> You have to solve a Google reCaptcha in order to register a new account.
Even in the world of the free uber-cyberpunk hacker, why is reCaptcha considered a warning sign?
Even in the world of the free uber-cyberpunk hacker, why is reCaptcha considered a warning sign?
Considering reCaptcha has some tasks that look suspiciously like "help train who-knows-whose neural net to identify the bombing targets in this satellite image," it could also be an ethical choice for some people.
I don't agree with it, but I understand it, especially if you have bad feelings about google.
If they were doing it for a public library or releasing the text as public domain, that would be a public good. As it stands, it's just doing free work for an advertising company.
A service requiring you to interact with Google software in order to use it, is pretty much a surefire way to find out that you and the service provider are not on the same page about the value of your privacy or at the very least that the service provider does not understand the privacy implications, which doesn't help your privacy.
There's the odd chance that the service provider has actually researched about the specific Google software that they're using and that it's somehow actually not privacy-invading, or that the service provider has a contract with Google to protect your privacy, but chances for both of those are really low.
Google reCaptcha's are also incredibly annoying compared to standard captchas, which would be a good reason for people to want to stay away from it.