Comment by JumpCrisscross
1 month ago
> Bezos' civic engagement weighs more than my civic engagement
Again, I worked on these issues. Bezos and friends never showed up. Nobody showed up. This wasn’t a battle between David and Goliath, it was an empty field to which some generals showed up, looked around and then left.
> money is a superpower so the more one has, the more one can take
To a limit. The last few years have been a barn full of monied candidates being trounced by insurgents.
And again, in any case, not germane to this issue. Most people who would call in on digital privacy don’t bother because they’re lazy or think it’s useless. When they do, e.g. when the EFF mobilises, it’s a quick battle. (The problem being such mobilisation has tended to be reactionary. In part due to the other overlap between digital privacy advocates who will civically engage and libertarians. So we don’t get positive pressure to pass protections, just occasional negative pressure against legal encroachment.)
> Again, I worked on these issues.
Working on something means you put in effort, not that it's focused properly or that you even understand the real issues. At best you'll solve your problems without caring or understanding if it solves anyone else's.
> Bezos and friends never showed up.
Case in point. Bezos and friends don't need to "show up" anywhere you'd know. Their interests are implicitly considered and they're transmitted on channels you and I don't have access to. I'm talking about the general issue of asymmetric representation. This is where money matters.
> The last few years have been a barn full of monied candidates being trounced by insurgents.
You are conflating winning a popular election with leading for the people. Such statements in 2025 US are ridiculously disconnected. Almost without exception in recent history the wealthy always increased their wealth faster than the poor, and at their expense. Just over a decade ago the poorest 50% had 0.4% of the US wealth. No wealth means no power, not even personal agency, let alone in national policy. Are you telling me that finally the "insurgents" are fixing this and with their help the bottom half will start gaining the wealth and power from the super rich? Because if you aren't saying this, you aren't saying anything. The powerful will keep pushing and getting what they need, and you'll keep blaming "the lazy" that things don't change.
> Most people who would call in on digital privacy don’t bother because they’re lazy or think it’s useless.
Most people are assaulted with many, many more attacks on their rights and wellbeing. Those are more immediate concerns. Over 50% of US population just barely eeks out more that $10k in wealth. When they're drowning in debt, living from (social security) paycheck to paycheck, worried what else they'll lose next, showing up to fight for digital privacy, or almost anything that's not life and death, is the least of their concerns.
You decided to label them "lazy". Ever wondered if your work "on these issues" is tainted by this opinion, and that's why ultimately all you can achieve is only for the people who can afford it? Because you can afford it, and the lazy don't deserve it. The correlation is there.
> Their interests are implicitly considered and they're transmitted on channels you and I don't have access to. I'm talking about the general issue of asymmetric representation
I’ve worked on other issues that got passed into legislation. In the privacy cases, I was speaking directly to the electeds.
Nobody showed up. They were dead ends unless they could be linked to an issue people care about, e.g. abortion in blue states and Chinese espionage in red ones.
> Most people are assaulted with many, many more attacks on their rights and wellbeing. Those are more immediate concerns
People with strong views on digital privacy tend to be wealthier and better-educated than the average American. Also, the single mother of three working two jobs will show up to town halls and electeds’ field offices when it comes to issues they care about. And it’s impactful.
People do show up and civically engage. Just not on digital privacy.
> Working on something means you put in effort, not that it's focused properly or that you even understand the real issues
They definitely understand them far more than you, who has zero experience with them and regularly makes fallacious arguments and outright incorrect claims about them.
> Their interests are implicitly considered and they're transmitted on channels you and I don't have access to.
Where, exactly?
> You are conflating winning a popular election with leading for the people.
No, you failed to actually read their comment correctly. Their comment was a refutation of your claim that "money is a superpower so the more one has, the more one can take". They were not claiming that winning an election meant leading for the people, only pointing out the evidence against your claim.
> Because if you aren't saying this, you aren't saying anything.
What does this even mean?
> you'll keep blaming "the lazy" that things don't change
Fact: active participation from voters is a necessary precondition for a democracy to survive.
> showing up to fight for digital privacy, or almost anything that's not life and death, is the least of their concerns
Yes, that's correct, but those same people don't participate on politics at all, with any of the time that they have. The middle class doesn't participate. I've literally never heard a friend or acquaintance of mine say that they've ever contacted a representative (in federal or state government) about a political issue. This factually is an issue of people being lazy and disengaged, because of the fact that people with lots of disposable time and income don't put in the effort.
> You decided to label them "lazy". Ever wondered if your work "on these issues" is tainted by this opinion
No, it's a trivial implication of the nature of democracies. If you don't get that active participation is necessary for democracies to survive, you fundamentally don't understand how democracies work.
This is also an extremely lazy cop-out (which is thematically consistent) where you're dismissing someone's opinion because they have more experience than you in that field...which is insane.
> that's why ultimately all you can achieve is only for the people who can afford it
And, again, this is factually incorrect as to the root of the problem, because the people who can afford to participate in politics (which at the very least includes the middle-class) do not.
> No wealth means no power, not even personal agency, let alone in national policy.
This is also factually incorrect. The eligibility to vote has zero requirements as to income or wealth. Bezos gets the exact same number of votes as I do, despite having orders of magnitude more wealth. And guess how our representatives get elected?
You should really consider listening to someone who has actual experience in the relevant field rather than spewing fallacies and factual inaccuracies.
Any recommendations on possible regulatory responses to the collection, processing and sale of human motion/activity data collected via WiFi and other RF Sensing?
> Any recommendations on possible regulatory responses to the collection, processing and sale of human motion/activity data collected via WiFi and other RF Sensing?
Research your state's privacy laws and submit a cool and concise complaint to your regulators, e.g. attorney general, consumer protection bureaus, public utility commissions, et cetera. These offices are understaffed and overworked--there is a good chance they haven't noticed this.
If you want to throw cash at the problem, check if Xfinity is pulling this crap in Illinois. (Or another state with a a BIPA [1].) One could argue that one's radar cross section is biometric [1]. That opens up avenues for financing litigation.
Finally, always, call your electeds. U.S. Congressmen and Senators, yes, but also your state legislators. Put it on their radars. (Most offices will put a staffer on a novel issue if more than a couple people call in about it.) If you want to supercharge this effect, find a local party organisation (e.g. such and such town or county D/R committee or club), go to their meeting and try to get it on the agenda.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biometric_Information_Privacy_...
Thank you for actionable comment/advice!