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Personally I don't see on device scanning as significantly different than cloud scanning. I think the widespread acceptance of scanning personal data stored on

Personally I don't see on device scanning as significantly different than cloud scanning. I think the widespread acceptance of scanning personal data stored on the cloud is a serious mistake. Cloud storage services are acting as agents of the user and so should not be doing any scanning or interpreting of data not explicitly for providing the service to the end user. Scanning/interpreting should only happen when data is shared or disseminated, as that is a non-personal action. But that cat is out of the bag already. Sure, scanning a personal device vs. data stored in the cloud feels different because you supposedly own the device. But you don't own the software that runs on it, so the distinction seems artificial to me.

intricatedetail 5y ago
Would you like to have a landlord coming to your flat as they please to look for drugs? It's the same thing. They make you a suspect by default.
- pixl97 5y ago
  Heck, this is worse. More like do you want the bank coming into your house to look for drugs because you have your loan with them.
istingray 5y ago
Can you expand upon what you mean by "feels different because you supposedly own the device"? Just want to get a clearer idea of what you're saying. How does it feel?
- hackinthebochs 5y ago
  I just mean that there's an intuitive sense of ownership over a physical device that you don't have over data stored in the cloud. My point is that this distinction is artificial. You don't really own the (software on the) device, but you should own the data the company is processing on your behalf. Whether this processing happens on the physical device or in the cloud seems like an irrelevant distinction.
  - istingray 5y ago
    Appreciate the context. I like this take as well, it brings up questions about what "ownership" really means. Where do you land on privacy then, do you go radically open or radically closed, something else?
    - hackinthebochs 5y ago
      To me ownership means I have exclusive control over who gets to use something and for what purpose. If I own my data, someone processing this data on my behalf has no right or obligation to scan it for illegal content. The fact that this data sometimes sits on hard drives owned by another party just isn't a relevant factor. Presumably I still own my car when it sits in the garage at the shop. They have no right to use it outside of purposes explicitly agreed upon. I don't see abstract data as any different. Personally, I strongly favor privacy. I avoid all cloud services that don't involve local encryption. I have an old model rooted android phone with two firewalls. All apps have internet access blocked by default. I stay as anonymous as possible on social media. And so on. Recently my group at work moved our repositories to Github Enterprise. It made me uncomfortable. I voiced my concerns but they fell on deaf ears.
      - istingray 5y ago
        "Presumably I still own my car when it sits in the garage at the shop." Brilliant, and illustrates how far off we are. I'll be scaling my level of surveillance following your lead.

intricatedetail 5y ago

Would you like to have a landlord coming to your flat as they please to look for drugs? It's the same thing. They make you a suspect by default.

pixl97 5y ago
Heck, this is worse. More like do you want the bank coming into your house to look for drugs because you have your loan with them.

istingray 5y ago

Can you expand upon what you mean by "feels different because you supposedly own the device"? Just want to get a clearer idea of what you're saying. How does it feel?

hackinthebochs 5y ago
I just mean that there's an intuitive sense of ownership over a physical device that you don't have over data stored in the cloud. My point is that this distinction is artificial. You don't really own the (software on the) device, but you should own the data the company is processing on your behalf. Whether this processing happens on the physical device or in the cloud seems like an irrelevant distinction.
- istingray 5y ago
  Appreciate the context. I like this take as well, it brings up questions about what "ownership" really means. Where do you land on privacy then, do you go radically open or radically closed, something else?
  - hackinthebochs 5y ago
    To me ownership means I have exclusive control over who gets to use something and for what purpose. If I own my data, someone processing this data on my behalf has no right or obligation to scan it for illegal content. The fact that this data sometimes sits on hard drives owned by another party just isn't a relevant factor. Presumably I still own my car when it sits in the garage at the shop. They have no right to use it outside of purposes explicitly agreed upon. I don't see abstract data as any different. Personally, I strongly favor privacy. I avoid all cloud services that don't involve local encryption. I have an old model rooted android phone with two firewalls. All apps have internet access blocked by default. I stay as anonymous as possible on social media. And so on. Recently my group at work moved our repositories to Github Enterprise. It made me uncomfortable. I voiced my concerns but they fell on deaf ears.
    - istingray 5y ago
      "Presumably I still own my car when it sits in the garage at the shop." Brilliant, and illustrates how far off we are. I'll be scaling my level of surveillance following your lead.