37 ms·

Send a snail mail to me and my wife will probably read it. Send an email to me and my secretary will probably read it. Are surprised if email you send me is sc

by codeka 13y ago

Send a snail mail to me and my wife will probably read it. Send an email to me and my secretary will probably read it. Are surprised if email you send me is scanned for spam? Or scanned for automatic filtering? Or for full-text search? I don't see why scanning it to serve me ads is any worse.

plg 13y ago
True enough... but I wonder (has anyone actually done this?) if you polled 1,000 "average americans" how many would be surprised and/or upset to find out that email is 100% not private, and it's not supposed to be. I bet a high, high proportion. I guess the problem with an aggressive public campaign to educate consumers, is that there is no obvious alternative.
- jedberg 13y ago
  Probably the same people who think sending a letter is private. They just don't think of all the external factors.
- Radle 13y ago
  Why are people always talking about Americans? They seem to be pretty dumb... Anyways, I strongly believe that as long as you living in a Western society it is your job to take care of your business. If I am taking part in any System which I did not check up to see if it is secure, I am voluntarily taking the Risk of using the System. I could for example set up an own E-Mail server, if I was coming to the Point that E-Mails are not secure enough on an external hoster. (If I searched for enough security related information about the "E-Mail" System.)
  - the_soft_touch 13y ago
    >hur dur amerikens r dumb Your argument here is fallacious. In a perfect world, of course every service user would thoroughly research their providers before agreeing to their Terms of Service. The reason why that doesn't happen in real life is because not everyone is a sysadmin/developer/privacy lawyer. If each and every Gmail user spent the time necessary to thoroughly understand and interpret the legal nuances of email privacy, most of them wouldn't have any time left to go to work or take care of their families. If we expected consumers to completely fend for themselves at all times, there'd be no need for the FDA, the CPA or, for that matter, the government. Why do you think these institutions were created in the first place? They came into being because the average consumer doesn't have time to become a food quality expert and tour the factories that make the products s/he buys. Similarly, the average Gmail user doesn't have time to learn and weigh the merits of Gmail's intricate privacy policy, nor does s/he have time to learn how to set up and secure his/her own email server. To say that Americans are "dumb" because they're not all experts in the field that you do happen to understand professionally is stereotyping and offensive. Do you have a thorough understanding of pharmacology or refrigerator design or any of the other numerous fields' whose products you use on a daily basis? I didn't think so.
praisewhitey 13y ago
>Send a snail mail to me and my wife will probably read it. Is quite different from 'send a snail mail to me and my mailman will read it'

by codeka 13y ago

plg 13y ago

True enough... but I wonder (has anyone actually done this?) if you polled 1,000 "average americans" how many would be surprised and/or upset to find out that email is 100% not private, and it's not supposed to be. I bet a high, high proportion. I guess the problem with an aggressive public campaign to educate consumers, is that there is no obvious alternative.

jedberg 13y ago
Probably the same people who think sending a letter is private. They just don't think of all the external factors.
Radle 13y ago
Why are people always talking about Americans? They seem to be pretty dumb... Anyways, I strongly believe that as long as you living in a Western society it is your job to take care of your business. If I am taking part in any System which I did not check up to see if it is secure, I am voluntarily taking the Risk of using the System. I could for example set up an own E-Mail server, if I was coming to the Point that E-Mails are not secure enough on an external hoster. (If I searched for enough security related information about the "E-Mail" System.)
- the_soft_touch 13y ago
  >hur dur amerikens r dumb Your argument here is fallacious. In a perfect world, of course every service user would thoroughly research their providers before agreeing to their Terms of Service. The reason why that doesn't happen in real life is because not everyone is a sysadmin/developer/privacy lawyer. If each and every Gmail user spent the time necessary to thoroughly understand and interpret the legal nuances of email privacy, most of them wouldn't have any time left to go to work or take care of their families. If we expected consumers to completely fend for themselves at all times, there'd be no need for the FDA, the CPA or, for that matter, the government. Why do you think these institutions were created in the first place? They came into being because the average consumer doesn't have time to become a food quality expert and tour the factories that make the products s/he buys. Similarly, the average Gmail user doesn't have time to learn and weigh the merits of Gmail's intricate privacy policy, nor does s/he have time to learn how to set up and secure his/her own email server. To say that Americans are "dumb" because they're not all experts in the field that you do happen to understand professionally is stereotyping and offensive. Do you have a thorough understanding of pharmacology or refrigerator design or any of the other numerous fields' whose products you use on a daily basis? I didn't think so.

praisewhitey 13y ago

>Send a snail mail to me and my wife will probably read it. Is quite different from 'send a snail mail to me and my mailman will read it'