The Social Dilemma

It's on Netflix, highly recommend.


https://youtu.be/uaaC57tcci0

 

we should have a netflix/hulu/prime/hbo max thread

 

It was pretty good. A must see for teenagers. There’s another one along the same lines called The Creepy Line.

 

Watched it, considered deleting my FB account after I watched it. Problem is I use FB more as a photo hosting site. It's creepy as hell.

From June of last year, to March of this year (Covid stopped it) I was building the new Facebook and Instagram offices. They have unlimited money. There were hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on desks and chairs for their employees, for just one floor. I did the math on the three floors with the super awesome chairs and the electric desks that raise and lower, and it was about $1.3-1.4 million. They make money hand over fist selling us and trying to sell to us.

And yet, social media has now become a thing that we as a society can't live without. Take the explosion in Beirut a few months ago. I saw it on FB about 30 minutes after it happened, yet there was nothing on the news apps on my phone.

 

Watch the great hack also. People are oblivious. Data is the new oil. Good luck. Look at this thread. Scroll to the bottom and see what Amazon products are being pushed to you. It’s different products for each one of us based on location (your router location, internet service provider information, your MAC address and your IP address all create an algorithm just for you. Additionally you can use apps or a browser like Brave to show you all the cookies and ad trackers per page you view and visit.
No I am not a tinfoil hat wearing individual. But like the individuals in the Great Hack and the Social Dilemma I’ve seen the other side. Snowden called it out first and you saw how they did him.

 

Kind of hilarious that this is on Netflix, because they do the same stuff with the same kind of data.

 

This forum did the same thing to me. I had a nice stock 2019 cement crew max and now it’s an absolute beast. This is the fault of forum members forcing me to get wheels and tires and mods that I didn’t even know I wanted. Probably all @Squatting Pigeon doing.

 

Goddamn data mining making me spend all my money on mods!
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Yeah, watched it a few months ago; and honestly it led me to deactivate my FB account for a while. As an IT guy it's very easy to see how the data is being mined and used to their advantage.

Do I think 'they're out to get me'? LOL no. I'm sure the microphone can 'hear things' (which is why I don't have it on my person all the time), but that means it ALSO has to hear my stupid jokes, and all my burps and farts. But do I want them to have access to/possession of all my conversations, photos, etc.? Also no. Those are MINE, and most of that stuff is none of their d@mn business.

There's also the fact that in the early to mid 2000's (I think it was), the NSA was suspected of - and lambasted for - wanting to build a database of everyone in the US, their calls, likes, dislikes, etc. Most people laughed and laughed and said "Yeah, no one would EVER go for that."

Meanwhile, Facebook:

 

That's the weird irony. You say you want to build that (say for national security) and everyone will fight you tooth and nail. Ask people to contribute to it voluntarily as a way to connect with others and they'll line up down the block to be the first to tell the internet where they are and what they're doing every second of every day.

 

My husband convinced me to delete my FB several years ago and I'm so friggin glad I did. Mostly because I was just taking photos with the mindset "I need to share this!" rather than just enjoy the moment and checking the app multiple times a day like a friggin zombie. I have zero social media now and the only public forums I'm on are here and a hang gliding group.
The number one excuse for not deleting it that I hear "it's how I stay in touch with my friends!" Welp, you should check out this nifty device called- a phone. Friggin call someone.
He was born in Moscow, family fled iron-curtain communist Russia back in the 70's (they were caught at the airport while boarding the plane and his father was almost killed by KGB, they were able to convince them they were only going on a vacation to Europe. USA trips were punishable by death) and he's told me the stories. Hidden cameras in the housing, random 'spot checks' to your home by military/govt, and you would hear a click and noises while talking with someone on the phone and his mother would say "I'll talk to you in person so they can't listen" because you'd know someone else had just tapped in. Then over here people are voluntarily giving their entire life story to the internet for all to see. But the google is always listening anyways. I hope they like my horrendous out-of-key singing in my truck.

 

I've never had Facebook but my brother said his stress level also went down when he deleted it because he no longer had to read fake news from our relatives with strange beliefs and no ability to question or fact check something they see on the internet.

 

Yeah. I saw the movie and it was good. Data mining has been around for a LOOOONG time. I remember being in the 80's when grocery stores first started using rewards cards and people freaked out because the stores knew exactly what they bought, their habits, and tailored marketing coupons to them. It's here, there, everywhere. What concerns me is more the complete addiction they've created with people and their phones. I see my kids run for theirs when a notification comes through. It's tough to navigate and have moderation. I wasn't immune either, but made life choices to disengage from that thing. Unfortunately there are those who really can't. I feel for the people (like my wife) who have to constantly send out public information, updates, and info for businesses or groups and it requires monitoring of FB, INSTA, etc. Hopefully it won't last forever. I think I'm starting to see the cracks and slow backlash from people waking the F*&^ up to the digital world. I have to say I still enjoy forums over the mainstream social media like FB. I still absolutely LOVE paperbacks, and print magazines over anything digital. It's getting hard to find good journalism though and a lot of print mags have shutdown recently (Surfer, Bike, etc).

