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If you value privacy, ditch Chrome and switch to Firefox now
(www.fastcompany.com)
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this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2023
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I don't understand what's wrong with tracking me for advertising. If I have to see ads they might as well be something I might be interested in. Google can give more relevant search results. Things cost less. What are the downsides to selling my information to advertisers?
I understand how tik tok can be used for cyber warfare so I don't use that. I don't know what china can do with millions of people's personal information. Chrome doesn't collect nearly as much data as tik tok.
In my opinion is that the issue is feeding data into a monolith that knows you better than you know yourself. The amount of data they have for everyone allows them to create profiles and find similarities that can predict proclivities that you don't know about yet.
There's nothing wrong about enjoying the conveniences of being recommended things you're interested in, but this also means that they can sugeest things you didn't even know you wanted (and probably wouldn't have ever have wanted.
Combine that with the fact that this doesn't just stop at product placement. It becomes all to easy for a malicious company to feed you news and opinion meant to make you feel a certain way or sway your opinion. It gives corporations way too much power over the thoughts and opinions you have on a day-to-day basis and makes you powerless against them.
And before you say, "I'm a smart, well-rounded person and would not be susceptible to those things," literally everyone is susceptible. There's no outsmarting them if you play their game. The only way to win is through digital privacy.
I'll admit I'm susceptible to having the internet change my opinion on something. I'll just have to make sure I'm careful where I get my news.
I think that's reasonable. As bullish as my response was, in the end, we all have our priorities and I think its's totally fair to value convenience as long as you understand what that convenience really means. Taking mitigations to get your news using platforms that don't rely on algorithms to provide what will delight or infuriate you is a step in the right direction.