Tag: privacy
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Chrome again exempts Google from user site data settings
Jeff Johnson observes that Google Chrome has AGAIN started ignoring user privacy settings specifically for .google.com domains. This leads me to ask, not for the first time, why are there still so many people using Chrome as their daily driver, when there are so many perfectly-good alternatives that don't feed the beast in the same way?
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we don't shame smart glasses wearers enough
Ava's take on techbro ideas of "privacy", and in particular the situation with "smart glasses", is especially well-written and worth a look.
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Normal F***ing Sunglasses
DuckDuckGo have gotten into the smart glasses game, and they've come up with a pair that, dare I say it... I would actually buy!
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How I (Don't) Collect Blog Statistics
I used to collect analytics information about visitors to my website, and I've tried a lot of different ways of doing it over the course of a couple of decades. But nowadays I don't collect any at all, and I think that's better.
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Ad Infinitum
An excellent article by Matthias Ott describes Google's promised AI-first search experience, which dispenses with search results entirely and just uses an LLM (plus sponsored content seamlessly woven in), keeping you entirely within the search giant's ecosystem and minimising how much they cite their sources. As you might imagine, I have some Opinions too.
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rejecting convenience
RNotté shares a manifesto to seek out inconvenience in order to seek greater human connection and authentic experiences. And you know what their post reminds me of? The Matrix!
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Run your own WireGuard VPN
I stopped paying for VPN services a decade ago and I haven't looked back. When I 'need' a VPN service, I just spin one up on cheap VM services, and then I throw it away when I'm done. It's cheaper and more-customisable... and if the UK goes ahead with an idea to age-gate VPN services, it might soon become more-convenient too.
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That's Not How Email Works, HSBC
A confusing letter from HSBC informed me that I've not been receiving their emails, and I have to change the email address they use to contact me. Except I've been receiving all of their emails just fine! The problem, it turns out, is that surveillance capitalism is now so-widespread that the bank cannot conceive that their own attempts to spy on their customers might not be 100% reliable...
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Obviously I wasn't planning on going to the US anytime soon, but if I did... they might struggle with my visa application when I put every "email address I've used for the last 10 years" on, because I actively use a variety of catch-all domains/subdomains.
I've probably missed some addresses (e.g. to which I've only ever received spam that's since been deleted), but a conservative estimate of the number of personal email addresses which I've sent mail from or to would be... 7,669 email addresses. 🤣
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How Online Privacy Has Been Championed by Dreamwidth
Coyote's written some solid words about how well Dreamwidth are standing up for user privacy and liberty against an increasingly hostile and censorship-ridden environment.
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Somebody just called me and quickly decided it was a wrong number. The signal was bad and I wasn't sure I'd heard them right, so I followed up by replying by text.
It turns out they asked Siri to call Three (the mobile network). Siri then presumably searched online, found Three Rings, managed to connect that to my mobile number, and called me.
If Siri's decided that I represent Three, this could work out even worse than that time Google shared my phone number.
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Is it possible to allow sideloading *and* keep users safe?
Terence Eden's upset at Google's proposed changes to Android to further lock-down the ecosystem, and I'm concerned too.
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Google Shared My Phone Number!
When people started calling my personal mobile number with questions about a voluntary organisation I'm involved with, I was confused: we weren't sharing that number. It turns out that Google had decided to take the number I used to verify my identity for Google Business some years prior and start putting it in Google Search results. WTF, Google?
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Halifax Shared My Credit Agreement!
Today, my partner's husband received a letter, addressed to him, about a change to his credit card agreement. Except the letter wasn't about his credit card... it was about mine! Halifax dun goofed.
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Bloomberg's Terms
Chris Messina remarked about the insane terms and conditions that Bloomberg.com require you to agree to in order to read a news article, effectively signing away your rights. Except... I don't see the dialog: I just see the articles. I haven't given consent, and they can't conceivably prove to the contrary... 😈