[Tfug] [Bulk] Re: Stallman vs Ubuntu

[Rich Smit]

On Sat, Dec 15, 2012 at 11:36 AM, Bexley Hall <bexley401 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hi Rich,
> The problem with "spyware" (whether clandestine or acknowledged)
> is that it is insidious.  It watches (or *can* watch) EVERYTHING!
>
> You can *decide* to pay with a credit card or cash on a transaction
> by transaction basis.  You can opt to apply for a job that will require
> a background check -- or not.  You can avoid traveling roads with
> photoenforcement -- or not.  You can opt to leave your cellphone
> on -- or off.  And, you can opt to take a photo -- or not.  Each
> "item" is a conscious decision on your part -- to trade *your*
> convenience for *your* privacy.  I've never been arrested, active in
> any industry or job that *required* such a check or otherwise "brought
> to the attention of law enforcement" -- yet my fingerprints are "on
> file".  A choice I had to make...
>

Oh phooey. Each of those cases is as much "spyware" as Ubuntu's co-opting
your search terms; namely:

Credit card purchase data can be shared between resellers.

Opting out of a job that requests a background check? Haha! That's a good
one.

Avoiding traffic revenue CCTV cameras? Yeah, when you see the sign, you
just stop and turn around, right?

People normally carry cellphones in order to be contacted. They don't
imagine they're being tracked day in, day out, and that law enforcement
doesn't even need to take special action to obtain the data any more.

Most people — including the Vice staffer who gave away McAfee's precise
location — aren't aware their smartphone is writing latitude and longitude
data in the Exif header's of photos.

It's personal choice whether or not to use Ubuntu too. Right? Insidious my
arse.

Spyware happens continuously.  It doesn't just track the fact that
> you spent $27.43 at Target -- it tracks the *items* that you purchased,
> which cashier handled your purchase and what other departments you
> visited while in the store (as well as any people you may have spoken
> to while there, what you said and the clothes you were wearing!).
>

Ahem. Using a credit card gives the retailer and their associates exactly
what you describe. This doesn't support your position that the user has
choice in the matter, because credit cards are capable of the exact spying
you decry in Ubuntu. Only it's far, far worse, because it's doing it for
everyday purchases, and not just the expensive items you happen to find on
Amazon.

So it looks like we're done. Ubuntu's spyware is no more insidious than any
of the above I used for comparison.


> Do you remember what the terms were for each smartphone app that
> you installed?

Smartphone apps are another matter entirely. (I didn't think of that
because I have a dumb phone—which still reports my position.)


> When you signed up for that "store card", it was for the appeal
>
of "special sale prices" ("Ooooh!  3c off on bananas!").  There
> didn't seem to be any downside to the decision (obviously, the
> store has your best interests at heart, eh?  :> ).  Six months
> later, the good prices are gone -- replaced by the same general
> "sale" prices that the other, "non-card" stores have (except
> you *need* that card in order to keep shopping at that store!).
>

(This is a bait-and-switch argument, not privacy.)




When my sister went through her divorce, I was able to tell her
> lawyer *who* her husband was "playing around with", the days that
> he had "skipped work" to engage in trysts -- along with *where*
> those took place!  All from the convenience of *my* home 2000
> miles away!  Imagine if I had access to *all* the data that was
> available to the entities with which he interacted!  And, if
> I wasn't limited by the gray matter between my ears but could
> more effectively notice subtler patterns in that data...
>
> I.e., had he *thought* about the papertrail that he was leaving,
> he might have reconsidered the "privacy" that he was forfeiting
> in favor of "convenience".  But, this is a subtle, insidious
> thing for folks -- once they've started down that slope.
>
>
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