Edited to clarify.
Things to consider: How much of your data would you be comfortable letting Lemmy sell vs Reddit? If Zuck treated users better, would you be more accepting of Meta monetizing your data every way possible? When it comes to using something for free (tangible or intangible) do you accept a company selling your personal information if their practices align with what you feel is fair?
Oof, if Lemmy started selling data, I’d be downtrodden. It has been a godsend to me that this place took off ever since Reddit shit the bed. I had an account from a while back and was able to essentially resume seamlessly.
I do all sorts of craziness to avoid my data being sold, but like most here, I do have some exceptions.
I keep my Google account for work, but use protonmail, invidious with/sponsorblock and yt-dlp, ddg lite/teddit for search, librewolf, ublock/noscript/etc. All on a Linux desktop with Mullvad VPN for when I need extra privacy (argh, matey).
Phone is Pixel with GrapheneOS and as much Fdroid over sandboxed Google Play as possible.
Exceptions made:
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Google: Account for work and edge cases, (ie buying Pixel directly from them to leave OEM unlocking available).
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LinkedIn: It’s just too prevalent for job hunting in my area, and Microsoft owns it and my data.
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Github: Not much to say here, if you write/pull code, you use it, and Microsoft takes some data.
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Steam: Again, not much to say, Id prefer offline, but triple A titles don’t do that as much on PC no more…
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Meetup: Similar reason to LinkedIn, networking platforms.
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Waze: I try to use OSM as much as possible, but Waze has better adjusting based off of Google owned traffic data.
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Amazon: I actually use them less and less these days, but some things are just easier to get through.
Given Up:
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Instagram: I’ve given up Instagram, which was hardest as many old friends and online acquaintances are on there. But I wasn’t posting any more and interaction was less and less.
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Reddit: Gave up reddit for all the reasons for you’ve heard already. I actually used the official app and didn’t have a problem with it. But the politics of it rubbed me the wrong way. I’m still hoping the fediverse becomes the standard for social media online.
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Microsoft Windows: Oh man, and Linux is king. MUCH better experience.
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ios: Yeah, GrapheneOS drives me back to Google in a way, but it’s just a better experience for me than my old iPhone which is just far less customizable and limiting.
The only reason I’m still on windows is because of Microsoft Access.
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I wasn’t aware I got to draw a line
In some cases you can, some you can’t. Lemmy vs Reddit for example. If you choose not to use Reddit or use it less, how did you come about that decision? Where is the line of “enough already”?
I still use reddit because my city has a bunch of hookup subs. I had to block almost up to the 1000 user limit, but I’ve met three people off there. Would be even easier if I wanted a threesome with a reddit married couple (I’m good!!!)
But I don’t use it for anything else lmao
I break down and start using the totally awful ones with no privacy when I need to access people on them. Like everyone else. :(
I seek to min-max the subjective value retrieved from the service/product vs. the amount of data given to the data vultures, while taking alternatives into account.
Some examples, including the ones from the OP:
- Lemmy - I’d probably still use Lemmy even if it vultured some of data, as the perceived usefulness of its service is fairly big. However I’d probably start implementing measures against said data vulturing, including: avoiding to speak about certain personal subjects, switching accounts every 2~3 months, bullshitting a bit in the comments, etc. Just like I did in Reddit.
- Facebook, Twitter - they harvest so much data that even if they handled users better I’d probably not use them, plus the benefit that I get from their idiotic userbases is fairly small. I’m still fine however opening some link here and there, I just don’t actively interact with those platforms.
- Youtube - I’ve been using it nowadays through piped.video, to minimise the amount of data exposed while still watching my videos. If piped didn’t exist I’d probably watch it straight from Youtube, it’s a privacy nightmare but more acceptable than lack of access to videos.
- websearch - I look for things in DuckDuckGo first. If DDG didn’t find it, only then I use Google. No Google account, incognito mode (to clean cookies afterwards), location spoofed to Antarctica (mostly due to result relevance).
- all - uBlock Origin, canvas blocker, decentraleyes, location guard are always active. And if a site doesn’t work well with those, odds are that it’s wanting too much of my info to be worth my attention, specially if I can get its services from elsewhere.
So when it comes to privacy I try to keep myself safe/private but without going full zealot about it.
If you are referring to corporate “free” products such as email, cloud and media consumption, I use them until I’m able not to and switch to open source. ex. Gmail -> protonmail Google Drive, photos, contacts -> Next Cloud YouTube -> Jellyfin etc. If you’re referring to corporate Social Media, I just refrain from using them, except FB at the minimum due to contact with old relatives. For other Social Media consumption, I ditched Tweeter (or X or whatever) and Reddit, never used Instagram and TikTok. Switched to Federated SM like Lemmy (Duh!!!) and Mastodon.
TLDR. I value my data,but I draw the line in accordance with my ability to afford it
So do you feel that companies should never sell/use a person’s info even if the product is free? Would you accept greater amounts of advertising and the use of anonamized user data if it meant your personal info was never sold?
Our societies have a tendancy to be more authoritarian, autocratic and consumption driven. The way the corporations are using anyone’s data is not transparent and there is no accountability for it. There is also no monetary reward for the use of my data.
Therefore, I prefer to use open source apps and federated SM.
So to answer your question, I would like transparency and accountability about my data usage, as well as compensation. And no I would not like more ads. Since I realise that my preferences are impossible, I try to make the switch I referred above
They should be at least as open as possible about how they process/use the collected data is what I think. AND they should be instantaneously reviewed/deleted at will by the user.
Even paid services are selling your data, you are gullible if you think otherwise. Lemmy will eventually sell out just like reddit, give it time.
It’s totally unclear what you’re asking about. Can you write another paragraph with details or examples? What kinds of free services or products do you mean? What kinds of personal data are you talking about?
We don’t even know if you’re talking about something physical or digital, for example.
Sorry. Maybe this will help…
Things to consider: How much of your data would you be comfortable letting Lemmy sell vs Reddit? If Zuck treated users better, would you be more accepting of Meta monetizing your data every way possible? When it comes to using something for free (tangible or intangible) do you accept a company selling your personal information if their practices align with what you feel is fair?
I draw the line in the same place I offer. I freely share what I can with no strings attached. I do not want corporate internet. The vast majority of what they do has no real value. I want a digital public square for the whole world to share ideas and grow in a positive environment without exploitation, manipulation, or stalkers.
As ideal as that sounds, who would maintain the noncorporate internet? The government paid for with taxes? The users? How much of your time, energy, money, system would you be willing to sacrifice for a digital public square?
I’d gladly post a git and self host. Just make all ISP’s provide a static IP, VPS, and symmetrical internet like they should be doing already. Also reinstate net neutrality and stop corporate privateer ad stalkers.
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