Don't forget with the Recall feature, you may be on Linux and are using a secure communication application, but if who you are talking to is on windows your conversation can be scraped.
Same thing with email. It's all well and good if you're using ProtonMail or Tuta or Posteo, but you're still cooked if the other side is using Gmail.
Old problems, new modi operandi.
Afaik, with proton you can send messages that won't open through gmail if you protect them with a password. The other person receives a message with a link to open the mail in a browser after entering the password. It's not the easiest solution but if you want to avoid gmail from knowing the contents of a message, you can do that.
But windows recall scrapes your screen, so even that wouldn't work.
"But they are stored locally! Certainly, Microsoft won't have access to those, right? Right???"
It's not like companies that use Linux don't get breached either. Your personal data is in thousands of databases that have varying levels of security. Personal choices don't affect any of that, regulations like GDPR are what's needed.
But does your medical clinic do?
No, they don't, and it pisses me off. Every time I see it, I think, Well, there goes my medical privacy.
But where else can I go? There's only one health company in town, and they bought all the doctor's offices.
Who can I complain to? The doctors and nurses are visibly frustrated with Windows every time I see them use it. If they can't change it, how could I?
That ship has sailed anyway. I've had no less than 5 breach notifications show up in the mail from things related to my health care in the last 2 years, and it's not like I'm constantly at the doctor. The whole system is a disaster.
They might not know there are alternatives. So they likely do not ccomplain to their IT person.
Dont be a "jUsT uSe LiNuX" guy, but when you see them frustrated maybe say "hey I see you are frustrated as well and I as a patient are concerned about my medical data privacy. You know there are better and safer alternatives, maybe you could ask your IT if it would be possible to switch to Linux?"
Realistically, they can't switch because the software to use some $€1m medical device only runs on windows.
i use linux and don’t have family or friends or get any kind of medical care ☺️ checkmate
Using Linux in America be like
The failures of the United States healthcare system are compatible with the Unix philosophy due to its emphasis on doing one thing poorly and leaving the rest for the user to figure out. Like Unix tools, each component—insurance, billing, and treatment—functions independently, refusing to communicate effectively while relying on the user to “pipe” themselves between endless calls, paperwork, and escalating bills. Debugging your health, much like debugging code, requires advanced knowledge, infinite patience, and a willingness to accept that nothing will ever be fully resolved.
privacy is scary stuff if you think. it's like, i care so i dont share my phone number with facebook, but someone out there may have my number/address/name on their contact list and chances are big that they have no problem sharing with zuck. so i'll still end up on zuck's database.
I just activated my checking account with PayPal and one of the questions from the verification battery was asking me which email I recognized. They were different domains of my mother's ISP email that she uses only with Amazon.
I had the urge to answer incorrectly as if that would remove their association.
Demand it from who? With what power or leverage?
Not to be defeatist, but I'm just a guy. Nobody's gonna listen to my demands. I'm surprised privacy notifications say anything other than "You don't have any" with two buttons that both say "OK". All I can do is selfhost as much as possible and decline to use tons of applications or services that underpin modern societal functions or social activities. So I do. But it sucks ass and I don't have any power to change any of it.
Where I am, unlike climate change, the privacy issue is not discussed properly so just explaining it to people that trust you can boost any future systemic action.
No, but the point they're trying to make is, I think, that the more you complain, the more other people complain and the more other people start complaining and unless we have enough complainers and people switching, nothing is gonna change.
Our power is imperceptible but not non-existent
What drives me nuts about this subject is rarely spoken about.
No single company can properly compensate all of their users for the damages caused by mishandling their personal data.
In fact the damages may even be too great for the government to properly compensate said users.
I think people who say "I don't care, I use Linux" are really saying "You should use Linux to stop this."
I hate to be that guy, but they may not be aware of alternatives.
Im sure the receptionist in the doctors surgery cant wait to have that conversation.
"does your medical clinic do"
Bring back grammar nazis
This is common in British English.
For example, the question "Are you going into town?" might be answered by an American with, "I might," and by a Brit with "I might do". In past tense it would be "I might have" vs. "I might have done".
This is all perfectly systematic and grammatical - this person just has a different grammar than you do. Though I guess that's what Nazis do best: enforcing arbitrary standards in systems they don't understand to destroy diversity to everyone's detriment.
Not a native speaker here, what would be correct?
"Does your medical clinic use Linux?" or just "Does your medical clinic?"
No, you need to demand that government organizations use Linux or other open source systems as well, there is no other way.
You can require Microsoft to comply with rules, it won't. It doesn't care, it wants money, and more money, and that is it. It's been like that since it's inception. The same goes for all other tech companies
You know what brand doesn't careuch about money and will respect your privacy?
Open source software. Linux. Firefox (eh, mostly) with plugins, mariadb, etc...
I'm still pissed the email I had managed to keep junk free for years was leaked because my insurance company had a breach.
Simplelogin/anonaddy
That having been said, keeping an email "private" is roughly as silly as people who think phone numbers are private, as if the white pages never existed.
I think there's some confusion at play here. That argument is about security, not privacy.
Is the concern that Microsoft is ingesting your data and thus your actions aren't private? Or is it that Windows is not secure and so you don't think data stored in Windows systems is safe from third party access? That distinction matters, because in both cases the way it's framed here isn't really accurate but for different reasons.
And both arguments are valid. However, when discussing privacy with somebody "who has nothing to hide", the security concerns argument usually holds more ground.
"Fine, you don't mind microsoft and their 961 partners to know about your computer usage patterns. But how about the criminals which will have your data as well? You may trust microsoft with your data - "because they have it already" - but do you trust each of these 961 partners? Do you trust all their privacy policies? I have read some. They are horrendus and allow sharing with third parties. Do you trust their privacy and security?"
As a home user the OS thing is preference, some prefer Windows, some Mac, some Linux, etc.
Your post however raises a good point, and it certainly makes me form an opinion in a greater context. Thanks for making me think about this, genuinely - it's good to have opinions challenged.
Until there is serious consequences to data breaches and criminal charges it doesn't matter. It's been a free for all for a long time the best we can do is simply keep using products or services that respect your privacy and discourage or not use services.
Does your company/school provide employee/student Microsoft 365 licences? Ask your Windows-using colleague to check that "Optional Connected Experiences" are enabled and tell the IT team that they are likely allowing genAI training on internal documents (Microsoft seems to have reserved the right to do that and never denied the allegations). Yes, they can disable this organization-wide and will likely contact Microsoft over this, and if enough of us do this they'll know they crossed a line.
If your company's IT team does not respond, you'll have another argument getting your peers over to LibreOffice.
Maybe we should tell people to use Linux
This is framed with OSs in mind but the place where this actually happens the most is mobile apps.
It's difficult to protect your contact info when everyone with you in their contracts gives access to candy crush. It's the one I see the most and know who does it because those people will show up in the "you might know this person" shit.
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