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by IlikeKitties 282 days ago
I don't want to life in a world where i have to setup DMZs, filters and special magic incantations to use my devices without them turning into literal spying device listening to every word i say. What the fuck.
3 comments

We are already here. As the volume of code/technology increases, it should be clear that systems need strong permission boundaries. It is impossible to meaningfully audit all dependencies and services.

If my desktop music player has an exploit, it should not be possible that it can read my SSH keys. Node supply chain hacks keep occurring where your development environment can leak your private data. Mobile OS have this isolation already, but desktop is sure to slowly follow. I think we might eventually get to a point where even code libraries get assigned capabilities (eg libxml does not have network access).

The thing I found most surprising here was how many devices that person has on their network. In my house, it's a phone and computer per person, plus a chromecast. That's it.
That would start with not buying a literal spy device from Amazon.
People who don't see the utility in an Alexa just see the listening device they have paid to place in their home and might be tempted to smugly imagine that they would never be so stupid. But consider, do you have own an Android or iPhone device? You know, the ones with geolocation services, camera, and microphone? Do you also keep it near you almost all the time? You can probably see where I am going with this.
Meh, your smartphone is already the ultimate spying device that comes with microphones and triangulates your location from 3 cell towers. The government doesn’t need more spyware than that.
My GrapheneOS Phone is pretty safe and I only use my cellphone connection when I have to, thank you for your concern. Event than, it's still a difference between a battery powered device on a metered connection with tiny microphones vs a literal microphone array connected to a hardline.
It's all make believe, they allow you to pretend that they have no power over you and that makes you happy. All good.
I'm less worried about the government than multinational corporations.
You should be, because multinational corporations can't put you in a cage, the Government can.