Cory DoctorowToday's threads (a thread)
Inside: Even if you're paying for the product, you're still the product; and more!
Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/
1/
John Goerzen@pluralistic Cory Doctorow has some good thoughts here "even if you're paying for the product, you're still the product" and especially one of many recent debunkings of the "#Apple is good for #privacy" myth. https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/
Gentleman Geek 🎩@jgoerzen @pluralistic when I read threads like this the first thing I wonder about is what as a consumer you can do. Are we basically left to swear off modern convenience like smart homes and cloud syncing since all the companies that offer them violate privacy all the time?
@gentlemangeek @pluralistic Let me push back on the all smart homes/cloud syncing options "violate privacy all the time." I personally use services that don't.
For #syncing, there's #Syncthing (doesn't even need a server), #Nextcloud (you can self-host or pick a cheap, ethical host), etc.
For smart homes and #HomeAutomation, use #HomeAssistant with #ZWave or #ZigBee and you get a better feature set than the commercial options and complete control.
@gentlemangeek @pluralistic 2/ I personally use the options mentioned here and can say they are fantastic. Non-techies in my life use both Syncthing and Nextcloud also. HomeAssistant ships OS images for multiple platforms so is only slightly more difficult than proprietary stuff. Still pretty easy though.
@gentlemangeek @pluralistic 3/ To put a more fine point on it, I think what's needed is not swearing off conveniences, but seeking out alternatives that may be excellent but aren't as well-known.
Incidentally, some of the projects I mentioned are here on Mastodon! See: @nextcloud @homeassistant
@jgoerzen @pluralistic @nextcloud @homeassistant
Thanks John, I appreciate the info.
@gentlemangeek @pluralistic @nextcloud @homeassistant Anytime! I really enjoy these sorts of topics so feel free to tag me for advice anytime.
zaddymagic@jgoerzen @gentlemangeek @pluralistic Don't forget Resilio Sync. Synthing is fantastic for a folder, but resilio's selective sync is fantastic for large sprawling projects.
@jgoerzen @gentlemangeek @pluralistic I think you could also say that Netflix/Hulu/Disney/etc.. are a violate privacy all the time service as well. Which is why I prefer Plex or Jellyfin. I'm really getting tired of the non-stop monetization of every aspect of human existence.
@zaddymagic @gentlemangeek @pluralistic Thanks for the tip. I haven't tried #ResilioSync since it's not #OpenSource and #syncthing and #NNCP meet my needs. Syncthing does have a way to exclude files by pattern as well: https://docs.syncthing.net/users/ignoring.html
@jgoerzen @gentlemangeek @pluralistic I think syncthing fits for personal use. I'm trying to do things in film production where you have four people doing different tasks in one cohesive folder, so Resilio really fills that roll without giving your data to the cloud. If syncthing did selective sync via the gui I'd switch in a heartbeat. I can't expect a freelancer to comment out the folders or files they don't want!
@zaddymagic @gentlemangeek @pluralistic Gotcha. Thanks for mentioning that. The Syncthing GUI does have a place to set ignore patterns, but the ignore patterns you set are basically the ones you'd put in the text file, one per line. So that is probably not, I'm guessing, what you're after.