But it’s not specifically about what the email list is for, so I decided to follow the rules of the list and put it here.
It is in response to the ‘news’ article about Eric Shcmidt’s comments
I don’t care whether you agree or disagree, this is an opinion rant. And much of it is specific to Australia.
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The concept of privacy on the internet is laughable at best. If you put info on the internet it will get out.
As for your real life info getting into the wrong hands for nefarious uses, goto your local council and ask for the electoral role. Then find someone and dig through their garbage. Find any shopping receipts. Gather at least 3 months worth.
From that alone you will know more about any given person than what is available on the internet.
You will know their health, relationships, diet, and even a possible psychological profile. Yes it can all be done from tracking your shopping.
Anyone here use FlyBuys? or any other ‘loyalty’ scam/tracking system? Do you have an RTA E-Tag? Do you walk past any of the thousands of security cameras with your face uncovered? If you have used a phone, or sms, say hi to carnivore (or whatever it’s called these days)
And more is being done than is known by the public. Go look at the NSA or our very own ASIS.
All of those can be used in a more damaging way than what can be done with your internet life.
I don’t care about google being able to read my email, track my search or what ever other incriminating information there is.
Signal to noise means that in order to trawl any useful data about me, an agency would have to expend an amount of resources sifting the the pile of noise. And then the only thing they would find is what is already publicly available.
For anything I don’t want to be common knowledge, I simply don’t record it in a manner that can be intercepted by a third party.
Corrupt governments have been abusing innocent citizens long before there was internet, and easier as well because of the control of information was in their hands.
Worrying about being framed or similar is silly, because when it happens, there will be nothing you can do about it anyway. You would be better served worrying about being hit by lightning.
Worrying about media bias/advertising/misinformation etc is just dumb. If you don’t like what your media is presenting to you, don’t participate.
If you don’t like where the society you live in is going, leave it, don’t participate. Opt out of the world, it is possible to go of grid and live a good fulfilling life.
Bernie Maddoff was caught because he got greedy, not because ‘the law’ found him, his greed created more signal than noise.
You can stay in the system, hiding in the noise and getting away with more than anyone suspects.
The original statement of ”If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place,” is one I find onerous and offensive. I disagree totally with it’s premise.
But it won’t affect anything I do whether I agree or not. There are people, groups, organisations and institutions that simply don’t care about innocence, or the public good. These entities are going to screw us over no matter what the law, government or anyone else does.
Get used to it, understand it and work with it.
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</rant> </opinion>
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