[afavour]

> Yes, there is nothing the Russians can do with my data that my government hasn't done.

I understand anti-government sentiment but whenever I see a statement like this it makes me devalue anything that comes after it. You really think there is nothing a foreign government might do with your personal data that your government hasn't already done? You really feel like there's a similar level of accountability at stake?

[AnimalMuppet]

Given that they live in the US/UK and not in Russia, yes.

As I understand it, the claim is not that the US/UK are as evil as Russia, or even more or less morally equivalent. The claim is that the US/UK hoover up online information just like Russia (maybe even more), and that they are more exposed to what the US/UK governments do than they are to what Russia does.

Without minimizing the misdeeds of Russia, without resorting to (false) moral equivalence, it's still a defensible point. (Mind you, I'm not sure I agree with it. But it's defensible.)

[AlecSchueler]

Haven't we seen by now countless claims of the Russian government influencing western democracies through things like ad tech?

When millions of us give them our data these kinds of attacks become easier and easier.

[AnimalMuppet]

Fair point, and something that should be considered. Also, we're essentially giving them a free, large scale open source intelligence feed.

But the GRU isn't going to come to my door and arrest me because I searched on the wrong thing, even if I use Yandex. So in that sense, I'm insulated from what they know about me.