quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:

At least on my tablet, I keep tape over the mic and camera. Everyone that sees the tape looks at me a little weird as if I'm overly paranoid. That certainly may be true but so be it.

My phone is a different matter. It remains unmolested as far as applying tape to it. I haven't reached that level of paranoia yet.

You're wearing a selective tinfoil hat, then. Your phone can just as easily be a listening and watching device.

That was my point. I know that my phone can. But I haven't reached that level of paranoia yet where I'm willing to cause myself that much inconvenience. It's a phone after all, and I need the mic. Applying and removing tape every time I make or receive a call would be a little over the top.

My company gives away webcam blockers as swag at trade shows. They're super common and look a little better than tape. But microphones and cell phones are a little trickier to defeat.

quote:

Originally posted by Bassamatic:
And yet people will keep buying these things and put them in their homes.

For stupid reasons too, IMO. What can you even do with these things? Turn lights on and off, change the channel on your TV? Play movies and music?

What a ridiculous and unnecessary tradeoff. (IMO)

why don't people know its recording everything and its not really asleep...unless its listening to everything, how would it recognize the 'wake up' word...

you can't fix stupid

I think most people who have these things know, and just don't care. How much is privacy really worth, and to how many people. People get out of the gadgets what they want, and they don't see the loss of privacy as costing them anything.

quote:

Originally posted by BBMW:
I think most people who have these things know, and just don't care. How much is privacy really worth, and to how many people. People get out of the gadgets what they want, and they don't see the loss of privacy as costing them anything.

Like moths to a flame, anything to speed up that mission critical pizza order by 2min.

Yes, but the flip side is this. To date, excluding potential criminals who use these things (referencing the original subject), what actual, functional negative outcome (I consider the privacy loss more theoretical), have the users of these devices had?

quote:

Originally posted by 46and2:

quote:

Originally posted by BBMW:
I think most people who have these things know, and just don't care. How much is privacy really worth, and to how many people. People get out of the gadgets what they want, and they don't see the loss of privacy as costing them anything.

Like moths to a flame, anything to speed up that mission critical pizza order by 2min.

quote:

Originally posted by Veeper:

quote:

Originally posted by Bassamatic:
And yet people will keep buying these things and put them in their homes.

For stupid reasons too, IMO. What can you even do with these things? Turn lights on and off, change the channel on your TV? Play movies and music?

What a ridiculous and unnecessary tradeoff. (IMO)

This ^^^^^

Like BH said: Microphone and so on your phone is necessary for the phone's operation. I extend the same to my tablet, as I use it for FaceTime on occasion. I keep the wakeup on voice command off.

Putting listening devices all over my home? Nope. Nope. Nope. Won't have smart TVs in the house, either.

quote:

Originally posted by BBMW:
I think most people who have these things know, and just don't care.

It's crazy. I know a person who has Alexa/Echo and realizes the implications that possibly might go with the set-up. Her response is "I don't care, I have nothing to hide". Goes with social media where folks will reveal every minute aspect of their lives. Fuck privacy, I want my 15 minutes.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:

At least on my tablet, I keep tape over the mic and camera. Everyone that sees the tape looks at me a little weird as if I'm overly paranoid. That certainly may be true but so be it.

I did that tape thingy to the laptop my PD provided me to use at work....everyone thought I was paranoid Until someone got an IA about something he said about the Major, while in his patrol car and the in-car camera wasn't on...it took a little while but we figured out it was the camera on the laptop....

yeah, I will never have an Alexis, or google mic or anything like it in my house.

I'll give you one thing... your positions never cease to convey that not only did you read the cautionary tales by Huxley and Orwell and and the rest and somehow manage to miss their points, but it's never not been clear that if you and your ilk were in the driver's seat for such decisions you'd be speeding us toward those dystopian ends at breakneck speed.

Your points of view in these matters and others like getting rid of physical money remain as dangerous to America and as antithetical to freedom and liberty as any bomb toting terrorist has ever been. I'm not even sure how you manage it straight faced, but you're certainly consistent.

quote:

Originally posted by BBMW:
Yes, but the flip side is this. To date, excluding potential criminals who use these things (referencing the original subject), what actual, functional negative outcome (I consider the privacy loss more theoretical), have the users of these devices had?

quote:

Originally posted by 46and2:

quote:

Originally posted by BBMW:
I think most people who have these things know, and just don't care. How much is privacy really worth, and to how many people. People get out of the gadgets what they want, and they don't see the loss of privacy as costing them anything.

Like moths to a flame, anything to speed up that mission critical pizza order by 2min.

I’ve installed a fair amount of home automation which I control via smartphone. It has a really slick Alexa interface but I can’t bring myself to let one in to my home.