Privacy Specialist Responds to John Oliver's "Data Brokers" Segment!

John Oliver's "data brokers" show explores many privacy & security concepts. Let's dive into commentary regarding the episode.
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#data #privacy #johnoliver

[@LikeElsie]

In the face of overwhelming "why should I care" attitudes toward this matter and the growing power of the profiteers, I am really happy this is being talked about. Great stuff.

[@JoshuaC0rbit]

I'm ashamed to admit that I spent a few years in marketing and would routinely have to pull lists from data brokers for targeted marketing purposes. This was back in about 2005 and even then I could tell you every woman that was planning to get married who had an income of $50,000 in a certain zip code. I would call up our data brokers and ask them for any metrics that our clients wanted and we could get an Excel spreadsheet within a day.

[@ultimomos5918]

I know you were just doing your job and that it was relatively early in the days of online marketing so you probably couldn't have possibly guessed the scale that data harvesting would grow to but you're absolutely correct and it's only gotten much weirder and much, much more specific. Corporate power has gone unchecked for far too long.

[@JoshuaC0rbit]

@@ultimomos5918 I saw the warning signs because I dabbled in the dark arts of exploratory computer activities since the early 90s so I saw the potential for misuse even then. I got creeped out when I found out how much power that these marketing companies have. Did you know that they have the entire United States categorized into 16 different personality types? And it's freaky accurate.

[@ultimomos5918]

@@JoshuaC0rbit doesn’t surprise me at all actually. Suffice it to say I work for one of the big social media companies and the amount of user metrics I have access to is scary. To his point here, even if it were depersonalized it’s incredibly easy to correlate data points and determine who’s actually using what and where. And all of it just to sell you useless shit or, god forbid, locate you at any given moment. These corporations basically programmed their way into our pockets.

[@chickensandwich8808]

definitely the second gilded age.

[@peachybuttercrunch4409]

everyone needs a job.😏I used to bartend.

[@hackladdy9886]

Any publicity around privacy is good publicity, and this is GREAT publicity.

[@HaydenX]

I love the paradoxical nature of "publicity for privacy".

[@sammydepresso]

I'm glad that you explain the concepts in more detail, I'm sure this John Oliver segment will definitely open some peoples eyes, hopefully people will find this video and learn more. :D

[@IVI4V3R1CK]

That's how I found this video; through the Jon Oliver segment, this appeared on my homepage.

[@JustinWillisDevil240Z]

I did!

[@SnepBlepVR]

I do love how John always gives people the broadish spectrum, though he does kinda dig into some places that are “bullet points.” Prompting people to do more research. Those people who don’t dig further never cared to begin with.

[@cozmothemagician7243]

@@IVI4V3R1CK yeah, the IRONY is that I would not have seen this vid except for the fact that utube showed me (;

[@katiekane5247]

Opened this tech goober granny's eyes!

[@c182SkylaneRG]

Edward Snowden is a national hero. The fact that he's exiled to avoid Prison is the crime.

[@Everth97]

Don't worry they fixed this, better now?

[@c182SkylaneRG]

@@Everth97 Near as I can tell, he's still exiled to Russia, so no, not better now.

[@josepharmani5827]

No matter what the govt says, He's a fucking Hero in my book. The fact that we're not protesting for his safe return is a failure in our part as well 😔

[@roscoedamuel1882]

that is literally not the crime

[@ultimomos5918]

I work in a field similar to this man and he's 100% spot on. It's pretty sad that this technology is completely unregulated and legislated by, frankly, boomers in their 60s and 70s who haven't the absolute faintest clue as to it's implications. We're now at a point where if you've ever gone online without some form of identity protection you've given massive amounts of personal data and analytics over to whatever companies you decided to visit while browsing and countless others. All so Amazon can target you more effectively for the sale of a waffle maker. It's fucking sad.

