Comment by LeeroyWasHere
2 years ago
Privacy is a choice? That's a new one, I didn't know people had the choice of their data not being leaked or sold by small and big businesses.
We can chew gum and walk at the same time, no need to throw privacy under the bus.
Of course privacy is not a choice, it's a fundamental right.
Giving your personal data to private companies, however, is a choice. You can simply not use their services.
> You can simply not use their services.
I love this liberal argument. It's the sister argument of "Well, if you don't like YouTube censorship, then you can start your own YouTube!" It is truly out of touch with how societies actually function.
This argument only works when you have lots of market competition full of small players where it doesn't make any difference which service you use. But large corporations can effectively become something like public utilities that function like economic gatekeepers in a way that even governments are incapable of.
It is also hostile and encourages/enables the hostility of big players. My presumption is characterized by liberality, but it's a presumption, which means I default to liberality, unless there is a good reason to restrain it. Saying "just don't use it" can either be unrealistic, or something like a move of last resort. We regulate business and have always regulated business for a reason, pace free market extremism.
The common good is the concern of the law, and protecting the individual is for the sake of the common good. Start there, and you might take a different view of the function of economies in societies and how they may or may not be constrained.
You really can't.
If you don't want to be homeless, you're either renting or buying, and in either case people are going to be processing your personal data. You're also probably going to need a bank account, which you also can't open without handing over personal data.
If you want electricity, you're then dealing with another company that is processing your data. Same for water and gas and internet.
Sure, some things are optional, some things can be worked around by buying in person and using cash instead of buying online. But a lot of things are just not practically optional.
> You can simply not use their services
Good luck with that. I get that you can refuse to email anybody with a gmail.com address, but lots of people use Google to host email. You may not be willing to upload your address book to Facebook, but the people who also have you in their phone book have likely shared that with FB through Instagram.
These companies get to know you pretty well even if you never directly use their services.
All my university systems run on Microsoft. All my future employers' systems will probably run on Microsoft. All public transport in my country effectively requires an app which is tied to either Google or Apple operating systems to buy tickets. Schools require students as young as 6 years old to have an iPad or chromebook tied to Google or Apple.
There is no real choice in our modern society to "not give your personal data" to these megacorps.
Wow, never heard someone ask me to cancel all services if I want privacy. That's new.
"Man who boycotts all privacy-violating companies now alone in cave with his Goya beans and copy of Stallman's GNU manifesto"
https://noyb.eu/en/telesign-profiles-half-worlds-phone-users
I did not gave my data to TeleSign but apparently they have it. And my operator did not tell me.
> Giving your personal data to private companies, however, is a choice. You can simply not use their services.
This is what I do, but it certainly doesn't stop private companies from getting my private data anyway.
There is no way to opt out of this.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36567329
There are a lot of businesses for which life would be much harder choosing not to use their services, and more services are digitised each year. Gov online services, essential utilities (water, gas etc), mobile phone providers, private health and so on.
It’s not as simple as “don’t use them”