Nannies and Spyware

[ta240]

Maybe that's because there are far fewer variations of Mac's than PC's.

One of the most genius things Apple did was controlling the software and the hardware. They can keep the hardware quality high and ensure its compatibility. Meanwhile you can practically get windows on a toaster and complain that it crashes whenever the toast is done.

 

[mhardy6647]

I haven't even agreed to trade a discount with any of these companies for collecting my information.

You read every single word of the EULAs you agreed, to, right?

 

[pseudoid]

You read every single word of the EULAs you agreed, to, right?

EULAs are going the way of the RTFMs and the typewriters that used to generate them.

A eulogy has been initiated for EULAs.

"Integrated biotechnology is a quickly-approaching future legal issue that will blur the line between technology and person. The technology will likely run through some kind of software, and users of the technology will likely need to agree to some type of licensing agreement to use the software. End User License Agreements (“EULAs”) as they exist today have terms and clauses that will be problematic when applied to an implanted artificial heart, a replacement for the human eye that enhances vision, or other types of integrated technology. Current FDA regulation and EULAs are insufficient to deal with the problems that technology integration will create.
This Note argues for a new form of licensing agreement that will apply to integrated biotechnology, called a Biotechnology Licensing Agreement (“BTLA”). The BTLA will contain certain clauses that strengthen the bargaining power of the future cyborg when dealing with the creators of the integrated technology.
Further, for creation of a new sub-department of the FDA, the Biotechnology Adjudication Bureau (“BAB”). The BAB will handle regulation of integrated biotechnology and will assist cyborgs in the near future world of half-human half-machines.
These solutions will dampen the problems and legal issues that will arise as the integrated biotechnology space becomes more mainstream and more pervasive."
[from Abstract:[email protected]]

Good riddance...

 

[ta240]

You read every single word of the EULAs you agreed, to, right?

what I meant to say is I'm not even getting anything in exchange for all my information.

 

[renaudrenaud]

I don't understand clearly why people continue to use Windows.

Linux is here since years and if you are new to the system you can use Zorin to avoid to be lost.

I can write a list of points like alternative open source software to replace the usual suspects, gain in performances, good gaming platform etc... But so tired.

It's like you can have a car for free, cost you nothing in energy, never go back for repairs, is faster and more confortable, but people continue with their old system because habits and fear to use something different.

Many years ago Microsoft Windows was an operating system, now it's a cash register system.

 

[Blumlein 88]

I don't understand clearly why people continue to use Windows.

Linux is here since years and if you are new to the system you can use Zorin to avoid to be lost.

I can write a list of points like alternative open source software to replace the usual suspects, gain in performances, good gaming platform etc... But so tired.

It's like you can have a car for free, cost you nothing in energy, never go back for repairs, is faster and more confortable, but people continue with their old system because habits and fear to use something different.

Many years ago Microsoft Windows was an operating system, now it's a cash register system.

Compatibility, getting things done, makers of peripherals not being linux friendly. All those reasons. I use Linux on my desktop and have for a generation. It is better than ever. Even now, to some extent, printers or other gear can be a little problematic. It isn't as hard to adapt as most windows users imagine, but there is an adaptation cost. People don't want to become computer scientists, they just want to get things done. I don't know, but from what I see the % of people owning a PC with Windows, LInux, BSD, or MacOS has probably peaked. People are now more on phones which were made from the beginning to be more of a mass market computing appliance.

Even I could manage with no computer more than my phone if it were easier to interface it to a full keyboard and monitor. People with phones just get an app and don't need to know anything more. Windows is trying (and failing I think) to turn their machines into the same thing. Get it from the Windows store needing to know nearly nothing and use an app. MacOS sort of has backed into the same idea in a somewhat more accepted way. With both I don't feel like my computing machine is mine the way it has always been with Linux, was for a long time with Windows and never was for MacOS. Macs are expensive, and you have to pay for more software with it.

I understand your frustration that Linux isn't utilized more, but there are lots of dollars behind Windows and MacOS. Worst of all is Android sort of grew from Linux and cheated on the licensing of open source material. I feel like both Jobs and Gates were snakes in the grass.

I need to replace my decade old desktop. It is functional enough, but I could get something faster for the next decade. I'm trying to decide between building a Windows machine, or one for Linux or get a Mac Mini. The latter is easier and plenty powerful enough. But I like that OS the least, and the prices beyond the basic memory and HD are obscene being nothing more than a rip off.