[@haraldschuster3067]

The sad thing is when you get - after explaining things - a response along the following line: "Well, I've got nothing to hide, has nothing to do with me" which completely ignores that they've opened themselves up to manilpulation. It's not about "having to hide something" - it's all about not providing professional manipulators cracks to sink their crowbars into.

[@nidodson]

My favorite is how Facebook claims they don't listen to you. I don't own a cat or have any reason for Facebook to give me ads about cat products. One day after talking about Facebook potentially listening to people through their phone app, I started talking about cat toys. Facebook started showing me ads for cat toys for a few days, something it never did before or since.

[@babybirdhome]

This might come as a surprise, but they actually don’t need to go the expense and trouble of listening to you to do creepy things like that. They can put them together through the data they already have that you provided them of your own accord by what you post, what you interact with, and who you interact with. The dots are all already there - they only connect them. The other thing that people always ignore is all the stuff that was targeted incorrectly. You see the correct targeted ads because you’re looking for them. You ignore the incorrect ones because you’re not looking for them. This gives you the false impression that they’re targeting you better than they actually are. Of course it also doesn’t help that you can’t usually tell how well you are really being targeted, because companies that do this have found that people don’t like it when they experience it because it’s creepy. So they deliberately salt the real targeting with bad targeting to make the real targeting disappear in the background noise.

[@jmacd8817]

@@babybirdhome Exactly. Im always surprised when Google, KZbin and other sites feed me commercials en espanol. Im a 50 something white guy that speaks exclusively English. I always wonder how and why I get strings of ads in Spanish. I don’t quite get it.

[@unsuccessfulfatshow]

@Ryan Howe liar

[@jewsco]

I sometimes make fake Facebook profiles to play games and get the rewards. Even putting in fake info Facebook will still recommend people I know as friends. So they clearly are tracking you

[@jewsco]

@Ryan Howe exactly which was my point of how even putting on fake data meant nothing as they obviously know my IP address and can access my friends and family lists

[@I.____.....__...__]

8:56 De-anonymizing data is just like fingerprinting a browser; you only need to put together a few "anonymous" data-points to uniquely identify a person or a browser.

[@alwaysbanned4812]

As you support the current thing. Good job npc flag

[@trappedcat3615]

Browser fingerprinting cannot uniquely identify a person, but it can assist. Personal info has to be provided by the end user or exposed by a service.

[@fabricio4794]

@@alwaysbanned4812 blyat

[@dgd947a15fl]

Or in other words, the perfect anonymous computer doesn't help if you're posting about where you live and stuff on social media.

[@TheUnreliableNarrator64]

Do you think it would be insanity for us to request payment for our data? They talk about some "everyone gets a check" thing but just paying us pennies on the dollar for our data would end poverty. And if you think I'm crazy they would still be able to build ad databases if they made it an "opt in" thing for payment when collecting data. If everyone got their shit together for an actual worthwhile cause we could pressure them to do it.

[@farishanafiah8461]

I definitely welcome something like this. It's about time the public get their realization about the need for privacy.

[@notme2day]

But you see why politicians don't really want to tackle this. It's helps reach and target their demographics. Right up till they realize they're being tracked too.

[@wemblyfez]

I've always loved Oliver's segments on issues and this one was no different. But I was happy to see another expert such as yourself break it down and confirm some of his points. Nice job; thanks for making this complicated issue a little easier to understand and offer some solutions.

[@JacobJonesy]

They even use 1 pixel remote images to track you. It's sick.

[@Apathymiller]

I was a skip chaser for chase Manhattan back in the day for several years and there almost nothing that cannot be found out about YOU! This was 20 yrs ago in sure its gotten soooo much easier to find info on people. The REALLY scarey thing to me is that law enforcement really no longer needs a warrant, they can just buy the data!

[@jsib7489]

I believe John Oliver was going for possibility of the negative aspects of having total anonymity and lack of trackability especially businesses and those who are interested in doing nefarious deeds which can create a huge problem in the correct hands. But overall agreed that people should be allowed to have the default as privacy but allowed to not if they desire not to be private. First time viewer and I appreciate your candor.

