Your comment made me think of other companies we view as (mostly) “good” today.
E.g. tons of people take Uber/Lyft with no consideration about how those companies can take your travel history and daily schedule to monetize or sell to 3rd parties.
DoorDash - what if they start selling my order history to insurance companies as a variable to predict obesity/mortality?
HN/Reddit - what if some LLM scrapes all my comments, de-anonymizes me, and sells that info to a data broker?
Visa/Mastercard - what if 100% of my credit card history is sold to data brokers? (Spoiler, it already often is!)
Just trying to illustrate that even in 2025, we pick and choose what to view through rose colored glasses and what to frown upon.
In the example of Uber/Lyft, I willingly give up my home address and even let me know every time I’m out of town! (Trips to airport) yet that seemingly doesn’t cross my mind when requesting a ride.
I don’t disagree with your comment, but IMO what was true in 2000’s is still true today: people overlook risks of things when the benefits are substantial enough. That’s human nature
So you walked into a French restaurant in the 16th century every week and there was an artist sitting outside and the proprietor took notes on every conversation you had and the artist made portraits from everything you were wearing every week and they all sold it down the river.
The shopkeeper knows your face and every baguette you ever purchased three times a week. Every miller within 300 km knows about that time you complained about the stale bread they sold you.
What is the big diff and nobody needs high tech to compromise your privacy
E.g. tons of people take Uber/Lyft with no consideration about how those companies can take your travel history and daily schedule to monetize or sell to 3rd parties.
DoorDash - what if they start selling my order history to insurance companies as a variable to predict obesity/mortality?
HN/Reddit - what if some LLM scrapes all my comments, de-anonymizes me, and sells that info to a data broker?
Visa/Mastercard - what if 100% of my credit card history is sold to data brokers? (Spoiler, it already often is!)
Just trying to illustrate that even in 2025, we pick and choose what to view through rose colored glasses and what to frown upon.
In the example of Uber/Lyft, I willingly give up my home address and even let me know every time I’m out of town! (Trips to airport) yet that seemingly doesn’t cross my mind when requesting a ride.
I don’t disagree with your comment, but IMO what was true in 2000’s is still true today: people overlook risks of things when the benefits are substantial enough. That’s human nature