Feeling like Privacy is a lost war.

So, I recently moved about 6 months ago. Have only given my real address and name to the DMV, Phone Company, Internet, and rental property(obviously knows my real address)

Ran Optery and found out that over 80 data brokers have my legit new address already.

Feeling like privacy is just some kind of wet dream at the moment. I do everything right, I think but no matter what the 4 companies I have given my information too will constantly sell my personal data no matter what.

It’s truly sad the direction America is going towards, all for some more money.

Kir,

Privacy is a collective “war”, it’s not something that can be fought on individual level. You can adopt some precaution on a personal level, and try to do better, but it’s something that must be brought to a collective level.

Same as climate change policy and worker right.

beefpeach,

It’s a collective war that I also feel is lost. Especially, when there is little to no policies in effect to stop these data brokers. Unless you live in California.

Kir,

I live in Europe, and I feel the battle is still on (but very very difficult)

troglodytis,

Not to worry, climate change will bring back privacy

drwho,

Even then, not so much. I’ve been tugging on those particular wires, and the overall response seems to be, send a reply once, then ghost you until you’ve forgotten that you asked them. They do nothing during that time, and will probably continue to do nothing well after we forget.

pdxfed,

I “live” in California to every company that I do business there that also operates in CA…

roteradler,

We have policies on Europe but even they do not help. The ad business is completely out of control, on some sites there are over 200 as companies gathering your data and selling them through the real time bidding system. it’s impossible to know who bought the data. just have a look what’s been uncovered lately.

mastodon.social/

wowib56056,

Privacy is not just an illusion; it’s a delusion. Things like privacy statements and permission to use cookies are little more than sophisticated propaganda. If you think for a moment the Overlords cannot prepare a dossier on you within minutes that would make your mother faint and your father die of shame, you’re living in fantasy land. You have no idea how much data they store on individuals, and not just credit card purchases: tracking data, telephone conversations, text messages, anything you ever posted on the Internet. It’s a devouring machine. Get in their way, and you will find out how much they know about you. It has been this way for a very long time. This is nothing new. And yes, they really can turn on your cell phone camera and microphone at will without lights, so long as the battery is attached. And VPN? I laugh when I think about VPN. There is no cryptographic protocol used on the Internet, that the Overlords who brought all these technologies out in the first place, cannot decipher. None. The only way to live with this level of privacy evasion is to accept the reality of it. Stop thinking you are ever alone. Out in the middle of nowhere with no electronics on you? Maybe

metaStatic,

the internet wasn't made by overlords you utter twat.

it was made by hippies that thought we didn't need to lock our doors because everyone should live in harmony.

SnotFlickerman, (edited )
@SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

Lmao this “Overlords” guy again. How many fucking alts are you going to spin up to keep shitting out this over-simplistic drivel. This one is just 24 minutes old.

Like, do you really have nothing the fuck better to do with your life other than shit out some fearmongering about “Overlords?” The fact that you can’t name them by name but are using a dumbfuck “overlords/illuminati/what-the-fuck-ever” shows how simplistic this thought process you’re going through is.

MrBubbles96,

His comments were deleted (as I’m guessing his whole account), but I’m almost morbidly curious about whatever he was claiming to be the cause (I’m gonna wager it was “ThE ELiTe trying to subjegate the masses, man!” for $200?)

SnotFlickerman,
@SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

And what do you bet his version of the elite trying to subjugate the masses is being told he can’t say ethnic slurs online.

MrBubbles96,

Oh, he’s one of those “muh freedoms to be a racist jackass are being censored!” types? I mean, from how you called him out in your comment, you seem to have had dealings with this guy (or his alts that I’m guessing were very short lived) in other threads, so I’ll take your word for it if that’s the case. Regardless, it wouldn’t surprise me either way if he was since again, to have to keep making alts to say his piece…

BearOfaTime,

Your address is public information. Trying to hide that is pointless (well, it can be done, but is complex to do).

utopiah,

IMHO it’d be worthwhile to investigate which one actually did leak it without your consent. It might be pointless for your current address but surely would be for the next one, and everybody else.

More pragmatically even though it’s wrong I’m not sure how impactful it is. Namely you can receive spam regardless of where you live. What’s worrisome is arguably when companies know more about you, e.g tastes, political leaning, sexual orientation, etc. This is a lot more than a name on an address. I believe this is harder to get, especially if you are mindful of what you share. So… is it bad? Sure, is it lost? IMHO no.

beefpeach,

Yeah, I completely agree. I did this also right before I moved and found out my mental health records were being bought by data brokers.

I totally fell down a rabbit hole with that one. Basically, the 3rd-party software that hospitals and clinics use are subject to sell the data that gets imported into the software.

But, you’re definitely right. I’m pretty sure it’s my rental agency along with everybody else.

When, I first moved here with in the first week I received mail from a bunch of local dealers about my Hyundai which completely freaked me out that they all of a sudden knew what I drove as soon as I entered the state.

I’m not sure how data brokers actually work but they definitely operate like organized crime organizations.

drwho,

It’s only a matter of time before those records (and my mental health records too) get involved in a breach.

This does not leave me sleeping well at night.

DogMom,

The DMV and the post office(if you submitted am address change) are the most likely offenders.