[@leadpaintchips9461]

There is a balance between privacy and accountability. There are some things that should not be done anonymously, while most things should be.

[@jsib7489]

@@leadpaintchips9461 That is the conundrum that we have to determine before we should implement a blanketed law/practice, how do we determine where do we draw the line and legal/social/ethical dilemmas it can entail.

[@leadpaintchips9461]

@@jsib7489 I agree fully, but as with most debates when it comes to legality/morality, very few are looking for the grey middle ground.

[@Lawrence330]

Security companies may be the "good guys" for now, helping their customers regain anonymity. However, soon they'll be the bad guys. This is the problem with capitalism coupled with ineffective and/or slow to react governmental intervention. By the time the government notices a problem, there will have been a dozen companies formed to "combat" the problem, companies whose livelihoods and existence are now threatened by government action. It's easy to see how the "good guys" soon become lobbyists, encouraging their pet politicians to maintain the status quo, allowing the companies to continue their fear-mongering and profitable operations, decrying the lack of privacy while simultaneously bankrolling efforts to minimize it (privacy).

[@JeanPKlaus]

I've known about this for years and people thought I was nanners. Its good to see this getting some public attention it deserves. Where I have struggled with is getting solutions made and passed.

[@notme2day]

But you see why politicians don't really want to tackle this. It's helps reach and target their demographics. Right up till they realize they're being tracked too.

[@alanaflynn8878]

Something that seems to get people to understand the concept of online privacy is "If a website is free, it's your information that's paying for it."

[@zwerko]

My personal favorite is when companies claim they anonymize your phone number by hashing it (messenger and VoIP apps are especially guilty of that), as if there are no rainbow tables or GPUs that can 'deanonymize' it in less than a second.

[@paulaOyeah]

I called CVS last night to reorder my continuous blood glucose monitor. (Type 1 Diabetic) I do not search Diabetes info… I don’t need to! This morning I got a commercial on YT for a CGM of a different brand! HOW IS THAT NOT A HIPPA VIOLATION?!? 😡😡😡 I hate capitalism with EVERY fiber of my being.

[@_MrTV]

Haha I watched that and couldn't wait for your response. Awesome! Glad you liked it too and hopefully it'll help them make laws to care about privacy

[@rais1953]

Fully bought and paid for corporate politicians will legislate against commercial spying? Only as far as it impinges on their own privacy. No further than that.

[@IamDarkElf2009]

I watched the John Oliver segment before seeing this. KZbin actually recommended your video because I watched the John Oliver segment. Love this content.

[@edene.4870]

You shouldn't be surprised John Oliver didn't go into details about how to protect privacy beyond the little bit on his show, nor fault him for it. For most people, that's already more than they can do without help. John needed to get his point across and make people sit up and take at least the bare minimum steps towards privacy protection: non-Chrome browsers and tools like ghostery. That's already a huge deal for a lot of people who aren't willing to go out of their way and change their habits. My mom is a perfect example: she'll nod along when watching show episodes like this, but then refuse to use the non-Chrome browser I put on her phone because she's not used to it, and she also can't be bothered to remember to use tools like a VPN because "they slows down the internet connection". As long as getting your privacy back is "too difficult, too complicated" to bother with, there's not a lot that can be done to get the average person on board.

[@Someuser391]

Thank you so much for this awesome response video, and in general all the hard work by Techlore to help people improve their privacy and security game =D

[@lisaboban]

You know how to identify someone who knows what they are talking about? They make it easy for ANYONE to understand. You are VERY good at these explanations. New subscriber!

[@mreclecticguy]

Nice job of expanding on John’s take on privacy (or lack of) on the web.

[@spectrumspectre]

Surprisingly enough, they taught us about this in elementary school. Internet safety was starting to become more prevalent, and our teacher pulled out the projector, asked if someone would be willing to volunteer, and he typed the student's name in. We were nine years old, and he showed us that the student's phone number, IP, and home address info could be bought on a website for ten dollars. Thinking back on it now, it makes me sick.

