@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar pluralistic , to random

All over the world, for all of this decade, governments have been trying to figure out how to rein in America's tech companies.

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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/10/markets-are-regulations/#carney-found-a-spine

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Image: Dietrich Krieger (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schaukelweg-8870.jpg CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en -- Tiia Monto https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Worm_in_Austria.jpg CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en
ALT
18+ pluralistic OP ,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

Yes, even Apple's products - despite the company's high-flying rhetoric about its respect for your privacy, the company spies on everything you do with your phone and sells access to that data to advertisers. Apple doesn't offer any way to opt out of this, and lied about it when they were caught doing it:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

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@georgetakei@universeodon.com avatar georgetakei , to random
TheNovemberMan ,
@TheNovemberMan@bookstodon.com avatar
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar pluralistic , to random

Freedom or safety: choose one. This is the false bargain we were offered after 9/11, the ideology underpinning the PATRIOT Act and the (permanent) suspension of human rights.

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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/09/29/works-well/#fails-well

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A detail from Blake's 'Temptation of Eve,' showing Eve taking an apple from the serpent. At the top of the scene is the Apple 'Think Different' wordmark. At the bottom looms the Linux Tux penguin.
ALT
18+ pluralistic OP ,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

Apple's security model works well. To the extent that Apple is both benevolent and competent, it makes products that are safe and reliable. But this model fails horribly, because any time Apple decides to trade off its customers' privacy, safety, or utility for its own priorities, those customers are rendered defenseless by Apple's total control:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

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@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar pluralistic , to random

Apple has threatened to stop selling iPhones and other devices in the European Union (home to over 500,000,000 affluent consumers) if the bloc doesn't rescind the Digital Markets Act, a democratically accountable anti-monopoly law that bans Apple from blocking third parties from offering services to iPhone owners:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/sep/25/apple-calls-for-changes-to-anti-monopoly-laws-and-says-it-may-stop-shipping-to-the-eu

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Image: Alex Popovkin, Bahia, Brazil from Brazil (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Annelid_worm,_Atlantic_forest,_northern_littoral_of_Bahia,_Brazil_%2816107326533%29.jpg CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en -- Hubertl (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2015-03-04_Elstar_%28apple%29_starting_putrefying_IMG_9761_bis_9772.jpg CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
ALT
18+ pluralistic OP ,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

This is nonsense. While it's true that Apple protects its customers' privacy from some external threats, Apple also spies on its users, without their consent, in order to gather behavioral data that's used for Apple's ad-targeting system. When this came to light, Apple lied to its customers about it:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

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@georgetakei@universeodon.com avatar georgetakei , to random
TheNovemberMan ,
@TheNovemberMan@bookstodon.com avatar

@georgetakei is always good for a laugh or two.
Just never the way she intends 😅

@w7voa@journa.host avatar w7voa , to random

HFAC hearing into USAGM is underway. The defacto boss of the agency, Kari Lake, to testify. Chairman Mast is listing numerous unsubstantiated charges (see the fact check) and calling the agency’s actions “taxpayer funded self sabotage” and stating drastic action is needed.

TheNovemberMan ,
@TheNovemberMan@bookstodon.com avatar

@w7voa Oh, so she'll fit right in!

@georgetakei@universeodon.com avatar georgetakei , to random
TheNovemberMan ,
@TheNovemberMan@bookstodon.com avatar
@molly0xfff@hachyderm.io avatar molly0xfff , to random

Jeff Bezos describing journalism as “our profession” in an op-ed defending his decision to kill the Washington Post’s Harris endorsement

Opinion The hard truth: Americans don’t trust the news media A note from our owner. 5 min 15478 By Jeff Bezos October 28, 2024 at 7:26 p.m. EDT Jeff Bezos is the owner of The Washington Post. In the annual public surveys about trust and reputation, journalists and the media have regularly fallen near the very bottom, often just above Congress. But in this year’s Gallup poll, we have managed to fall below Congress. Our profession is now the least trusted of all. Something we are doing is clearly not working.
ALT
kristen_d ,
@kristen_d@mastodon.social avatar
@kevinrothrock@infosec.exchange avatar kevinrothrock , to random

CSAM = child sexual abuse material. Telegram implicitly allows it in private groups and direct messages. Telegram won't work with the police even if it's found on public channels. https://cyber.fsi.stanford.edu/io/news/addressing-distribution-illicit-sexual-content-minors-online

antonproitzelhaimer ,
@antonproitzelhaimer@mastodon.social avatar

@kevinrothrock

I wouldn't believe a single of the . At any given of the , Telegram can look into private and see, what People are or , so it is not private at all. who claims this, is a fucking . You must be a complete , to share any over Telegram. Period. I think will unveil soon the Reasons for their Arrest of .

@georgetakei@universeodon.com avatar georgetakei , to random
TheNovemberMan ,
@TheNovemberMan@bookstodon.com avatar

@georgetakei What an idiot 🙄

funkycarrot , to Privacy in Hacker Accesses Internal ‘Tile’ Tool That Provides Location Data to Cops

I used to hold the same opinion you do, but after reading this article, reality caught up with me:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/17/technology/apple-china-censorship-data.html

If you want a shorter version of this that puts the consequences into perspective, I recommend one of Cory Doctorow's blog posts: https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/18/unhealthy-balance-sheet/#think-manorialism

Taking the above behavior into account, Apple's value proposition for anyone that cares about digital sovereignty is extremely brittle. I've decided not to invest any further into their tech. Is it the worst evil that roams earth? No. But does it logically follow that you should defend all their practices? Also no.

After reading the above, it shouldn't surprise your that Apple spies on their users too, if only a bit less than, say, Facebook/Meta:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

Hope you can approach this with an open mind. I know it's hard, I certainly didn't want to start doubting what I thought was a valiant defender of consumer privacy. Cases like the San Bernardino shooter were testaments for Apple's commitment to me. It turns out that's only half the story though.