Comment by ragequittah | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ragequittah | Hacker News Reader

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It's not nihilism. I still ad block, use an RFID wallet, and don't install any apps on my phone, I rarely use google for anything. But at some point when something is so ridiculously useful and the data they're getting doesn't really mean much of anything I have to stop caring. I use Windows 11 (gross) because it lets me play video games with my friends I can't otherwise. I use Uber because it lets me get across town. I use Visual Studio because it helps me code. I use Chatgpt because it helps me with so many things. To take away any one of those because I'm a privacy absolutist seems silly to me. It has the exact same vibe of never leaving your room because you're afraid of all the cameras.

I'd like there to be a push back against these companies because I find their practices disgusting but running linux with only open source software and a fairphone is just an extreme I'm unwilling to entertain because it's just not possible in my (or most people's) world.

> and don't install any apps on my phone, I rarely use google for anything

And yet you are fine with personalized telemetry from Google on your PC? This is self-contradictory.

In fairness, as others have pointed out, the phone is much more personal than the home computer. Your phone is almost always with you, collecting much more intimate data than your PC can.

This not always true, at least not for me. I trust my laptop with disabled Intel ME running Qubes OS much more than my phone.

I didn't say the phone was more trusted, I said it was more personal.

Your phone almost certainly knows where you are at all times, for example. It may know whether you're walking or sitting. It knows who calls you, who you call, who you message.

The laptop may know some of that, but it doesn't have the same sensors, and doesn't stay with you most times you leave the house.

> Your phone almost certainly knows where you are at all times, for example. It may know whether you're walking or sitting

Indeed, it's true for most people, but I use Librem 5 with hardware kill switches for modem, sensors etc.

I think the thing you neglect when having setups like this is that you start to garner interest from law enforcement if they ever come across you. You're trying so hard to cover your tracks that you stand out very clearly in a crowd.

There's a middle ground between living deep in the woods without windows and walking around naked in public.

It seems you are talking about Social Cooling, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24627363. The more people like me exist, the easier it will be for actual activists and journalists to do their work. Privacy and anonymity are crucial for democracy.

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