Privacy

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A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

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Posting a link to a website containing tracking isn't great, if contents of the website are behind a paywall maybe copy them into the post
Don't promote proprietary software
Try to keep things on topic
If you have a question, please try searching for previous discussions, maybe it has already been answered
Reposts are fine, but should have at least a couple of weeks in between so that the post can reach a new audience
Be nice :)

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The Fantasy of Opting Out (long read) (thereader.mitpress.mit.edu)

submitted 4 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 years ago (3 children)

That was a long read but I found the end (quoted below) quite enjoyable as the subject of privacy seems to devolve into absolutes in various online forums.

There is no simple solution to the problem of privacy, because privacy itself is a solution to societal challenges that are in constant flux. Some are natural and beyond our control; others are technological and should be within our control but are shaped by a panoply of complex social and material forces with indeterminate effects. Privacy does not mean stopping the flow of data; it means channeling it wisely and justly to serve societal ends and values and the individuals who are its subjects, particularly the vulnerable and the disadvantaged.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 years ago (2 children)

This last bit,

Privacy does not mean stopping the flow of data; it means channeling it wisely and justly to serve societal ends and values and the individuals who are its subjects, particularly the vulnerable and the disadvantaged.

Sounds like a message for companies / developers to use privacy to help society, especially those who need a high level of privacy. Activists, politicians, investigative journalists, etc. Perhaps "justice" suggests that services can be mostly privacy-respecting, but leak some data if law enforcement requests it for a case. My interpretation again leaves me confused about the intended audience of this article.

Though, this part

Privacy does not mean stopping the flow of data; it means channeling it wisely

resonates with me a little. There are some areas where i need to let my data flow and sacrifice privacy, like SMS. In others, I prefer to stop the flow as much as I can.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 years ago (1 children)

I think it is important to note that this was written in 2015 (during the big-data hype). Back then the companies and governments had not yet fully shifted their line of argument to lawful access etc.

Never the less the article still has the point that an individual acting on stopping "the flow as much as I can" is falling way short of actually reaching any sort of meaningful privacy on the societal level and in fact also not for the individual as it leaves a moving dark spot in the surveillance fabric that can be tracked nearly as well.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 years ago

"As much as I can" in digital ways, like de-Googling my phone, using privacy-respecting apps, and using Tor. As I said, I don't apply that approach to my whole life.