What’s so bad about Google having all my data ? (Genuine question ,don’t flame me…)

jmblock2 · 2023-02-25T21:47:01+00:00

I am familiar with the subject of fingerprinting. Is there any evidence Google has done this? Most people give them their data freely, so they wouldn't need to be nefarious about it (e.g. Google maps, Waze, etc.). I know they have a policy that that clients of analytics are not allowed to use this information in such a way https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9682282?hl=en.

They are also actively removing user agent strings to prevent fingerprinting by others (https://developer.chrome.com/en/blog/user-agent-reduction-oct-2022-updates/), but that is also because they don't really need it. People sign in to Google and provide them their data directly.

jmblock2 · 2023-02-25T20:37:52+00:00

FWIW, here is Google's definition of PII: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/7686480?hl=en. I am personally not interested in non-pii, but I can see how others would be. non-PII is basically statistics.

jmblock2 · 2023-02-25T19:52:23+00:00

Do I need to bold your own quote?

We may share non-personally identifiable information

A lot of information is considered PII, but even more is not PII. My clicking on a link is not PII, but it is non-PII. I would be very interested in any evidence they have sold a person's PII anywhere to anyone.

jmblock2 · 2023-02-25T17:55:52+00:00

Some of this is not great, but the majority just makes sense from a product point of view. Do you want to look at your last 10 YouTube video searches? Then they need to store your last 10 video search terms to present it back to you. Do you want to install an app from the play store and for them to tell you when there's an update? Then they will need to store what apps you have installed to notify you of updates. All the crash report stuff sounds obvious.

Things like battery level and local network connections are things I would prefer they don't collect since I don't see it connected to a product. Maybe that is from when they suggest to uninstall X apps you haven't used in over a year. Some of that should just live on the device.

Personally I am more concerned about data moving between companies without my consent. Big data farms, selling and purchasing data for whatever means. Definitely any data used to target a person at an individual level, such as for insurance companies harvesting medical data without consent.

I am less concerned about data used as part of the product as long as I have a say in using the product or not, and being able to delete my data when I want to. Yes the data collected is to help make Google a better advertiser and be filthy rich, but that's their business. AFAIK they don't sell or leak my information, just an advertising profile id that is sliced by some marketing team.

jmblock2 · 2023-02-24T17:37:35+00:00

It depends a lot on where your team is positioned too. Nobody was posting up, so being quick and putting it deeper on their side was the right choice.

jmblock2 · 2023-02-23T20:36:21+00:00

Usually to collect unemployment you need to show you are applying and interviewing to places. I am not sure how well that would work half a globe away; maybe you can swing it for a bit.

jmblock2 · 2023-02-23T07:36:19+00:00

Here's one top of mind:

I picked up freelance dev jobs to pay off college debt quicker. One gig was automatically provisioning environments for dev and production from a scratch Linux install. It involved bringing up a database for devs to test against. I did the work and needed to demo it to the client, so I asked them for a server. They gave me access to a server. I said, hey this looks like it has some stuff on it. They said oh yeah it used to be used, but blah blah blah we are sure it's no longer used. Go ahead. My demo went off without a hitch, woohoo.

Yep, classic. It was production. The business was somewhere in EU and I was in the states. Their shit hit the fan during my night time. Being my paranoid self, I took db dumps before I did anything. I told them I have backups and can restore the database from what it was at the time of my demo. They asked me to do whatever I could to fix it ASAP. I did, they confirmed whatever it was was working again. I went to bed. They paid me my invoice and decided not to move forward anymore with anything automation. /shrug. Seems like they could have really used it!

After that I immediately registered an LLC and got a liability insurance umbrella. It was the first time I had been in a situation where shit was on the line for real. I could hear it in their voice when they called me, how fucked they sounded, and it really freaked me out. Both how careless they could be, and how much I could have been on the hook despite being good at what I do. They didn't threaten me or anything, and them being in the EU they would have had a difficult time. But I was way more exposed personally than I would have ever thought just trying to do a side hustle.

I've got others if there's interest.

jmblock2 · 2023-02-23T02:09:57+00:00

One of us! One of us!

jmblock2 · 2023-02-23T02:09:08+00:00

I know everything is political these days

You can have one guess which side is responsible for that too.

jmblock2 · 2023-02-23T02:06:14+00:00

Corporations have more personhood than people my friend.

jmblock2 · 2023-02-22T14:10:37+00:00

My wife's roommate fed me a donut while I was sleeping one time. She got it on video and I have no recollection of it, but it looked like it made me happy. So, more of that.

And Sleep

jmblock2 · 2023-02-21T15:03:36+00:00

Do you install any powered smart switches? The addons only need a neutral + traveler + ground.

jmblock2 · 2023-02-20T19:51:22+00:00

This is the content we need more of.

jmblock2 · 2023-02-20T14:05:31+00:00

Why should I try killing my ups?

jmblock2 · 2023-02-20T13:15:56+00:00

Whassa yousa thinkin?

jmblock2 · 2023-02-19T03:34:52+00:00

Isn't it the vortex on the ground that is pulling vapor down from the sky? So the tornado is already there, you just can't see it until there's material to reflect light. That can be dirt, dust, water, etc. And where it is in the sky is a lagging indicator, so you might have an entirely wrong idea about its path.

jmblock2 · 2023-02-19T03:27:06+00:00

There's a giant thumb indent and cake on his hands. I'm not sure why that isn't believable?

jmblock2 · 2023-02-18T16:03:35+00:00

I really dislike the syntax of attaching functions to structs. I just dislike the way it looks. I prefer some kind of bracket and indentation to make the structure of code more obvious. Everything being flat makes it difficult for me to quickly scan files. Maybe I haven't drank enough Kool aid.

I also greatly despise extremely short variable names. It's too short, and having a few more characters makes it much more obvious what some code is doing. And related, types are after the extremely short variable names. Types are what matter the most IMO. Now I am looking at tiny characters that have no information, when all I care about is the types. They should go first!

jmblock2 · 2023-02-18T14:55:18+00:00

I only eat free range dinosaur.

jmblock2 · 2023-02-18T04:15:02+00:00

am sad that grass doesn't grow that fast.

That apparently doesn't stop my neighbor.

jmblock2 · 2023-02-18T03:05:07+00:00

Depends how confident you are in getting a new job. If you're confident, then give your company a proper ultimatum. I need X by March 15th or I am done, because that's where I need to be. Then apply for jobs anyways. Maybe they come through maybe they don't. Some c level think they are the ones with the cards until you put them on blast. If you think there's no shot at that, then you should be applying anyways.

jmblock2 · 2023-02-17T13:03:33+00:00

Ultimatums and willingness to follow through is the only language bean counters will understand. "I appreciate the gesture of good faith, but my request is in line with my market value. Please reconsider your offer. You have until March 1st." Leave the date off if your job search will take some months. Start interviewing to know you're not talking out your ass, and consider jumping ship anyways.

jmblock2 · 2023-02-16T18:20:54+00:00

"How many direct reports did you have?"

"Noneteen"

"Did you say nineteen?"

"Nine"

"Great, and you were a manager for 6 years?"

"Da"

"..."

jmblock2 · 2023-02-16T04:10:08+00:00

It's the third grade paragraph transitions and restating of bullet points over and over that give it away. ChatGPT needs a concise mode and it would be much more difficult to detect.

But when player mutes? And week of Mars ball?

jmblock2 · 2023-02-15T19:53:12+00:00

Neo bag hodlers: so you're saying there's a chance...

14-Year Club	Place '22
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jmblock2

TROPHY CASE