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> So just stop installing stupid apps and you don't have to worry about issues like this. I agreed with you up until that last line. The problem is that this s

> So just stop installing stupid apps and you don't have to worry about issues like this. I agreed with you up until that last line. The problem is that this sort of invasive tracking isn't limited to the apps on your devices. The devices themselves are spying on you, and the lack of meaningful privacy protections leaves us vulnerable even if we left our cell phones sitting in lead lined boxes. Without installing any apps on our phones at all this kind of pervasive tracking data could be collected using bluetooth beacons, using cell phone tower data, using facial recognition technology, using license plate readers, using the GPS/OnStar systems in our cars or using radar systems that see through the walls of our homes. This isn't a problem our personal choices can solve. We only have the power to make choices that hurt us in different ways. We need real regulation and laws with many rows of very sharp teeth.

2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago
What? You can't live like God Emperor Stallman smugly using your flip phone and eating toe jam?
midislack 4y ago
The government likes all this tracking and spying. If you think you can rely on the government to cure this ill you're mistaken. It's still possible to live without a cell phone at all.
- autoexec 4y ago
  > The government likes all this tracking and spying. I agree, and some companies like collecting it and enjoy being paid to hand it over to the state. I don't think that makes it impossible to outlaw this stuff, but it does make it much harder. We'll likely need a number of reforms around elections and bribery to get people in office who will represent our interests but however difficult they've made it so far (and they've been refining their techniques for centuries), it is still possible to elect a person of our choosing. > It's still possible to live without a cell phone at all. Not without considerable difficulty though. I put it off for about a decade or so after flip phones were replaced by smart phones until eventually my family insisted on my having one out of concern. They even bought the damned thing for me. I'm still conflicted about owning it. Even at that time it was growing more troublesome to function without one though since many businesses were offering services exclusively over their apps. Like I said though, not having a phone won't spare you. There is an ever-growing list of ways to collect and track your activity both online and offline which don't depend on cell phones or apps. Ultimately, we're either going to have to insist on the kind of regulations we need to be protected or we'll have to resign ourselves to abuses enabled by the data collection going on.
  - midislack 4y ago
    Regulations aren't coming, it's not profitable to the state or to big business.

2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago

What? You can't live like God Emperor Stallman smugly using your flip phone and eating toe jam?

midislack 4y ago

The government likes all this tracking and spying. If you think you can rely on the government to cure this ill you're mistaken. It's still possible to live without a cell phone at all.

autoexec 4y ago
> The government likes all this tracking and spying. I agree, and some companies like collecting it and enjoy being paid to hand it over to the state. I don't think that makes it impossible to outlaw this stuff, but it does make it much harder. We'll likely need a number of reforms around elections and bribery to get people in office who will represent our interests but however difficult they've made it so far (and they've been refining their techniques for centuries), it is still possible to elect a person of our choosing. > It's still possible to live without a cell phone at all. Not without considerable difficulty though. I put it off for about a decade or so after flip phones were replaced by smart phones until eventually my family insisted on my having one out of concern. They even bought the damned thing for me. I'm still conflicted about owning it. Even at that time it was growing more troublesome to function without one though since many businesses were offering services exclusively over their apps. Like I said though, not having a phone won't spare you. There is an ever-growing list of ways to collect and track your activity both online and offline which don't depend on cell phones or apps. Ultimately, we're either going to have to insist on the kind of regulations we need to be protected or we'll have to resign ourselves to abuses enabled by the data collection going on.
- midislack 4y ago
  Regulations aren't coming, it's not profitable to the state or to big business.