I think the average person just simply doesn't care about their privacy.
I think the average person just simply doesn't care about their privacy.
In some of the music communities I'm in the content creators are already telling their userbase to go follow them on threads. They're all talking about some kind of beef between Elon and Mark and the possibility of a boxing match... Mark was right to call the people he's leaching off of fucking idiots.
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I'm just curious if you're a tech worker? (or a teenager interested in tech)
I ask because I feel like people who work in tech are basically exposed to the dangers of web privacy all the time. I remember having to implement a facebook pixel on a website, and realizing the network of surveillance that facebook have spread across the web at that time. So I have pretty decent privacy behaviors, still far from great but maybe slightly above average.
But when I go to the doctor and I mention how often I eat fast food and drink alcohol, or when I go to the dentist and admit I don't floss everyday - I'm sure those people are thinking 'most people seriously don't care about their health'. They might stop short of 'fucking idiot', hopefully.
Iâd also say that those health issues are much more practically impactful than Instagram showing you ads for luggage when youâve bought a plane ticket.
Caring about ad tech is a hobby. Itâs as good a hobby as any other, but thatâs what it is.
Sure I think thats fair. My larger point is that everyone is biased over time by their hobbies and professions, and we should be careful how harshly we judge others by our yardstick.
You can be casual about it, but I don't think it's a hobby to seek to understand something that you're very nearly forced to coexist with. I have to acknowledge there's ideology behind statements like this, but it's more analogous to knowing your enemy's capabilities. It's a necessary prerequisite to forming an effective defense.
But I've come to understand many people don't share my antagonistic mindset. That's fine, but they should still understand the interactions they're having with these systems in even just the vaguest terms, because the effect on their lives is very tangible.
Iâm saying the very idea that you need to ever even think about this as a defense against the enemy is the hobby. Thereâs only a battle to be fought here if you want there to be, and most people donât want that. The impact on their lives is not actually tangible. Ad tech doesnât really hurt anyone. No one likes it, and at best, it feels a little gross, but feeling vaguely icky is not the kind of tangible impact that reliably drives people to action. What happens to you when Facebook or Google bundle you into anonymized groups of eyeballs and promise advertisers that theyâll show you ads relevant to the profile theyâve built of you? Nothing really. If you think about the way they built that profile by tracking your every move online, then yes, it feels creepy, but thatâs it.
i love a good analogy. point taken.