13 ms·

Gen Z are getting stingy with their data

21 points by eustoria 1y ago

allears 1y ago
The kids are all right
- AfterHIA 1y ago
  Talkin' bout' my generation!
ACCount37 1y ago
Pretty obviously written by an LLM.
- lomase 1y ago
  By Jamie Watts Editor in Chief London, UK
drnick1 1y ago
The only way to retake control from Big Tech is to quit Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Tiktok, LinkedIn (and many others) cold turkey. Install Linux, use a custom ROM on your phone, use Signal, learn about self-hosting. Slightly reducing the amount of time you spend on Facebook doesn't achieve anything, the app is still running on your phone and reporting your location to Meta.
- gruez 1y ago
  >The only way to retake control from Big Tech is to quit Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Tiktok, LinkedIn (and many others) cold turkey. Install Linux, use a custom ROM on your phone, use Signal, learn about self-hosting. This all-or-nothing approach isn't really feasible for the average normie and probably alienates more people than it manages to convert. You can get most of the benefits by switching to privacy-preserving apps (eg. whatsapp -> signal), using browsers with adblock when a proprietary service doesn't have alternatives, and enabling privacy settings. "Install Linux, use a custom ROM [...] learn about self-hosting" is the equivalent of living off the grid with no social security number to the average normie.
  - xg15 1y ago
    How do you know you're getting "most" of the benefits? Data collection for most proprietary apps and websites is still extremely hard to monitor and as long as it's still a primary source of revenue, I don't think the businesses behind them will give up the data without a fight. So I don't think using an ad blocker or relying on the service's own privacy settings will work here. On the other hand, some of the "simple" recommendations are hard to follow in practice, especially "get rid of whatsapp". Right now, I have 5 messengers on my phone, both Signal and WhatsApp among them. Not because I particularly like them, but because those are the apps that the people I want - or have - to talk to are using. The network effect is real. For messaging apps, the choice of which apps to use is effectively a group decision, nothing that users can decide on their own.
    - gruez 1y ago
      >How do you know you're getting "most" of the benefits? Data collection for most proprietary apps and websites is still extremely hard to monitor and as long as it's still a primary source of revenue, I don't think the businesses behind them will give up the data without a fight. So I don't think using an ad blocker or relying on the service's own privacy settings will work here. If you're browsing the web with an ad blocker and VPN, have third party cookies disabled, are using a privacy respecting email service, big tech basically has no insights into your off-site activities. Facebook might know you're still messaging your aunt, but it doesn't know what sites you go on (via facebook embeds). Therefore big tech doesn't know what your interests are (unless you join a facebook group for model train enthusiasts or whatever), or what you buy. You might still object to Facebook knowing that you messaged your aunt at all, but if that's the only way of keeping in touch with her, it's really the best you can do without going off the grid.
      - xg15 1y ago
        But if you're using Chrome, Edge or Windows, how would you know those programs themselves aren't sending back "telemetry" to profile you? As for ad/tracking networks, there is active research in fingerprinting and "supercookies" to be able to track you even without third-party cookies. It's essentially a cat-and-mouse game between trackers and browsers as far as we know. I don't want to say those aren't good things to do, I'm just not that confident they would bring the kind of absolute level of protection that you're asserting there.
- jnxx 1y ago
  Especially since all the above is designed as additive tech which uses a lot of brain hacks: Infinite scrolling, dopamine maximization, "check for new messages!" and so on. How do you reduce your consumption of addictive stuff, in the easiest way? You quit, full stop. It is the same as if you want to quit smoking, or as if you realize that you are drinking four cans of beer each summer evening and realize this is not good for you. It is far easier to quit, and decide what to do instead, than to "reduce".
mindslight 1y ago
Cancel culture has become an official policy of the federal government, the new focus on [performing] "domestic terrorism" means increasing persecution of wrongthink, and all those feeds from the private surveillance industry previously reserved for "national security" are set to be used in support of government-led domestic terrorism. Of course people are limiting their exposure, even "I've got nothing to hide" falls flat when speech has been de facto criminalized.

