Comment by ziddoap
3 years ago
>much more reasonably informed demographic
My argument is that the "reasonably informed demographic" is incredibly small. I can only say the same thing so many times, though, so I'm not sure how to explain it in a different way.
To restate my example, even very smart CS graduates may not realize that anonymized data joined with other anonymized data can result in de-anonymized data, because the linking and de-anonymization of sparse datasets is a niche subfield that has only recently begun being explored.
Many people may think they are reasonably informed (they look into the ToS, see that data is anonymized, and decide that they are okay with that) without knowing that the data may later by de-anonymized through advanced statistical analysis they've never been exposed to in all their schooling. So while they thought they were informed, they weren't. This repeats across several domains.
>But again, i repeatedly fallback to "But who else can do this?".
Why is that when a problem is identified, people demand a solution be provided at the same time? I don't have a solution, sorry. But that shouldn't preclude me from identifying a problem.
I honestly did not expect saying basically "Let's put some of the blame on Google, because they're the ones with the dark patterns and lawyers and experts, rather than solely blaming the layperson" would be met with much pushback.
> My argument is that the "reasonably informed demographic" is incredibly small. I can only say the same thing so many times, though, so I'm not sure how to explain it in a different way.
I think we're in agreement here. To be clear, i'm mostly talking about intent, an attempt to stay informed and a willingness to act - to push for centralized leadership who is informed.
Ie as i said before, your grandma is not expected to know this. She is expected to fight for a government that will be, and that will also be able to be held accountable.
We have neither the oversight on government current, nor the willingness to act. Your grandma built the same world we are building today. One of inaction and obfuscation.
If society cannot be informed and active on what is essential to build that world (whatever that may be), then we are doomed. Currently, the population at large is not. At least, not from what i can see in action.