 

Tundras and one gun forum are my only social media. I run a VPN much of time, use Brave browser, DuckDuckGo for search, and add ons like privacy badger, https everywhere, ghostery etc.

Someone could troll my forum posts manually and get info that way but standard data mining isn't likely to pull much on me.

 

It’s great to see so many here have seen it.
I’m a (struggling) small business owner and only interact with social media to promote our business. I hate feeling like part of the problem. But with covid, our business needs all the help it can get.

But atm, we have a hurricane about to pass directly over us. So that’s fun.

 

Get proton mail and proton VPN and you’re doing well. Next stop is Linux and TOR.

 

I use proton mail and my VPN is Windscribe. I've looked at Linux and TOR but they're a bit above my pay grade or requirements. I'm just not that interesting a person that I need that much secrecy. LOL

 

I have never had a Fakebook account and never will. Oh and the NSA did build that facility, it's in Utah. Records every single text, phone conversation, email, post, etc,... in the USA. An maybe in the world or targeted countries. The place is huge and uses massive amounts of water to cool the computers. Pretty impressive and scary at the same time.

https://nsa.gov1.info/utah-data-center/


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Data_Center

 

Heard of duck duck go but never Brave browser. I looked at a few options last year with Firefox. But they wanted access to your whole OS, apps, email and stuff to stop google , FB, etc from tracking all your activity.. is Brave the same ?

 

So much to learn for a
Luddite like myself.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_(web_browser)

Do not feel like you have a lot to learn. The entire system is rigged against you like a casino. The fact that you have to go out and actively seek things that do not sell your info or track you is proof.

Brave is not the same and wants nothing from you. In fact, you can even choose to use Brave through The Onion Router (also known as TOR). Try that a few times and you will start to see how angry certain websites will get at you and your computer because they can’t track you or get any data. It’s funny to see but also eye opening.

Additionally, just by using Brave you can see on one page how many cookies and ad trackers etc it blocks. I think the most I’ve seen was over 99 by using nfl.com as an example for other people I was showing the features to.

Brave is a simple instal and you can set DuckDuckGo as your default search engine also. If you need any assistance please PM me.

 

My brother recommended Brave to me partially because I couldn't get Firefox to open after I upgraded to Windows 10 for some reason. Now I need to remember to switch to Duck Duck Go, though that may be a moot point since I use gmail.

 

I have been telling the 'normies' about what the tech companies are doing with our data for years now. It is actually much worse than what "the Social Dilemma" even covers. Honestly, it barely skimmed the surface, if people knew what was being done with their data, they would stop using Google, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc. They have turned the art of psychological profiling into a Science, they know more about you than you likely could summarize about yourself. WHat webpages you visit, how often, where your eyes focus on the page, and for how long. Your facial expression/vocal reaction to the information presented to you. All of this goes into a massive database that multiple entities (Government, and the 3rd-party private companies the government hires to monitor us) have access to, due to the Patriot Act. If you are concerned/Stressed/Scared there is good reason to be... I am not some Conspiracy Theorist, all of this which I am referencing, I have administered and managed the systems that house this data.

 

Agreed; which is why I don't use Google, am on FB *some*, don't use Twitter/Youtube, SnapChat, TikTok, any of that stuff.

 

Brave doesn't take anything from you. It's the only browser that doesnt iirc.

 

Another rec from me for the The Great Hack on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/search?q=the great hack&jbv=80117542.

Consumers just need to make themselves aware of what t hey are getting into when they use "free" services like GMail, FB, etc. Most companies are trying to sell better and make more money. Some are nefarious and trying to use data for elections, etc. There are no laws that will protect a US citizen more than people being determined to give a sh!t about what they consume. The shape of our consumption habits shape the industry. Don't want your email mined for marketing data? Then use something that isn't free and is determined to protect your data. I think the makers of The Great Hack started their journey as a Trump hatchet piece but in the end are left wondering if it isn't a much bigger issue, which it is.

Example: want to know who is to blame for a mass media news industry that is content to be very biased and tell partial truths or lies? We are, the people. Maybe not you specifically, but the people as a body of consumers are. Until the masses demand something different or better than garbage, we will be fed the garbage we are determined to buy.

 

Here is an interesting read about Google/Youtube Search engine Bias:
https://mindmatters.ai/2019/07/google-engineer-reveals-search-engine-bias/

 

it's here...

same. however, i do not use FB. the only account is IG and i let my wife handle it. i don't want any part of it.

linux/tor is too much work. so so tired of f'ing around with technology. besides, there's not a chance in hell i'd want to try and run my business off linux. just thinking about the driver issues alone makes me want to jump off a cliff. i do however run vpn. have been using nord for years and have never had an issue. purchased a flashed router from flashrouters and the setup is flawless. just bought an upgrade from them a few weeks ago.