[@Someuser391]

Shared both Last Week Tonight with John Oliver's video, and your response to the people in my social network. Although I have shared more stuff from ya'll and others... but it is a hard battle to fight to get people to actually take privacy seriously. Let's hope LWTWJO will get more people to take it seriously, anywhere on the planet... the EU might have better privacy protection than say the US, but there too there is still plenty to be done.

[@JoshuaC0rbit]

You got a new subscriber today. I went from being part of the problem to part of the solution and I've become an advocate to my friends and family on how to secure their identities. I respect what you're doing brother keep up the good fight.

[@techlore]

Welcome aboard!

[@PARebecca]

As soon as I get my information off of one people finding websites. My info pops up on a brand new site, it's like whack a mole...I'm so glad I found this video....

[@YourLocalZombie]

Thank you for advocating to people about their privacy! I'm rarely one of the "there oughta be a law" types but I feel like this industry needs to be regulated or eliminated.

[@JESUS.saves.Repent.]

Eliminated. We the people should not be products.

[@jeffmartinez262]

Awesome video! I caught the John Oliver bit when it aired, but I appreciate the breakdown here. You got yourself a new subscriber. So far, I have been apathetic about this stuff, even though I can clearly see the danger. I look forward to becoming more proactive about this important issue.

[@scottcarr8738]

Thank You, glad to be back.

[@rideshareafterdark5827]

According to my Brave browser, it has blocked 1.3 MILLION trackers and adds in about 2 years.

[@monirogue1570]

The hardest part of going off grid is if you're still planning on being an active member in society and you aren't equipped with the know-how and resources to basically be your own boss. Most if virtually all jobs don't just expect you to be plugged in through the hiring process, many require you to now use social media and particular software and browsers both at your job and sometimes request you use your pages to advertise and things as well. So even if you disconnect personally and still manage to get hired at a decent job...you still end up being subjected to invasion of privacy without your consent or ability to avoid it, while having your job, other companies, the government...monitoring you in everything you do at work. I agree with John Oliver completely. I don't think switching your money to an off grid bank is a smart move...it actually could be potentially disastrous if shut down, outlawed, or fallen into the wrong hands... it's far better to push for regulations that defend our rights and privacy using these outlets day to day as we all do.

[@milkgrapes6420]

Techlore and John Oliver. Among two of favourite niches coming together is a dream come true.

[@patmullarkey7659]

One of my favorite fiction books on this: Feed by M.T. Anderson. "The novel focuses on issues such as corporate power, consumerism, information technology, data mining, and environmental decay, with a sometimes sardonic, sometimes somber tone."

[@GarethBruce]

Ironically, the original video isn't allowed through the KZbin app in UK. I had to copy the link into the TOR browser to watch it lol.

[@fabricio4794]

That"in.....us"site you know..we cant talk about this here

[@lyfandeth]

Not surprising at all. The John Oliver show, like every show, is licensed geographically. They probably are not licensed to the BBC or in the UK. The brits may just feel the show would have no audience there.

[@scoutbane1651]

@@lyfandeth Right, that's why I can see it in my tiny-ass country of Slovenia (2 mil people big), that totally has a bigger market than the UK, a country two dozen times its size and where John Oliver comes from. You serious?

[@lyfandeth]

@@scoutbane1651 Yes. The marketing folks in the UK may have access to way more domestic production than you do. And, just as there is "British humour" that would not be appreciated in the US, they may simply think they have more profitable choices. Or, the show may violate codes foir language use, defamation, or other issues that vary in each venue.

[@GarethBruce]

It's not like we can't watch these in the UK on Sky or Now TV (also Sky). The critical race theory episode from a month or so ago is now available (previously geo-locked). It seems there is a deliberate delay in making these available in the UK which is probably contractual. I just find it funny that KZbin will tease my feed with geo-locked content I can't watch when so much content is sponsored by VPNs whose main sales point is circumventing geo-locking. The fact that I just c&p'd the link into TOR and it worked straight away is the cherry on that cake.