 

[renaudrenaud]

Compatibility, getting things done, makers of peripherals not being linux friendly. All those reasons. I use Linux on my desktop and have for a generation. It is better than ever. Even now, to some extent, printers or other gear can be a little problematic. It isn't as hard to adapt as most windows users imagine, but there is an adaptation cost. People don't want to become computer scientists, they just want to get things done. I don't know, but from what I see the % of people owning a PC with Windows, LInux, BSD, or MacOS has probably peaked. People are now more on phones which were made from the beginning to be more of a mass market computing appliance.

Even I could manage with no computer more than my phone if it were easier to interface it to a full keyboard and monitor. People with phones just get an app and don't need to know anything more. Windows is trying (and failing I think) to turn their machines into the same thing. Get it from the Windows store needing to know nearly nothing and use an app. MacOS sort of has backed into the same idea in a somewhat more accepted way. With both I don't feel like my computing machine is mine the way it has always been with Linux, was for a long time with Windows and never was for MacOS. Macs are expensive, and you have to pay for more software with it.

I understand your frustration that Linux isn't utilized more, but there are lots of dollars behind Windows and MacOS. Worst of all is Android sort of grew from Linux and cheated on the licensing of open source material. I feel like both Jobs and Gates were snakes in the grass.

I need to replace my decade old desktop. It is functional enough, but I could get something faster for the next decade. I'm trying to decide between building a Windows machine, or one for Linux or get a Mac Mini. The latter is easier and plenty powerful enough. But I like that OS the least, and the prices beyond the basic memory and HD are obscene being nothing more than a rip off.

Well, I am working on Linux, coding on Linux, managing servers and VM and containers on Linux etc... I used to be a Windows user, especially with computers from companies I was working for. Now I just want to work with Linux companies. The feeling is freedom. When I see all the adds in the Windows taskbar etc... I don't have any TV, I don't want to see adds, listen to the radios only if there is no add. It seems to me there is 2 worlds. One infested with things I hate and one other I can live.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Companies seem to look at the data they produce and collect with the products they sell to customers (cars, phones, laptops, operating systems, and so on) as a new Product that is actually owned by the company and not the customer. Next stop: pay less for car insurance because your car's data is sent to the insurance company by the car vendor.

Not sure what to do about it unless governmental regulation and a concept for protection of data privacy (yes I'm from Europe)

Lotsa luck getting anything like that done in the US. And yes, it is a plague. Even if it's only ads, it's entirely obnoxious. I have one Email that gets 50 junk mails a day, and I have no idea where these companies got my email from and how they know to target me with these kinds of ads, but it's obviously the trackers which seem to watch and report back every site I visit. There should be laws against this kind of surveillance capitalism with strict and enforceable penalties, but of course there never will be. We've lost our right to privacy, and we're never getting it back. Yet another indicator that the people are not in control of how they are being governed, and probably never will be again.

 

[Blumlein 88]

It seems to me there is 2 worlds. One infested with things I hate and one other I can live.

A distinction without a difference.

 

[renaudrenaud]

A distinction without a difference.

Difference is "no add".

 

[Blumlein 88]

Difference is "no add".

When you use a tautology to describe a binary obvious thing the information content is very low. A distinction, but one of no meaningful difference. True, but so what?

 

[renaudrenaud]

When you use a tautology to describe a binary obvious thing the information content is very low. A distinction, but one of no meaningful difference. True, but so what?

Maybe I understand, but my english is certainly too poor to produce some understandable well documented article with a lot of information. And for what effect, it will change nothing except your very interesting comments.

 

[IAtaman]

It's always useful to be targeted with something you have already bought. NOT!

Unless 'they' listen to your conversations (which I've heard does allegedly happen...) there is no way 'they' could pre-empt any prospective purchase, which makes targeted advertising totally irrelevant.

However 'they' don't seem to have realised this yet....

Well, don't be so sure.

How Target Figured Out A Teen Girl Was Pregnant Before Her Father Did

Target has perfected the technique of analyzing consumers' shopping habits to figure out who's pregnant. How can they send customers congratulatory coupons without freaking them out?

www.forbes.com

This is a story from 2012 by the way. We can only imagine how much the tech must have evolved and developed over the course of last 12 years with the mountains of data they have on all of us.

 

[Ron Texas]

One of the most genius things Apple did was controlling the software and the hardware. They can keep the hardware quality high and ensure its compatibility. Meanwhile you can practically get windows on a toaster and complain that it crashes whenever the toast is done.

Making both the hardware and the software along with respecting user privacy is the Apple way. Any burnt toast lately?

