this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2023
364 points (95.0% liked)

Privacy

32130 readers
1184 users here now

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.

Some Rules

Related communities

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

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.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The truth makes for tough reading. Now for the good news: imagine all the free software you use every day, and all the people who built it with passion and countless hours of hard work, and - not least! - how much more powerful that software is than it was even a decade ago.

It seems that the ignorant masses are not entirely in the driving seat, right?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Ignorance goes both sides though, free and open source has dark aspects to it. The assumed security has no one to hold to account, and for profit companies has real leverage over projects and can hurt the ecosystem if given a chance. Add to that how lax the wider community attitude is to breaking licences and you have a ecosystem that can fail if all you do is assume good faith.

Remember to keep an open mind to everything and not just the things in life you have a particular issue with. Everyone is ignorant to something.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

Remember to keep an open mind to everything and not just the things in life you have a particular issue with.

FYI this presumptuous and gratuitously patronizing remark undermines the rest of your comment.