[@justadad6677]

I love when experts in their field, analyze what John Oliver and his team at Last Week Tonight do. It always give them credence, it should silence the haters, that are so stuck in their ways, they can't seem to be able to learn or want to learn. But as you clearly explain, we all should trust the experts more, let them fight our battles, because of mere mortals can't figure this vast field of privacy online out ourself, not unless we want to become an expert as well...

[@RashidMBey]

I absolutely agree with this. Unfortunately, there is a wave of anti-intellectualism that seeks to pedestal the layperson's opinion at the same height as the relevant expert's, and that's almost always to the detriment of most folks involved.

[@babybirdhome]

And there are aslo a metric crapton of fake experts out there on literally every subject that matters to anyone. Even those are hard to identify without becoming an expert yourself. It’s a brutal world today.

[@Elvalley]

@@starshine9662 acceptable rebuttal, at least in principle. I'd say if I wanted to be that misanthropic I'd answer your last question with "Not really, unless their interests align with mine", which is why at least in the case of the info given in this video (and the video it references, to an extent) it's easier to figure out why the information given by this supposed expert is probably the honest one.

[@justadad6677]

@@starshine9662 I think we live in a much safer, healthier, better world today, than our ancestors did just a few hundred years ago. I know there are selfish people, common sense and facts back that up plenty, but I also know according to psychologist, only about 1% of the population is a sociopath, and even that doesn't mean, they are necessarily evil or even a bad person. Just more likely, especially in a society like America, that reward people that don't care about people. But knowing all that, I have hope for humanity, and I will continue to fight for a better tomorrow for everyone. because those that might not deserve it today, might never have become who they are, if the world had been better when they were born. We fight evil, when we start fighting poverty.

[@justadad6677]

@@Elvalley Wow, I must be high, or that was one hell of elaborate way of saying: Listen to the experts.

[@chrissanto]

Well fuck, now the government knows I am concerned about privacy. Thanks Techlore!

[@skayabluuya2080]

WoW, I’m enlightened! Thanks for explaining All of this!

[@robertneselic6805]

John always delivers on stories that need an ear. Proper breakdown. 🤙

[@Spartan1853]

Not always, he completely botched the CRT subject.

[@_MrTV]

And yeah there's tons more to do but I think the goal was more about getting lawmakers to get more into it

[@stephstarsshine]

Awesome video. Randomly showed up in recommendations. Excited to see other videos from you! 😊

[@Jennn]

Thank You For Sharing This, Sir. I haven't watched mainstream television in 10, maybe even 15 years at this point. From that perspective, I'm truly surprised to hear anyone on TV talking about these things. John Oliver. I may look into him~! What a lovely talk!

[@rais1953]

John Oliver likes exposing scams.

[@GeorgyKong]

John Oliver's segment on data browsers was fantastic. I believe that the Monero quip was a joke or that John and his staff don't understand the technical aspects of crypto currencies. A few years ago he did an interview with Edward Snowden and he asked very interesting questions to Ed that no one at the time was asking. Since John is a comedian, he asked Snowden to describe all the programs he revealed that intelligence agencies were using through a nude picture. The general population don't understand the technical side of how their privacy is being stolen, sold, and distributed on a daily basis, myself included. Anecdotes are a great way to get the message across to everyone, which will make people gravitate more to the privacy world or advocate strongly for it.

[@davidbodor1762]

I think their stand on crypto is very skeptical because there's a lot of kinks and issues that are not ironed out (and they may or may not ever be). In this instance their issue was that Monero advertised itself pretty much as something you should use if you are engaged in criminal conduct. Which is not the greatest thing to advertise.