MrBubbles96,

If you’re fighting a one man war for privicy? Yeah, that’s pretty much a lost cause. (Also, the “all or nothing” approach will leave you with a bitter taste in your mouth. Pick your fights, and accept that you’ll never be able to keep all away from companies selling em, and that sometimes, sacrifices to your privacy have to be made. Complete removal shouldn’t be the goal when it’s just you going at it–it should be the reduction of what they get as much as feasibly possible without inconveniancing the user)

If you spread and bring that war to the collective? That’s where things are gonna change. Slowly, yeah, but they’ll change.

hobovision,

Did you update your address with your bank or credit cards? Your workplace?

I’m sure it got out from the credit reporting agencies if so.

Helix,

Vote.

NotSoCoolWhip,

Which candidate is running on privacy as their main issue?

umbrella,
@umbrella@lemmy.ml avatar

We have been voting for centuries and this is still a problem.

umbrella,
@umbrella@lemmy.ml avatar

The big capitalists get to control you, and they get to profit while they do it. It wont happen without organization and real pushback.

wowwoweowza,

If I may, might privacy be both a personal, individual endeavor and a collective endeavor?

On the personal level, can’t we foil the corporate intrusion by choosing apps in the Fediverse?

And on the collective level, can’t promotion of the Fediverse help?

I’m aware that city and county records often contain my street address and that doesn’t bother me. I’ve got to pay taxes and vote.

But I look at it this way: that’s my front facing public identity. Basically the one I use at work that gets a paycheck. Not private. And yes, that’s a pity and that war is lost, but I lose nothing because of that.

But then there’s my identity that shares the goals of global groups that chafe against injustice and oppression. All that work separated from my public identity by multiple barriers. Personably not perfect privacy — watch The Conversation by Francis Ford Coppola for a discussion of perfect privacy.

Is this kind of approach practical and one that means we haven’t lost?

Tiritibambix,
@Tiritibambix@lemmy.ml avatar

First, remember that you’re not fighting this war alone. The most important part is educating people who are curious about it around you.

Second, it’s not about winning; it’s about being the biggest pain in the ass possible for people making money off our privacy.

Keep fighting in the way that suits you best.

Facebones,

Second, it’s not about winning; it’s about being the biggest pain in the ass possible for people making money off our privacy.

This. I don’t think I’m “fighting a war,” but I pay for my own email server, self host a number of services, and am waiting on my pixel 8 now to run Graphene OS on. I can’t be “off the grid” but I don’t have to fuel everyone’s data hoarding machines.

erranto,

Unlike most privacy concerned people. I don’t believe that privacy is very useful without anonymity. metadata is at the heart of surveillance and tracking. In this regard I was a little optimistic when tor came out and hoped that many technologies will be build around that. that didn’t happen because you can’t build a business and make a profit by providing anonymity. now half websites are systematically blocking tor exit nodes. it can’t be used safely with torrents. and even briar the messenger built to use tor has been compromised by its developers so that you can’t be anonymous on briar . All in all I share the same frustration and can’t see a brighter future for privacy and anonymity .

hackris,

Can you elaborate on the Briar claim? Very curious.

erranto,

Briar shares your hardware’s Bluetooth MAC address with your contacts even if you haven’t added that contact or connected with that contact using Bluetooth. meaning all your briar contacts even those on groups are storing your MAC address ( a unique device identifier) which makes plausible deniability virtual impossible. I remember reading the devs themselves acknowledge that briar isn’t a anonymous chat app (somewhere in their git repo or the wiki or the blog, can’t remember where exactly), so beware of this aspect.

hackris,

I never needed hardcore anonymity but I was always sceptical why people think Briar is anonymous when it uses Bluetooth. Now that I know that the MAC is shared even without using Bluetooth, I’m even more confused. Thanks for the info.

beefpeach,

Don’t forget that the government owes like 75% of the exit nodes.

BaumGeist,

This is a myth that’s been addressed by the project. For starters, there are no disclosures about the amount of nodes owned by the Government/NSA/CIA/etc. You’re probably thinking how the project, in 2012, received 80% of its funding from the US Gov source.

You may make the argument of “follow the money”, or you could also make the argument that this type of tech this widely distributed benefits the government too (field agents for some agencies allegedly use Tor, as do foreign defectors) and compromising the network would lead to a potential vector to compromise their interests.

It’s also worth noting that Tor uses 3 hops (entry, relay, and exit nodes) and you can check the location/IP of your current route at any time to ensure geographic diversity. An actor would have to own all 3 to know what you were visiting and trace the traffic back to you.

pewgar_seemsimandroid, (edited )

eu is slightly better, also you should force anyone who wants you’re ip to sign a contract to not allow them to give ur ip to data brokers but i dunno about the contract part

willington,

A real war has risk for all the participants.

Here you bear all the risk, and the counterparty, the internet company for example, bears no risk.

If and when you create the risk for the counterparty, where no risk has existed before, then and only then do you have a right to call it a war. In other words you have to in some way threaten the counterparty and make good on those threats to be at war.

trippingonthewire,

Well, if you didn’t take all the precautions you took, over a 1000 data brokers could’ve had access to your address, and so much more about you.

And while I most certainly don’t like it, I know that I’m still stopping them from learning even more about me, and my search results are still secure.

Everyone I get to talk to me on Signal is having a secure conversation with me.

Everything to an extent is a win, so don’t give up king.

dukethorion,
@dukethorion@lemmy.world avatar

USPS sold you out. (If in the US). They literally sell “change of address” updates to marketing companies. You think they survive on selling stamps?

Catsrules,

I never updated my address and they have still found me. Personally i think it is mortgage companies.

I guess that is one good thing about renting. Your name isn’t really tied to a property at least as far as public records are concerned.

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