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This. That move is just one step further in removing control. They now have sealed devices that can have who knows what functions but are confined to the netwo
by choeger 5y ago
This.
That move is just one step further in removing control. They now have sealed devices that can have who knows what functions but are confined to the network. Next step is to have a concealed upstream. After that they will somehow get a legal mandate to force such devices on you (like the EU did with cars). Maybe they will use smoke detectors or "emergency" services. In the end, this is exactly like in 1984.
- bregma 5y agoLess 1984 and more Fahrenheit 451. There is no central authority imposing this to exert control on the masses: consumers are imposing it on themselves willingly and industry is just giving them what they want. Juvenal redux.
- WarOnPrivacy 5y ago> consumers are imposing it on themselves willingly Without reasonable alternative and without consent is like a LEO version of 'willing'.
- dopidopHN 5y agoI never own a tv, I don’t plan to own one ever.
- WarOnPrivacy 5y agoI tossed out my OTA TV in 1992. I've never had Cable TV.
- gruez 5y agoYou can buy commercial displays (ie. the ones used for signs). It's worse and more expensive, but it's still an alternative.
- ryukafalz 5y agoTVs without smart features used to be priced like TVs still are now; the one I'm still using cost me something like $300 several years ago. Those commercial displays are priced for businesses to afford. It's not something the average consumer is going to reasonably buy - especially not lower-income people. (As an aside, it's fucked that the cheaper devices that low-income people can afford are always the ones with the most surveillance.)
- ta988 5y agoThis is similar to saying, if you don't want to be filmed in the street move to a private island. Doesnt solve the problem for most people. Brands don't care about the few exceptions that know their dark side. What they care about is that tens of millions don't.
- fouric 5y agoThe existence of "reasonable alternatives" is largely irrelevant. Firefox is a reasonable alternative to Chrome, and yet very few of the people I tell about Chrome's tracking switch - they just don't care. Same for Protonmail/Gmail, iOS/Android, Linux/Windows (yeah, yeah, not everything runs on Windows - nobody I know will even attempt to dual-boot and do what they can on Linux), dumb/smart TVs (yes, reasonable dumb TVs exist - the Spectres, most notably). This is a willingness issue, not a lack of reasonable alternatives, in the majority (not all) of markets.
- rsfern 5y agoI don’t remember much backstory in 1984 for how the surveillance state came to be, but I think it’s totally plausible that a government could co-opt this self-imposed setup and use it for 1984-style control.
- GekkePrutser 5y agoIIRC there wasn't much backstory on how it came to be other than a war between continents.
- TchoBeer 5y agoIt's 1984 and we're the proles
- Clewza313 5y agoSo armed Amazon goons kicking down your door and bringing you to the dungeons of the Ministry of Customer Obsession to be tortured with fake cattle prod knockoffs?
- choeger 5y agoNope. Much more like this: You are legally obliged to install a smart meter, smart smoke detector and smart heating control in your home. If you rent, your landlord will install these things. If you own the authorities will inspect the presence and operation of these devices and fine you if you don't comply. All these devices will be offered by companies like amazon. Coincidentally, amazon lobbyists shape the laws that make these things mandatory.
- sofixa 5y ago> You are legally obliged to install a smart meter, smart smoke detector and smart heating control in your home If that's all they do, what's the problem here? All three have big and direct positives for everyone ( you, your home, your community) - a smart heating control saves energy ( climate catastrophe incoming, so could be useful), a smart smoke detector can alert the fire department if smoke is ongoing for more than X time, and a smart meter can be used to accurately predict, distribute, reduce and bill energy consumption. And if they all stay in their lane, there aren't many privacy downsides. Edit: I'd appreciate a response to go with the downvotes and tell me what i'm missing
- me_me_me 5y agoTime to invest in companies producing faraday's cages for houses.
- julianlam 5y agoYou jest, but all I'm thinking about is just how unpolluted the 2.4GHz spectrum would be if everybody's house had a built-in Faraday cage, and how nice that would be...
- BenjiWiebe 5y agoAnd as long as the faraday cage wasn't in interior walls, wifi would work really well on 2.4 inside your house, with such a nice low noise floor. You'd need it though, since cell service would be rather poor.
- qq4 5y agoCouldn't you have a cell antenna outside of the cage?
- vineyardmike 5y agoMy father used a foil as part of insulation and the wifi in that house is amazing.
- amyjess 5y agoThe fact that you can say this without being hauled off to Room 101 and tortured until you recant proves that this is in fact not exactly like 1984.