[@icp7201]

And when it comes to Crypto, it isn't really private as well. If you ever link any personal wallets to your name or person, all your privacy is instantly gone. Every transaction you ever made will be instantly exposed in the block chain. I feel even banks are safer with information than crypto, since it at least requires some sort of warrant and subpoenas in order for them to be accessed, and the chances of them leaking to the public are much smaller. And, if cryptos ever reach the point of being a true substitute to fiat currency, you will have to constantly share your wallet id in order to perform your everyday transactions, forever removing their anonymity with anyone you ever transacted with

[@matthewarnold4557]

It didn't help that manero's commercial pretty much exclusively aims for criminal activity.

[@ajiththomas2465]

Honestly, anyone who understands the technical aspects of crypto currencies would know that crypto is full of crap. There's some applications for blockchain technology but crypto currency is inefficient and untenable for privacy. Folding Ideas' "Line Goes Up: The Problem With NFTs" breaks down both NFTs and crypto currencies and the inherent intractable problems with them.

[@CanelaAguila]

@@ajiththomas2465 Even with Blockchain I haven't found a single application that warrants that tech. I saw someone build a decentralized chat app which is kinda cool I guess, but was still mostly emulating it and people have done it before anyways with torrents and the like

[@Jimvanhise]

What John Oliver doesn't mention is that there is something called AD BLOCK and AD BLOCKER which literally blocks all of these things. I have not seen ads on my computer in years because of this. It even works on KZbin which I'm sure drives KZbin crazy.

[@iPsychlops]

Subscribed! Read "Permanent Record" by Edward Snowden and then watched Jon Oliver's video, I'm glad KZbin recommended this video and I recognize the irony of that in this context. Lol

[@donindiana8504]

Yup. KZbin recommended this video to me too. That's why I'm here 😅

[@Jerakk30]

Never once mentioned online about a sandwich shop in the area that i went to one day.. never saw ads for it, then one day i mentioned it to a friend of mine in FB messenger.. ever since then i'm ALWAYS seeing ads for that specific shop EVERY SINGLE DAY. Never visited their website, I never googled it, nothing. But yeah they absolutely monitor your chat. Oh.. and I've never gone there again since. The only thing the target ads did was make them lose a customer.

[@techlore]

Facebook is notorious for keeping an eye on you. Especially through their messenger, hope the sandwiches were sub par. - S

[@Jerakk30]

@@techlore they were ok... which was why i never mentioned them until that ONE TIME lol

[@rockpickable]

In germany there are no readily available tools to search for people. so i used a US one to search for someone i know. during the search i was asked specific yes-or-no questions which implied they already knew a lot about that person. before i could see the report, i was asked to enter my name and email... and below there was a disclaimer that my privacy is important to them. great sense of humor :-D

[@allanbeaulieu164]

Thanks for the clear explanation. Excellent delivery, very understandable.

[@kianchristoffern]

People need privacy. Companies need constant surviellance. Government members need constant surveillance.

[@TheRedneckGamer1979]

As someone who runs a lot of tabletop games the targeted adds I get for looking up information is fucking wild.

[@AnnoyingMoose]

"It's disturbing how easily a member of the press can purchase information from the men in your precinct." - John Doe, Se7en

[@rejvaik00]

I don't really watch much John Oliver anymore I don't like him as much as I used to back in 2014 but I do appreciate yourself taking what he said in his segment and trying to expand upon it to make it more popular and more digestible to be understood

[@YTSharkspeare]

Thanks for sharing your professional commentary. Those people whose eyes would glaze over talking about internet privacy, but this was an eye-opener. Thank you.

[@banjoist123]

I'm down with my phone listening and google searches sending suggestions, but I swear to God, last week I had a larger than usual number of guitars and banjos in my shop, and I thought about wall hangers. I did NOT vocalize this thought. Next day, in the Facebook ad feed, there they are. Have I been chipped!?

[@JESUS.saves.Repent.]

I have experienced the same exact thing!! Multiple times!! Toilet paper was one. Cat food was two.

