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The reason I consider Google a public enemy is not because they collect data or have a poor privacy policy or whatever (because I don't think they are particula

The reason I consider Google a public enemy is not because they collect data or have a poor privacy policy or whatever (because I don't think they are particularly bad at that). The reason is because I think they are "unavoidable". It's very hard to do anything online without it leaving a fingerprint on some Google server. Even governments seem to be ready to endorse Google services (e.g. recaptcha, Android) for fulfillment of basic services. Apple, Facebook, etc. may have (or not have) worse privacy policy, but it is much easier to avoid leaving fingerprints on their servers. Amazon & Microsoft are on the other hand particularly dangerous, though.

cgio 5y ago
You hit a nerve. I have to go through two reCaptchas to prove that I am not a robot so that I can pay my children’s school activities. Why would they care if I am a robot that wants to pay them? For some time checking in for COVID in NSW Aus took 3 reCaptchas if you were in private mode on your browser. Similar in many government services where they are pervasive and injected right in the middle of potentially very private workflows.
- leesalminen 5y ago
  > Why would they care if I am a robot that wants to pay them? I’ve seen scammers find obscure payment portals and run through a bunch of card numbers to see if they approve/deny. Recaptcha prevents that. It’s obviously not the only way, but it’s low dev effort and it works.
  - withinboredom 5y ago
    This is an easy fix. Just require being signed in and only allow payment with a valid child attached to the account. You can allow anonymous payments only if you have a valid child account code.
- MertsA 5y ago
  >Why would they care if I am a robot that wants to pay them? Because payment systems that allow for cheap transactions are often leveraged to test stolen credit card data before making a transaction in person.

cgio 5y ago

You hit a nerve. I have to go through two reCaptchas to prove that I am not a robot so that I can pay my children’s school activities. Why would they care if I am a robot that wants to pay them? For some time checking in for COVID in NSW Aus took 3 reCaptchas if you were in private mode on your browser. Similar in many government services where they are pervasive and injected right in the middle of potentially very private workflows.

leesalminen 5y ago
> Why would they care if I am a robot that wants to pay them? I’ve seen scammers find obscure payment portals and run through a bunch of card numbers to see if they approve/deny. Recaptcha prevents that. It’s obviously not the only way, but it’s low dev effort and it works.
- withinboredom 5y ago
  This is an easy fix. Just require being signed in and only allow payment with a valid child attached to the account. You can allow anonymous payments only if you have a valid child account code.
MertsA 5y ago
>Why would they care if I am a robot that wants to pay them? Because payment systems that allow for cheap transactions are often leveraged to test stolen credit card data before making a transaction in person.