21 points by eustoria 1y ago

allears 1y ago

The kids are all right

AfterHIA 1y ago
Talkin' bout' my generation!

ACCount37 1y ago

Pretty obviously written by an LLM.

lomase 1y ago
By Jamie Watts Editor in Chief London, UK

drnick1 1y ago

The only way to retake control from Big Tech is to quit Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Tiktok, LinkedIn (and many others) cold turkey. Install Linux, use a custom ROM on your phone, use Signal, learn about self-hosting. Slightly reducing the amount of time you spend on Facebook doesn't achieve anything, the app is still running on your phone and reporting your location to Meta.

gruez 1y ago
>The only way to retake control from Big Tech is to quit Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Tiktok, LinkedIn (and many others) cold turkey. Install Linux, use a custom ROM on your phone, use Signal, learn about self-hosting. This all-or-nothing approach isn't really feasible for the average normie and probably alienates more people than it manages to convert. You can get most of the benefits by switching to privacy-preserving apps (eg. whatsapp -> signal), using browsers with adblock when a proprietary service doesn't have alternatives, and enabling privacy settings. "Install Linux, use a custom ROM [...] learn about self-hosting" is the equivalent of living off the grid with no social security number to the average normie.
- xg15 1y ago
  How do you know you're getting "most" of the benefits? Data collection for most proprietary apps and websites is still extremely hard to monitor and as long as it's still a primary source of revenue, I don't think the businesses behind them will give up the data without a fight. So I don't think using an ad blocker or relying on the service's own privacy settings will work here. On the other hand, some of the "simple" recommendations are hard to follow in practice, especially "get rid of whatsapp". Right now, I have 5 messengers on my phone, both Signal and WhatsApp among them. Not because I particularly like them, but because those are the apps that the people I want - or have - to talk to are using. The network effect is real. For messaging apps, the choice of which apps to use is effectively a group decision, nothing that users can decide on their own.
  - gruez 1y ago
    >How do you know you're getting "most" of the benefits? Data collection for most proprietary apps and websites is still extremely hard to monitor and as long as it's still a primary source of revenue, I don't think the businesses behind them will give up the data without a fight. So I don't think using an ad blocker or relying on the service's own privacy settings will work here. If you're browsing the web with an ad blocker and VPN, have third party cookies disabled, are using a privacy respecting email service, big tech basically has no insights into your off-site activities. Facebook might know you're still messaging your aunt, but it doesn't know what sites you go on (via facebook embeds). Therefore big tech doesn't know what your interests are (unless you join a facebook group for model train enthusiasts or whatever), or what you buy. You might still object to Facebook knowing that you messaged your aunt at all, but if that's the only way of keeping in touch with her, it's really the best you can do without going off the grid.
    - xg15 1y ago
      But if you're using Chrome, Edge or Windows, how would you know those programs themselves aren't sending back "telemetry" to profile you? As for ad/tracking networks, there is active research in fingerprinting and "supercookies" to be able to track you even without third-party cookies. It's essentially a cat-and-mouse game between trackers and browsers as far as we know. I don't want to say those aren't good things to do, I'm just not that confident they would bring the kind of absolute level of protection that you're asserting there.
jnxx 1y ago
Especially since all the above is designed as additive tech which uses a lot of brain hacks: Infinite scrolling, dopamine maximization, "check for new messages!" and so on. How do you reduce your consumption of addictive stuff, in the easiest way? You quit, full stop. It is the same as if you want to quit smoking, or as if you realize that you are drinking four cans of beer each summer evening and realize this is not good for you. It is far easier to quit, and decide what to do instead, than to "reduce".

mindslight 1y ago

Cancel culture has become an official policy of the federal government, the new focus on [performing] "domestic terrorism" means increasing persecution of wrongthink, and all those feeds from the private surveillance industry previously reserved for "national security" are set to be used in support of government-led domestic terrorism. Of course people are limiting their exposure, even "I've got nothing to hide" falls flat when speech has been de facto criminalized.