Privacy and Google Lens

[Macblaze]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

... And Google search, well of course it's the best, and it's free!

...

The unfortunate thing is google search is the best. I moved to Duck Duck Go (and a few others) last year and the results were borderline useless with specialized searches. I still use DDG as my daily search engine but if I am trying to solve a problem or winkle out a tricky solution I have a link in my browser to go back to Google search — because almost 100% of the time I will find a solution faster and with more specificity.

But ya, it's a digital age and as someone already said "you are the product." Unfortunately its not just google and if you have any sort of online workflow it is pretty much inescapable... don't get me started on Amazon or Kobo or any other closed ebook system

[Mirage35]

I've found Duck Duck Go sufficiently improved that I rarely use this now, but - if you put " !g" (including the space) after your search terms, it replicates a Google search.

[sailingabe41ds]

Its even worse than that! We worry about if we could win a war with China. Big tech has all the information they need to all our bank accounts and credit cards. Imagine if we wake one day and all our bank accounts show no $ and none of our credit cards work. Our enemies just won the war without firing a shot.
As big tech keeps selling out to our enemies and our politicians follow their lead...the threat becomes grwater and more real .
I am a physician..not a computer genious. If I can see this so can you. That is why I sail to the islands with the dolphins and whales.. It is where I escape if only for a brief moment the constant bombardment of politics..technology...and gloomers and doomers.

Abe

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Macblaze

The unfortunate thing is google search is the best. I moved to Duck Duck Go (and a few others) last year and the results were borderline useless with specialized searches. I still use DDG as my daily search engine but if I am trying to solve a problem or winkle out a tricky solution I have a link in my browser to go back to Google search — because almost 100% of the time I will find a solution faster and with more specificity.

I don't doubt it. And all those other things I mentioned ARE real benefits. Just like street drugs, they do work. We get addicted because it is so damn useful.

But I am curious. Can we run an experiment on this Mac? I've been using DD for many years now. It is exceedingly rare that I feel the need to turn back to Google, but I'm fully aware my needs are rather simple.

Love to see a back-to-back comparison on the searches that you've found lacking with DD.

[Macblaze]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I don't doubt it. And all those other things I mentioned ARE real benefits. Just like street drugs, they do work. We get addicted because it is so damn useful.

But I am curious. Can we run an experiment on this Mac? I've been using DD for many years now. It is exceedingly rare that I feel the need to turn back to Google, but I'm fully aware my needs are rather simple.

Love to see a back-to-back comparison on the searches that you've found lacking with DD.

It's usually something technical. A couple of weeks ago I needed to configure a website to send an email once a week. Try "send mail via php cron" on both engines and you will see a big difference.

[Seymore]

There is nothing 'Google' comes on my computer. Or Facebook, Twitter et al.

[SeanPatrick]

Originally Posted by sailingabe41ds

Now Google will give some people pro radical black lives matter news....another group pro right wing racist type news...an so on.

I think the second group would actually just get less BLM stuff. But I could be wrong about that.


Also, has anyone here tried the camera function in the Google Translate app? It's pretty amazing.



I'm sure they're collecting data with that, too. But I can't be bothered to care. If they use it to tailor ads for me, I don't know it. I have enough ad blockers that I don't see them. But even if I didn't have ad blockers, why wouldn't I want to see an ad for say watches (which I am interested in) as opposed to dresses (which I'm not interested in ... unless it's coming off of my wife)?


And FYI: it isn't just Google. Every one of those "customer loyalty cards" you have is feeding info to someone about your buying habits. And you will get different coupons from the little machine than the next person in line. And I am sure that most other companies are doing similar things.


Hell, I can look at the IP addresses of everyone who has visited my website and I can see how they found it (linked from another site, searched for it, clicked a link in an email, etc.) and what they are clicking on and so on. I have no need or desire for this information - but it's there if I want it.



I have come to accept that companies want my data. I have also taken steps to screw with them. For example: Kroger grocery stores think I live at the White House and my phone number is their own customer service line. You don't have to be honest, y'know?

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by SeanPatrick

I'm sure they're collecting data with that, too. But I can't be bothered to care. If they use it to tailor ads for me, I don't know it. I have enough ad blockers that I don't see them. But even if I didn't have ad blockers, why wouldn't I want to see an ad for say watches (which I am interested in) as opposed to dresses (which I'm not interested in ... unless it's coming off of my wife)?

Except, this is exactly the attitude Google et al. is training us to have. Don't worry, be happy ... Nothing to see here ... It's all inevitable anyway... and why wouldn't you want to see some ads.

If it were just showing you ads, then even I wouldn't care (that much ). But that's not the primary power these companies wield. It's the ability to manipulate people. And they can do it with increasing specificity. They can know more about you than you know. And they use it to alter your mental state.

Right now it's mostly about selling you watches you may or may not want. But there's already plenty of nefarious activity to show this is powerful, and potentially dangerous, technology.

Originally Posted by SeanPatrick

And FYI: it isn't just Google. Every one of those "customer loyalty cards" you have is feeding info to someone about your buying habits. And you will get different coupons from the little machine than the next person in line. And I am sure that most other companies are doing similar things.

Exactly right. And it's also why I refuse to use those things as well. "Points" and "rewards" are the same shinny bobble that Google uses. And just like with Google, no one is getting anything for free.

There's nothing new about what Google et al. are doing. It's just that they are taking it to a whole new level.

Originally Posted by SeanPatrick

Hell, I can look at the IP addresses of everyone who has visited my website and I can see how they found it (linked from another site, searched for it, clicked a link in an email, etc.) and what they are clicking on and so on. I have no need or desire for this information - but it's there if I want it.

Yes indeed. That's part of what makes digital tools so much more dangerous. Tracking is almost inherent to the system. That's why more and more people are using VPN-type of blocking.

Originally Posted by SeanPatrick

I have come to accept that companies want my data. I have also taken steps to screw with them. For example: Kroger grocery stores think I live at the White House and my phone number is their own customer service line. You don't have to be honest, y'know?

That's possibly the best approach -- at least for now. To use a much over-used term these days, hack their own system. Mess with their data streams.

Sadly though, they already know that people do this, and are no doubt using this very act to further digitize your personality.

Resistance Is Futile!

(Except it's not ).

[Macblaze]

The latest thing that bugs me and feed my paranoia is two-factor authentication. To "protect" me (which I can do on my own, stupid movie stars notwithstanding) everyone and everything wants to link my account to my cell phone or my home phone. That kind of data correlation weirds me out. So in case any of you hackers are reading this, no, no I don't use it—go ahead and steal my sailing pictures.

But i have to say those of us that are paranoid about this sort of thing really do have to adopt either Mike's or SeanPatrick's attitude. There is very little room to go half way:

Siri, OnStar, ebooks, points cards, every app on your phone, your smart tv (hell, your cloud-connected smart thermostat), door cameras, traffic cameras (omg, European CCT freaks me out), computer games, your ISP, you fitness tracker (big time!), employer databases (especially if you work for a big company), your computer OS (yes Windows, I am looking at you...), your grocery store (if you don't always pay cash) etc. etc. etc.

I am willing to bet more news ways to collect data are invented each day than species being extinguished. We used to be protected by the sheer volume of it. But not anymore. Computers are just that fast these days.