[astrange]

It's odd that people care so much about technology "identifying them" when they have cell phones in their pocket and license plates on their car. There's not much of your daily life left after that, but I suppose it makes them feel good to imagine they're important enough to be tracked.

[kortilla]

I opt into carrying a cell phone and it’s when I want. I don’t opt in to my neighbor’s Alexa tracking my comings and goings by scanning through my walls.

[astrange]

You can do that by sniffing wifi packets even if you can't decrypt them, I think?

Could be a good opportunity for home Faraday cages.

[kortilla]

I don’t emit WiFi packets nor do I carry a device that does.

[astrange]

The point is that total wifi traffic in your house is correlated with you being at home, because when you're out, you're not using the computer.

[kortilla]

And I’m saying that’s bullshit. I don’t use WiFi at home. I’m an old fuddy dud and have Ethernet plumbed everywhere.

The difference is now the neighbors WiFi can scan my house and see me inside it without me using WiFi.

[astrange]

If they were doing that on purpose, they could already do it with an IR camera. Don't see what a wifi standard has to do with it.

[yosamino]

There is nothing odd about it, and it has nothing to do with being "important enough to be tracked".

It has become almost impossible to participate in society, without every aspect of your life being recorded in some way.

My Bank sells my transaction data to third parties to track my credit history and sell advertizing - they do this without my consent, or rather if I disagree, they will not have me as a customer. I could switch banks but it's basically the same everywhere. All I wanted was a place to store and transfer money.

My phone company sells my location and call data the government and to marketing companies - they do this without my consent, or rather if I disagree, they will not have me as a customer. I could switch providers but it's the same everywhere. What I actually wanted was to be able to make phone calls and have data connectivity on the go.

My ISP sells which websites I visit to marketing companies - they do this without my consent, or rather if I disagree, they will not have me as a customer. I could switch ISPs but it's basically the same everywhere. All I wanted was to have data connectivity at my home.

My airline sells my flight data to the government. They do this without my consent. There is no alternative. I just wanted to visit some relatives.

The government tracks all my phone calls. They do this without my consent. There is no alternative. I just wanted to call my friends.

The government tracks where and when and whom I send emails. They do this without my consent. There is no alternative. I just needed to communicate for my business.

When I go out in public, my image is records by a multitude of cameras, by a multitude of actors. They do this without my consent. There is no alternative.

My licenceplates are scanned, depending on my locality, more or less regularily. What I wanted was to make going around a bit easier over longer distances. There is no alternative.

My medical records are ... well there's something called HIPAA, but the reason it has to exist in the first place is that some seedy actors are trying to get their grubby little hands on this most private information of mine. I do not consent to this. I am sick. There is no alternative to medical care.

I go out in public and depending on where I go, cameras are being equipped with all sorts of biometric detection capabilities. All I wanted to go out for a drink, suddenly I am in some database.

I go online to browse the internet. No further explaination needed.

All I wanted was to have wifi connectivity at home. Some asshole has crammed functionality into the standard for wireless connectivity, that makes it possble to track where my body is. There is no alternative.

And so on and so on and so on.

All of these things taken together create an information asymetry. One by one they aren't neccessarily that terrible, but by accumulating all this information - for which there is constant pressure by the more authoritarian elements of our societies - creates a digital me, that absolutely has an effect on my day to day life.

Easiest example is my credit score, I am sure one can think up reasons to justify it's existance. But the point is, that this device exists as an incarnation just for me - without my consent at all. It's not that I need to be very important to have a credit score. I just have one by default.

It does not make me feel "important" to be tracked. It makes me feel oppressed. It's the opposite of important. Being treated like this, decisions being made about me by some usually invisible faces, makes me feel like cattle. I am being treated as a good that can be sold, and from which value can be extracted, in other ways than the exchange for goods and services for money. I am the commodity itself. By default I am presumed guilty, and evidence is being collected against me, even if I will never violate any law of society.

My right to live as a free interdependent member of society are being violated by the people who think they can use me and the data they can glean about me for whatever their purpose is - and they do this without even considering my consent.

Information asymetry enables control. It's the anti-thesis to freedom.

It has nothing to do with feeling "important" and the choice you are implying people have is not a free choice. It's forced.

[transpute]

> All of these things taken together create an information asymetry. One by one they aren't neccessarily that terrible, but by accumulating all this information - for which there is constant pressure by the more authoritarian elements of our societies - creates a digital me, that absolutely has an effect on my day to day life.

Well said.