greatly increase the damage any hacker could do. Same applies to Google. It’s super convenient to have everything “on Google”. Until the day Google is exposed/hacked/turns evil. Then it’s a disaster. Hoping the above won’t happen is not a strategy but a gamble.
- Tijdreiziger 6y ago
  > Until the day Google [...] turns evil You mean this hasn't already happened?
  - tormeh 6y ago
    I hear it's the least evil of the FAANGs. And then there are oil companies etc. I think relative to the average company Google's doing alright.
    - kenhwang 6y ago
      Now I'm curious what Apple and Netflix has done to deserve being considered as more evil than Google.
      - obmelvin 6y ago
        I'm not really trying to come out against Netflix here, but I personally think their desire to compete with every other way one could spend their time doesn't have human's best interests at heart. I recognize the agency (most) everyone has to spend their time as they will, but I don't like how I feel mentally if all my free time gets sucked into consuming content. YMMV
        mynameisvlad 6y ago
        But YouTube is ok? At least Netflix asks you every few hours if you’re still alive. YouTube will happily play you videos forever. And they’re only a sliver of the company.
        ZephyrBlu 6y ago
        > YouTube will happily play you videos forever That's actually not true, at least in playlists. I regularly get the "Are you still watching" or whatever it is for YouTube when I put on music playlists.

tejohnso 6y ago

Expected /s as well, but at home I often hear the "I don't work for the CIA" argument against privacy paranoia so I'm not surprised.

nl 6y ago

I agree with this at least to some degree. I think you'll find a lot of smart tech people do, but don't post on HN because it disagrees with the prevalent view so you just get downvoted, or called an astroturfer.

krageon 6y ago

At first I thought this would be a paid positive troll, but then the post went so far into absurd fandom I figured you couldn't make this up if you tried.