this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2023
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Privacy

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Does anyone else feel as if it's over when it comes to really owning your own things?

As of now:

  • You don't have the option of having a phone with decent specs and replaceable parts
  • You have to have really good knowledge in tech to have private services that are on par with what the big companies offer
  • You have to put up with annoying compatibility issues if you install a custom ROM on your android phone
  • You cannot escape apps preventing you from using them if you root your device
  • Cars are becoming SaaS bullcrap
  • Everything is going for a subscription model in general

And now Google is attempting to implement DRM on websites. If that goes through, Firefox is going to be relegated to privacy conscious websites (there aren't many of those). At this point, why even bother? Why do I go to great lengths at protecting my privacy if it means that I can't use most services I want?

It sucks because the obvious solution is for people to move away from these bullshit companies and show that they actually care about their privacy. Even more important is to actually PAY for services they like instead of relying on free stuff. I'm not optimistic not just because the non privacy conscious side is lazy, but because my side is greedy. I mean one of the most popular communities on lemmy is "piracy" which makes it all the more reasonable for companies not to listen to privacy conscious people.

I wouldn't say that this is the endgame but in this trajectory, privacy is gone before 2030.

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[–] paral121@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

You will own nothing and you will be happy

[–] mightysashiman@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You don’t have the option of having a phone with decent specs and replaceable parts

For now it is indeed an issue. It may get better as EU imposes easily replaceable batteries for instance.

You have to have really good knowledge in tech to have private services that are on par with what the big companies offer

Well yes, because technology is complicated by nature. BigTech inject billions in making stuff simple and UX pleasant precisely to attract layman customers. Privacy-focused tech companies have less money, put a lot of effort in privacy tech, and are less mature UX-wise than classic bigTech. Customers also want more privacy, but have a hard time paying for anything. At some point the customer has to come to terms with coherence. Vote with your wallet.

You have to put up with annoying compatibility issues if you install a custom ROM on your android phone

No you don’t necessarily. LineageOS works perfectly on my Oneplus 6T.

You cannot escape apps preventing you from using them if you root your device

Yes you can. Magisk Root + Universal SafetyNet Fix v2.4.0-MOD_1.2 (by kdrag0n, modded by Displax) + editing the deny list properly.

Cars are becoming SaaS bullcrap

Use public transport when possible. Rent cars when really not possible. Problem solved.

Everything is going for a subscription model in general

I understand it’s frustrating. At the same time we either expect a constant stream of updates, or everything-IT requires regular updating if only for security purposes. Companies have employees to pay. Do you work for free?

[–] originalfrozenbanana@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Technology creates fiefdoms where rentiers extract value from the rest of us. But I’m not losing hope

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[–] j4k3@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Seriously watch this video posted here: https://lemmy.world/post/2126185

If Yann is correct about how AI will work in the VERY near future, google is already dead. It has no future Personal offline open source assistant AI is near at hand. This will kill the entire digital ecosystem as it stands now. If you understand this, contextually, all the BS right now is from desperate venture capitalists trying to get as much return on investment as possible.

Get a machine with at least 16GB of VRAM on a GPU and start leaning to mess with FOSS AI. This is the next digital age.

Privacy is something we control. You don't actually NEED the conveniences. You vote with your wallet. As far as devices, I love Graphene, but I also live without anything that only comes from the proprietary google framework like the Play store. I only use open source Android apps. The Play store is not Android, it is proprietary google garbage.

[–] eruchitanda@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

3. I'm guessing that Google apps would be problematic. Except those apps, I didn't have any compatibility issues, on Custom ROMs. Especially GrapheneOS, CalyxOS, LineageOS, and /e/OS.

4. On a different user, I installed banking app that would usually prevent you from using it. No problems to use the app whatsoever.

[–] theneverfox@pawb.social 4 points 1 year ago

It was outlawed out of concerns it would make us less productive

[–] xiao@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago

Strangely your post makes me think of the SciFi book written by Alain Damasio - Les Furtifs. 😬

Not sure that it has been translated in English...

[–] Borgzilla@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Depending on your situation, most of your issues can be avoided by not owning a smartphone. It's extreme (by today's standards, at least), but it does work. I ditched my smartphone back in 2017 for a cheap flip phone. I can find spare parts on eBay easily. My car is older, so there is no SaaS crap in it. If I need to keep in touch with someone, we can use SMS, call each other or meet in real life. I use a Linux laptop for banking/browsing the web and I keep a physical GPS in my car in case of emergency.

and I agree with you. Privacy is pretty much gone already.

[–] itchy_lizard@feddit.it 2 points 1 year ago

Yes, we need to pass laws that prevent companies from blocking access to their services on the basis of using privacy tools. Basically apps should be able to run on any customised client device and they should only legally able to say "no" if my session is clearly demonstrating malicious interactions.

We need better consumer protection laws.

[–] itchy_lizard@feddit.it 2 points 1 year ago

Dunno, I don't use shitty apps that aren't available in F-Droid and I'm all the better for it.

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