Ebby

I don’t think purchase info is necessary tied to hardware out of the box beyond asset tracking. That would cause issues with gifting.

The easy answer is if you don’t run the software, it can’t collect data.

However, the firmware is network capable and certain diagnostic tools and recovery modes can call home. I am not familiar to the extent, however.

This also does not stop other devices, Apple included, from detecting the Mac and reporting home hardware/location data.

Copyright was created to solve a real problem back then and definitely has merit.

However, the behemoth modern copyright has morphed into does need to be put to pasture; it no longer protects, but weponized by gatekeepers.

Your comment made me realize I’m (and I’m sure I’m not alone) sort of the problem with Linux.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the massive community of tools and programs out there like free open source software. But I’ve never actually bought anything for a Linux system with one exception: Debian in a box, on a CD for like, $15.

Buuuut, I have bought FOSS, games, and utilities for Mac and Windows that started as Linux apps and work on my new system.

I guess there is a mindset of get something free to suffice with Linux systems rather than pay for polished apps, and I totally get that thrill, but is there business to be made in this market, or a sunk cost at the end of the year.

I’d really like to see the app, and it takes bold risks to populate this platform, and there’s certainly pushback, but that’s also what separates Linux from windows. No point in having a machine if there are gaps in workflow or utility.

What a coinci-dink. I just installed Ubuntu last week on a new mini computer. I like how easy it’s gotten over the past decade and pretty polished.

I still had to break out the terminal to install some utilities and programs, so that’ll exclude 90% of my family, and if something goes wrong, I couldn’t offer phone support.

But I do use Affinity and think it would be at home on Linux.

The way I read it, “verify your identity” means prove you’re not a bot, not that they had your number to begin with and need it to match.

But Google thanks you for voluntarily providing that data which is now and forever subject to Google’s privacy policy.

I just go idle for a week or two and it works again. It seems like a soft IP block. I use a IPv4 address for yt-dlp so CGNAT sort of works in my favor here.

Using your WiFi SSID paired with Alexa Sidewalk gives it all the info it needs to know precisely where it is, even if you lie to it or use VPN.

It’s already associated to your profile.

Spooky fingers

If you’re considering life360, you’ve already lost the privacy game.

There are different levels of privacy to consider.

Apps: limit number of apps or essential only. Many have built-in trackers for developer kickbacks. Even developers don’t know the full extent of how the data is used.

Device settings: harden the phone by checking all the privacy settings. Install an ad/tracker blocking VPN app.

Evesdroppers: Your phone is a radio transmitter. Companies know this. Your mobile company may have privacy settings and track phones independently of any device settings or app. Also, bluetooth loggers are placed around high traffic areas, such as stores, to record precise location and movement. Disabling wifi, Bluetooth, or Mobile may be considered depending on level of privacy paranoia*.

There may be some privacy respecting tracking options (well, as a family anyway) over on the selfhosted lemmy community if you’re ready to go down that rabbit hole.

•It’s not paranoia if it’s real.

They’ve been locking down the play store, important features, and I suspect revanced had blown a gasket or two in meetings. Time to crack down, DRM up, and enshittify.

Time to break another monopoly.

While true, I felt (if misguided) more comfortable with my data under California data protection laws than Saudi Arabia.

Pikmin Bloom too

Booooo. That sucks.

I was never into Pokemon before this app but this game was fun just finding new discoveries even in my own city.

Watched as much as I could stand. Man, does he draaaaag on.

Mars had a DB breach, 2.7 billion accounts, only for IOT devices.

Conflicting data: phone app doesn’t collect user data, but lo and behold, data collected anyway. Possibly direct from IOT devices.

SSID/pass screenshotted but official response said that was on separate server not involved.

Meh, don’t trust IOT, guys. Keep that crap on a vlan or second wifi. Man, this vid was painful to watch.

I’m split on this. On one hand, I don’t want to be tracked, but know I am anyways. On the other hand, bringing awareness to these problems is important.

One reason companies get away with horrible invasions or privacy is they limit those privileged to access it. Opening up a system to show how invasive it is could be a good thing. Big tech has become the juggernaut it is by operating in the shadows as much as possible.

facepalm.jpg

I didn’t see the /s

Seen these. Pretty creepy but some folks don’t mind.

But you said Amazon has access to my fingerprints? Got proof?

Sounds like a great idea, but a significant portion of 1-star reviews point out massive data collection issues.

More information necessary before I install this on my system.

Credit where due, it is just my best guess. I have no evidence.

I simply think if you have custom code on a machine to ingest data, creating a federation interface may be more suitable and stable in the long run than a scraper. The extra server load may draw attention or run amuck with security policies designed to obscure scrapers.

But that is certainly an option.

Personally, that crosses my mind. But I came over in the reddit revolt and saw lemmy as a fresh start. Privacy isn’t easy, but at least make them work for it.

Also, I figure (if it hasn’t happened already) some federated instances out there are nefarious, set up to harvest data.

We just had a helicopter doing low passed over our house and watching the flight on a tracker, it was clear it was casing chosen neighborhoods. The lengths someone went to sell whatever info they grabbed means it’s highly valuable. The fediverse is open and waiting for it to be datamined.

When has AI been for the benefit of the people more then a trinket to toy with.

It will benefit companies to streamline workflow (replace employees) and lock in patents at an alarming rate. Calling “First!” will cement decades of profit.

Oh, and don’t forget behavioral training. You thought invasive ads were bad now…

Fun times ahead! 😁

I’ll chip in too.