September 2019 policy update: Archived links are preferred, but not required.
"Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed. I do not ask that you place hands upon the tyrant to topple him over, but simply that you support him no longer; then you will behold him, like a great Colossus whose pedestal has been pulled away, fall of his own weight and break in pieces."
For posts and comments, feel free to vent. Just remember: Solutions are better (and harder) than problems.
Discouraged:
- Mindless kneejerk "corporations are teh ebil"
- Advocacy of assault or destruction of property
Encouraged topics:
- Non-Google online service providers: Which are trustworthy and reliable?
- Running and hosting your own services: Which are easiest to deploy?
- Avoiding contact with Google: What really happens when you block those addresses?
For a start, instead of using Google "Groups", you can point an NNTP client at aioe.org, which allows reading and posting to Usenet with no authentication required.
The net is vast and infinite.
Let a million flowers bloom.
Even if you are not interested in Google, Google is interested in you.
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[–] [deleted] ago
[–] j_ 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
No, I don’t believe everyone (e.g. my grandmother) should necessarily understand privacy, data collection, cookies, IP addresses etc in the same way that I do. But I do believe that everyone (e.g. my grandmother) understands at a low level that their personal information has value and they trade it for something in return, be it a service, a product, a discount, a favour1. They can’t say with conviction “oh, I just gave Google my name, address, phone number, and I use Gmail for all my private correspondence. I’m sure Google does absolutely nothing with this information and provides free email for the world out of the goodness of their hearts.” That’s what I’m getting at when I say it’s not purely ignorance.
I also don’t think that consumers aren’t concerned. It’s quite clear more people are concerned every day. Privacy is a hot topic; video surveillance, data collection, online safety etc are in the news daily and not just in the US.
I think the more depressing truth is that we aren’t concerned enough. People say “stop collecting my data” but the next day they give up all their data for a membership card at the mall. They say “don’t list my phone number” but they have it on their public Facebook profile. They say “stop video surveillance” but they post their face and geolocation data to Instagram every 5 minutes. Even among the knowledgeable and tech-savvy, we are not concerned enough to demand real change, and I include myself in this criticism.
1With the possible exception of individuals who cannot understand social or economic value due to mental disorder.