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DuckDuckGo, Proton, Mozilla back bill targeting Big Tech ‘surveillance’
- SamuelAdams 4y agoActual source: https://spreadprivacy.com/privacy-companies-call-for-vote/ https://spreadprivacy.com/privacy-companies-call-for-vote/
- stonogo 4y agoThis is the first time I've seen a American news platform use the British version of "tabling." In US Congress, "tabling a bill" effectively means suspending action on it indefinitely. Only in British English is a bill "tabled for discussion."
- parineum 4y agoI (an American) was actually unaware that "tabled" could mean the same as "shelved". I'd always heard those used as antonyms but I've also only really heard the word "tabled" used as it was in the articled, "tabled for discussion". I'm a bit suspicious I've heard it phrased that way for clarity's sake. Probably some good editors behind that.
- rhacker 4y agoAmerican here. Tabling to me means putting it on hold and coming back to it later when we have other things figured out.
- pessimizer 4y agoIt's an autoantonym, but one where different Englishes have chosen different preferences. Like "moot."
- triceratops 4y agoIs "moot" an autoantonym? It just takes a different meaning depending on if it's a verb or an adjective.
- pessimizer 4y agoIt always has the same meaning if you squint hard enough (like many autoantonyms.) A very similar meaning to "tabled", which is why it came to mind. If a question is moot, it has been proposed but isn't necessarily useful. It could be because it was a question about a decision that has already been taken, or it could be because it's the first time the question has been asked. If a motion has been tabled, it is an issue that is pending a decision (on the table.) When Americans table a motion, they're saying that the only thing currently being done with the issue is to leave it on the table (active) to be dealt with later. When others table a motion, they're putting it on the table to be dealt with now. Americans leave things on the table to be dealt with, others put things on the table to be dealt with.
- ghastmaster 4y agoHere is the text of the act. https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3816/text https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3816... The privacy and "surveillance" aspect only comes into play because these large platforms can pick and choose who they allow on their service, denying end users access to privacy protecting services. I use some of these services on big platforms. Right now, I do not see a need for legislation to fix the problem. I hate to see more legislation and regulation in general. Duckduckgo and Proton are doing great. In twenty years it is totally possible that they become the next Apple or Google. They can create the competition and allow users to make the choice. I would love to see a ProtonPhone.
- fsflover 4y ago> I would love to see a ProtonPhone. Depending on what you mean here, it might already exist: https://puri.sm/products/librem-5 https://puri.sm/products/librem-5.
- nilespotter 4y agoI really want to try this... but at $700, not $2000.
- fsflover 4y agoIt's $1300 for the standard version, not $2000. Alternatively, there is less performant https://pine64.org/pinephone https://pine64.org/pinephone.
- nilespotter 4y agoAh, I was looking at Librem 5 USA. Normal Librem 5 has a 52 week lead time.
- franczesko 4y ago"I hate to see more legislation and regulation in general" With the same approach we would still have child labor in factories...
- tacotacotaco 4y agoFrom the bill’s summary, “… prohibits the platform from restricting access to platform data generated by the activity of a competing business user.” This sounds like it eliminates iOS’s App Tracking Transparency.
- Stamp01 4y agoWhy is the word "surveillance" in quotes? Is calling it surveillance controversial at this point?
- LilBytes 4y agoIt's only surveillance when it's citizens and persons of a country. Any other time it's "surveillance" to calm the big tech companies from reacting in a snow flake fashion.
- user3939382 4y agoConspicuously missing is the EFF, who masquerades as a privacy watchdog which is actually there to promote anti-regulation of telecoms and other big tech and has historically accepted millions from FAANG and their leaders’ charities.
- iudqnolq 4y agoFOSTA/SESTA was the moment when I lost my hope in the EFF's cause. I'd previously thought they had some power, and there was genuine mass support behind them. When FAANG abandoned them and supported FOSTA it showed the EFF's prior successes were actually thanks to the industry lobby. Without FAANG behind them, no one gave a shit what the EFF thought.
- mikece 4y agoToo bad Fastmail isn't on this list: I really like their email service.
- GoblinSlayer 4y agoDon't they provide unique aliases? That's a competitive advantage over protonmail in case of surveillance.
- encryptluks2 4y agoProtonMail purchased SimpleLogin which is a great email alias service.
- clairity 4y agoi'd incidentally just learned about this a few days ago, posted here (with no traction): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32782944 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32782944 , which in turn links out to https://simplelogin.io/blog/simplelogin-join-proton/ https://simplelogin.io/blog/simplelogin-join-proton/ they have a limited free tier and a paid tier. i felt a little uneasy about the emails seemingly going through another set of servers (in plaintext?) for the filtering so i didn't sign up, but would love to hear other perspectives.
- encryptluks2 4y agoI absolutely love SimpleLogin. It is open source as well, so if for some reason the SaaS platform ceases then you can use a VPS. They support PGP encryption and hiding subjects too. They also have an open source app in the Fdroid marketplace.
- artificialLimbs 4y agoYes.
- b3morales 4y agoFastmail is an Australian company. Granted Proton isn't based in the US either, but their whole schtick is privacy, whereas Fastmail is "just" a commercial email provider. Note I have nothing against them, just saying there's no particular reason for this US legislation to be in their focus.
- yumraj 4y agoShouldn't Apple be here too, given their public stance on privacy?
- yamtaddle 4y agoI suppose they lose some competitive advantage if being-mass-scale-creepy-stalker is no longer the norm (or, indeed, legal) in the rest of the industry.
- jjulius 4y ago>Shouldn't Apple be here too, given their public stance on privacy? Keyword, "public".
- mikece 4y agoApple talks privacy as a selling point but their actions leave a lot to be desired. They collect MASSIVE amounts of data about their users, possibly as much as Google does. Since Apple is raking in gigantic profits from high-margin products there's little motivation for them to try to monetize the data of their users, but there is absolutely nothing that would prevent them from doing so if they desired.
- Tozen 4y agoVery good points. Additionally, Apple's silence speaks volumes as to what they are really about.
- clairity 4y agoapple is still the least bad option, but make no mistake, their longer term strategy is all-in on services and content, which means becoming more invasive over time. i'm planning to get one more iphone (a 14 pro) but it's likely to be my last because of this direction. really hoping that the independent phone developers (pinephone, fairphone, etc.) have a decent consumer (not just techie) offering by the time i need the next phone after that.
- hericium 4y agoThis is a joke, right? Tim Cook is on an anti-privacy spree, using some ridiculous "children protection" slogans as a pretense for invasive, user-hostile changes.