 

[somebodyelse]

Making both the hardware and the software along with respecting user privacy is the Apple way. Any burnt toast lately?

Only when it suits them. They picked remaining in the Chinese market over user privacy there. They also proposed scanning content on the user's device before sync, and only backed down after bad publicity. Their reaction to the AirTag stalking issue hasn't been good either.

 

[mhardy6647]

what I meant to say is I'm not even getting anything in exchange for all my information.

Really? It's always struck me as a devil's bargain.
Do you ever do searches using, e.g., Google (or... whatever 'search engine') for personal or even professional benefit (gain)? I know that I do.
Is there value in that? Do you write 'em a check (checque) every month?
As has long been said of for-profit businesses like Alphabet/Google: if it's not clear to you what the product is -- you are the product.

The current imbroglio occasioned by AI skimming information from copyrighted/monetized sources will be interesting. Could be "the media's" last gasp(?), or could it throttle "everybody's" (everything's) access to information even further(?).

Inside the News Industry’s Uneasy Negotiations With OpenAI

Several major publishers have been in talks to license content to the creator of ChatGPT, but agreement on the price and terms has been elusive.

www.nytimes.com

@pseudoid -- the arrangement you cite appears to be somewhat specialized; aimed at medical devices. Don't get me started.

 

[Ron Texas]

@mhardy6647 Those scanning copyrighted information to train AI's claim it's fair use. I think where it gets tricky is when the AI is asked to produce an image in the style of some artist.

 

[Ron Texas]

Only when it suits them. They picked remaining in the Chinese market over user privacy there. They also proposed scanning content on the user's device before sync, and only backed down after bad publicity. Their reaction to the AirTag stalking issue hasn't been good either.

So government regulations are Apple's fault? Take it a step further and no company should be doing business with China. Your other assertions are more innuendo than substance.

 

[ta240]

Really? It's always struck me as a devil's bargain.
Do you ever do searches using, e.g., Google (or... whatever 'search engine') for personal or even professional benefit (gain)? I know that I do.
Is there value in that? Do you write 'em a check (checque) every month?
As has long been said of for-profit businesses like Alphabet/Google: if it's not clear to you what the product is -- you are the product.

When I use google (which is only when duckduckgo doesn't come up with a good result) I realize I'm trading my privacy for them doing search at no charge.

My point is I bought the Roku streamer and I paid for the movie on Vudu through the streamer. There is a clear product there and it is being paid for. Roku gets money in both of those transactions; where is my discount for them harvesting my info?

If I give a store my email or phone number they give me a discount for being able to look up who I am and link all my purchases together based on that information. I'm getting something along with the purchase in exchange for them storing that info and even selling it.

And it is even more funny to me that they show me they are collecting all that information in a 'look, we are being helpful' way. The creepy factor is right up there with when I order something online from a store and then later buy something else in their store; then they email me and say "write a review for this item you bought in our store". I didn't enter any information other than my credit card in the store but when I made the online purchase they linked all my info to that credit card and now when I shop in their store with that card they know pretty much everything about me. And yet again they aren't giving me any extra discount in exchange for my info.

 

[somebodyelse]

So government regulations are Apple's fault? Take it a step further and no company should be doing business with China. Your other assertions are more innuendo than substance.

Government regulations aren't Apple's fault. Trading where those regulations conflict with your claimed core values is a choice. When your privacy page says

Privacy is a fundamental human right. It’s also one of our core values.

your continued trading in such locations suggests you don't take that 'core value' very seriously.

I thought the others were sufficiently well known that they wouldn't need citation.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...-scanning-calls-it-an-advancement-in-privacy/
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...e-photo-scanning-plans-to-address-criticisms/
Similar client side scanning was proposed in the run up to the passing of the recent online security bill in the UK. Signal and WhatsApp said they would withdraw from the UK rather than weaken their encryption.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-62291328, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-64584001
The final bill leaves it up to Ofcom (telecoms regulator) to decide what measures to apply, and so far they haven't put such requirements in place, so we have yet to see whether they're true to their word.

Reviews such as this called out AirTag's privacy issues in May '21, but Apple had apparently been warned prior to launch. It took until December '21 for them to release an Android version of the unwanted tracker detection function. In Feb '22 Apple announced an update to partially address some of the complaints, which by that point were backed up by reported crimes. Coverage of the ongoing class action (later ammended) will no doubt have more details. Whether or not they turn out to be legally culpable, it's reasonable grounds to question their commitment to privacy.