>If you use technology in 2022, it's reporting on you.
Categorically impossible statement to apply universally. I have several machines that do not have the physical hardware necessary for any kind of networking. I also have multiple machines that do not have ME fully functional. My most upstream local router, running open source firmware, has whitelist rules for outbound traffic and blocks by default. I also have detailed traffic analysis running 24/7 on my other routers, running different open source firmware. I regularly review for any traffic that I cannot definitively associate to my own activity, and I regularly mix and match the network route my devices take outbound to look for anomalies.
>In your example you buy DVD's... where did you get them? How did you pay for them?
As opposed to copying a friend's discs, or receiving them as gifts, both of which apply to a nonzero number of my movies and shows? What if I did buy them and paid in cash? Not cash received from an ATM or bank teller, of course, but cash received as payment from a customer at a farmer's market?
>IME isn't the only privacy hill to die on... and frankly, that hill already has too many bodies on it.
Privacy is somewhat like security in that you're never truly "done" implementing it. That's not an excuse not to strive for it. While it remains unproven that ME/PSP actually is a functional backdoor, there's no good reason to trust these subsystems. I have personally observed Ryzen-based systems attempting to send outbound traffic while the system was hibernating (before you ask, I will not reveal any metadata about this traffic publicly for obvious reasons.) I know I personally would gladly pay 3x MSRP for Ryzen chips without the PSP. I know many other people who would pay well above MSRP for modern Intel/AMD chips that do not have these subsystems. Market demand is there. The fact that neither major chip producer even offers the option to purchase chips without these subsystems should absolutely continue to arouse suspicion.
You are correct that there are many other issues like writing style analysis, timing analysis (including netflow metadata being sold by your ISP to Team Cymru), many entire threads could be filled with software privacy threats, etc, but again - that's not good justification to just throw your hands up and stop caring altogether. Privacy is an uphill battle in a losing war in today's world, but I for one will not stop fighting. I have a natural human right to privacy, not granted by any man, nor a million men calling themselves a government, and I will stop at nothing to exercise that right.
To your point, that insistence does push me closer and closer to the "cabin in the woods" lifestyle than a vast majority would be comfortable with.
Categorically impossible statement to apply universally. I have several machines that do not have the physical hardware necessary for any kind of networking. I also have multiple machines that do not have ME fully functional. My most upstream local router, running open source firmware, has whitelist rules for outbound traffic and blocks by default. I also have detailed traffic analysis running 24/7 on my other routers, running different open source firmware. I regularly review for any traffic that I cannot definitively associate to my own activity, and I regularly mix and match the network route my devices take outbound to look for anomalies.
>In your example you buy DVD's... where did you get them? How did you pay for them?
As opposed to copying a friend's discs, or receiving them as gifts, both of which apply to a nonzero number of my movies and shows? What if I did buy them and paid in cash? Not cash received from an ATM or bank teller, of course, but cash received as payment from a customer at a farmer's market?
>IME isn't the only privacy hill to die on... and frankly, that hill already has too many bodies on it.
Privacy is somewhat like security in that you're never truly "done" implementing it. That's not an excuse not to strive for it. While it remains unproven that ME/PSP actually is a functional backdoor, there's no good reason to trust these subsystems. I have personally observed Ryzen-based systems attempting to send outbound traffic while the system was hibernating (before you ask, I will not reveal any metadata about this traffic publicly for obvious reasons.) I know I personally would gladly pay 3x MSRP for Ryzen chips without the PSP. I know many other people who would pay well above MSRP for modern Intel/AMD chips that do not have these subsystems. Market demand is there. The fact that neither major chip producer even offers the option to purchase chips without these subsystems should absolutely continue to arouse suspicion.
You are correct that there are many other issues like writing style analysis, timing analysis (including netflow metadata being sold by your ISP to Team Cymru), many entire threads could be filled with software privacy threats, etc, but again - that's not good justification to just throw your hands up and stop caring altogether. Privacy is an uphill battle in a losing war in today's world, but I for one will not stop fighting. I have a natural human right to privacy, not granted by any man, nor a million men calling themselves a government, and I will stop at nothing to exercise that right.
To your point, that insistence does push me closer and closer to the "cabin in the woods" lifestyle than a vast majority would be comfortable with.