[fyrefoxboy12]

isn't the census about to start this year? this is some "same shit, different toilet" scenario. all these so-called secure government institutions or private companies or wherever this database came from. always promising a lot, and delivering little.

that's what happens when non-cybersec people are in charge of cybersec things

[jrockway]

We have been doing the census for hundreds of years and it seems to go pretty okay.

If someone wants to map your name to your home address, they already have the voter registration database for that.

[danmg]

It's all the data that's not census data and the fact that it's joined with census data. Why is this data joined with tax information, calls to fire departments, and bike share information?

[jrockway]

Because people use their real name as the primary key in almost every database? The census team did not steal Lyft's database and leak it.

[danmg]

Yes it's their fault for using their own name. It's not the fault of the people keeping creepy dossiers on random customers that creates this hazard.

[teslademigod1]

I think it's safe to assume that every single thing we've ever done online is either now in some unauthorized person's hands, or will be soon.

they have a thing like haveibeenpwned there. i checked, but mine wasn't included.

this time

[better0uts1d3]

You make it seem like people should give up. Gotta fight somehow. Even by just deleting personal data, getting off Facebook and social media entirely.

Google is tougher to get rid of though

[peterlk]

I don't think they're saying that at all. My take was that we should treat the internet as a public space even if a web pace claims that it's private.

Getting off of Facebook directly contributes to their premise that everything online will be public. If you don't want it to be public, don't put it on the internet.

My take: Unfortunately, there are some places where we pretty much don't have a choice - banks, insurance, some government, etc. And the solution to this is to incentivize these institutions to lock things down better.

[better0uts1d3]

I get what you're saying. Makes it seem like people are less responsible than they actually are, i.e. Like putting all their business out on social media for everyone to see

[jrobn]

Google is easy to get rid of. It requires willpower.

1. Don’t use or get off gmail (fastmail is good but not free).

2. Limit your use of google search. If you need to try to mask your identity as best you can.

3. Don’t buy google hardware. Because you and your data are the product for google. The hardware is a Trojan horse.

[teslademigod1]

Apple is better? it's either Android or Apple then, isn't it?

[unixhero]

Of course, Apple is not better. It is equally bad. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/us-tech-giants...

[zentiggr]

Android is Google.

[fyrefoxboy12]

i guess he means -- either use an Android (google) phone, or use an Apple iOS phone. but is apple better than google in this sense (data collection)?

[teslademigod1]

yes, my point is. i don't know if using apple products and getting into that ecosystem is much better than google's ecosystem

[teslademigod1]

Realistic, not giving up. You can't escape them. even if you do, your friends are on instagram, facebook. what are you gonna do? social distance yourself in a camp in the woods forever?

you can mitigate, not avoid. but how do you avoid government data collection and (possible) data leaks like this?

[zentiggr]

No one can.

The radical solution is to understand that everything is out there, data brokers have collected and will sell everything you do.

We need to start demanding transparency. That's it. The whole solution. No business should be permitted to have data secured. Period. Hold whatever's needed for immediate transaction purposes, everything else gets WIPED.

Credit bureaus have already exposed us all. Open their databases, no more secured storage allowed. They can dump their data or accept responsibility 100% for every field they hold onto.

Every other company can follow suit. Every government can follow suit. No more black ops, CIA, FSB, any intel security. No more separate government databases for each department or program, just one open cluster of everybody's info.

Screw corporate trade secrets and copyright and every other protection. Open every database and every server everywhere.

It'll take maybe a generation or two to adjust to the new reality, but when everybody has to have all their actions out in public, maybe everyone will start to realize that the world really is a different place.

Maybe enforcing radical honesty on everyone will help eliminate all the class distinctions, judgments, tribal bullshit when the 1%'s actions are as wide open visible as everybody elses.

Maybe data brokers wither and die when nothing is monetizable anymore.

Maybe the constant stream of corporate malfeasance goes away when all the records are there for everyone to see, all the time.

Maybe we actually start to recognize and treat the mental health issues that result in stalkers, abuse cases, stealing from the elderly, pedophilia, drug addiction, when all the dark web and every other facilitator is in the open.

Maybe a couple of decades down the line we'll have people who understand that their actions have consequences and every choice affects those around them and when lying is near impossible the whole damn planet will be more sane for it all.

Or I'm a nutcase, or too early for my time. Who can tell?

[salawat]

The real radical solution is to enforce ownership of any and all metadata connected to you, and to acknowledge that in the case of a breach, damage is done statutorally, even if nothing has happened due to the fact that no one has seen interest in using your info against you yet.

You should also have the right to update or modify any state stored about you at any time; after all it is yours.

No one who collects it wants that though.