This is a ridiculous attitude, exactly equivalent to 'if you've nothing to fear you've nothing to hide'. In practice different geographic localities (e.g.: EU, California) have far different (and improving) limits on the personal information that can be stored by companies and how it is used.
Various forms of online hygiene, from ad blocking to VPNs, to anonymous email accounts are likely utilised by the hacker news audience. Because we're all well aware of the value of our privacy, the value of our personal data, and the aggressive and often illegal efforts by major tech firms and data brokers to acquire both.
It's incredibly important to continue progress in the area, both in terms of informing the public (and politicians) of how our behaviour is observed and shaped by social networks and big tech: and by taking all obvious and easily available measures to reduce and remove the information they have and continue to gather.
One obvious way is by not sharing private sexual data with a major corporation, where not absolutely necessary.
> This is a ridiculous attitude, exactly equivalent to 'if you've nothing to fear you've nothing to hide'.
Quite the contrary. My attitude encourages one to actually solve problems that we are encountering today, and not to fight battles that were lost two decades ago, which was the main thrust of my argument.
Also, as someone born in the Eastern Bloc, please allow me to throw up in my mouth at a publication that unironically cites the Communist Manifesto.
Various forms of online hygiene, from ad blocking to VPNs, to anonymous email accounts are likely utilised by the hacker news audience. Because we're all well aware of the value of our privacy, the value of our personal data, and the aggressive and often illegal efforts by major tech firms and data brokers to acquire both.
It's incredibly important to continue progress in the area, both in terms of informing the public (and politicians) of how our behaviour is observed and shaped by social networks and big tech: and by taking all obvious and easily available measures to reduce and remove the information they have and continue to gather.
One obvious way is by not sharing private sexual data with a major corporation, where not absolutely necessary.
Edit: Oh, and since a reference to the Luddites is a regular thought terminating cliche on HN - https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2021/06/the-luddites-wer...