Re-identifying data is really, really easy. Anonymised data is largely... Not anonymous for long. [0] The leading research has been saying that for decades.
And whilst you say there's so much protection... We have countless examples of where it's been done. [1]
The only real way to be safe with data is... To not have it in the first place. (Which, bonus, often means governments can't compel you to keep it.)
I will not dispute what you claim here. But it doesn't address the main thrust of my comment.
The point I was making wasn't that De-id is a solved problem, or that your data is "safe" with FAANG companies. The point was more about the malice that's attributed to them as a blanket measure, in comments such as these:
> (especially all the FAANG people that curiously always stay silent in threads like this one), has worked very hard to make everyone believe that online privacy is a thing, while working even harder to undermine that at every possible step.
There are many people and execs at these companies who are unscrupulous. But there are also many parts of them that are trying to work on doing things the "somewhat right" way when handling user data.
De-id and anonymization is a hard problem. But there's a lot of concrete evidence for me that many people in the FAANG world are at least trying to make progress on it (sinking billions of dollars of eng and research resources on them), instead of blatantly making bag, which they totally could.
Well, when you get scandals like Facebook trying to get patient data [0], Cambridge Analytica [1], TikTok spying on reporters [2], and so very many more [3], it is rather hard to see incompetence over malice.
I absolutely believe that there are people at those companies, trying to rein in the corporate behemoth so it doesn't squash its own legs. However, evidence looks like they're... Losing that particular battle.
The corporations still haven't learnt to respect individuals - they're just resources. [4]
Until a corporation acknowledges that safety comes with... Simply not spying on everyone... The risk in trusting them isn't going to be one that people want to take. Yes. These are hard problems. So don't make them a problem you have to face.
I am inclined to align with you on Meta, I didn't work there. But again, goes back to my point about treating "FAANG" like a monolith. Meta's handling of these things doesn't say anything to me about Apple's handling of these things, but most people do extrapolate it.
The point I was making wasn't that De-id is a solved problem, or that your data is "safe" with FAANG companies. The point was more about the malice that's attributed to them as a blanket measure, in comments such as these:
> (especially all the FAANG people that curiously always stay silent in threads like this one), has worked very hard to make everyone believe that online privacy is a thing, while working even harder to undermine that at every possible step.
There are many people and execs at these companies who are unscrupulous. But there are also many parts of them that are trying to work on doing things the "somewhat right" way when handling user data.
De-id and anonymization is a hard problem. But there's a lot of concrete evidence for me that many people in the FAANG world are at least trying to make progress on it (sinking billions of dollars of eng and research resources on them), instead of blatantly making bag, which they totally could.