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Comment by retube | Hacker News Reader

I just can't get outraged by this. You are walking around literally shouting out a personal identifier and demanding that no one listens.

People need to take responsibility for themselves. If you have a problem with this, TURN YOUR WI-FI OFF.

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But I am broadcasting identifiers everywhere I go. The oldest means of recognition in the world is my face, and I don't cover that up wherever I go. I've also got a recognizable smell[1], a recognizable gait[2], a recognizable voice[3], and doubtless many other things that can be used individually or in aggregate to identify me, and that's before we get to contact-based or invasive techniques involving fingerprints, iris recognition, or DNA tests.

Suggesting that people "need to take responsibility for themselves" is tantamount to victim blaming when it comes to broadcasting identities for gathering by third parties. The responsibility for correctly using data should really lie with those that collect the data, and that's what data protection acts in Europe tend to target.

[1] http://www.livescience.com/5188-odor-unique-fingerprint.html

[2] http://www.wired.com/2011/09/walking-biometric-identificatio...

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_recognition

This sounds like a judgement on those who carry phones and don't think too hard about this but then call out those who go phoneless because they (the phone-equipped) don't understand the hardware. This is not a judgement. It's simply challenging the false narratives and assumptions citizens have when they carry a phone around: DO you feel empowered or enfeebled (weakened) by a phone?

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