[@starylize]

i really love your channel. last month i got my friend to use signal with me (she kindly used it bc i asked her) and imm loving it. slowly, i want to get more people i know on it, and this summer i’m gonna stop using chrome. 💀 your channel, along with the hated one have been eye-opening for me and i can’t thank you enough! you’re doing important work, especially in the direction the world is going right now.

[@ashtreylil1]

I thought of this channel when I saw the John Oliver segment. Cool to see you make a video.

[@cozmothemagician7243]

And now that I watched your full video, THANK YOU.

[@esco_0370]

- My KZbin search history is always in an order that I had not last left it. I saved a game to my KZbin channel. When I checked later, my KZbin history have been researched and I can see that other saved videos had been viewed… I’m like, how and who?!!

[@Pablo360able]

Say what you will about John Oliver, he’s not afraid to take direct action. I like that he ends all of these videos with “what can we do”, and I especially like that, when he can, he takes some big swings in those segments.

[@autumnbeds]

Thanks for making this, just watched Oliver's video a couple days ago. A few months ago I curiously looked myself up and was shocked, but not surprised at the fact that theyre over 100 websites with my info, along with relatives and employers readily available to anyone with an internet connection. I'd like to hear your opinion on companies like optery. Thanks!

[@jacktalcott]

Great discussion, and thank you! As long as we citizens allow corporations and governments to keep "legal" Secrets, data will continue to be profitable, and privacy will remain a luxury. We need a world without Secrets and Lies

[@ShawnMeilicke]

I found this through the recommended videos. Was half thinking it was going to be clickbaity but saw your EFF hat and decided I'd stick around and find out. You made some really good points, some of which are unfortunately even more relevant now than when you made this (like with the period tracker apps now that Roe V Wade is up in the air)

[@jayceewedmak9524]

Thank you very much!

[@leehayes4019]

Uh 10th? The book for surveillance capitalism looks interesting, thanks for the recommendation!

[@isbestlizard]

I wish browser makers would do more to prevent fingerprinting. I run ublock origin, DuckDuckGo PE, Privacy Badger and CanvasBlocker and *still* have a unique fingerprint :/

[@s4ms3piol30]

uMatrix. Best thing to do is not to use your own rig.

[@iloveramennoodle01]

That John Oliver take opened my eyes. I'm not private yet but I'm definitely more aware

[@TheSuicideRacer]

Watched the Jon Oliver episode and with eexperience from previous employment as a test it took me less than two hours to find someone who had intentionally disappeared with no internet history in the last twenty years just through their next of kin. This cost me $0 with no need to input CC information/no data broker required. Privacy in today's age is nearly impossible to achieve and maintain. I don't like that this is so easy but it's the new normal. An intelligent person can find anyone alive on this earth 🌎 with minimal effort if they know how. Try to reject all third party cookies but everyone leaves a trace sometime/somewhere and as the presenter states a single trace will allow anyone to track you if they want.

[@vickisawyer7405]

Law & Order did an episode about this around 20 years ago called "Access Nation".

[@michellesutton202]

Thanks for elaborating for clearly on the points the John Oliver brought up in this episode.

[@dragoniv]

I work in the marketing industry, and have seen the definition of de-identified data has changed over the years. Data like that used to be summarzied data, typically at zip level. Today, it's sold at individual levels, largely due to an utter lack of government regulation. I've also worked in credit, and as regulated as that is, it still needs work to bring its privacy regulations into the modern era.

[@alexfisken1556]

Very interesting and 'thank you' for the information.

[@ShyamalKapadia]

2:49 i think those people with the basic 'why should i care argument' should see not just the targeted ads but see how the price they are charged for a product or service can depend on what data has been gleaned about you before you're offered the product. amazon is a good place to start...different people can pay very different prices for the same product. this will make them care more.

[@ryanorusio1056]

Searched myself glad to say next to nothing was found

[@letfireraindown]

Good to know. I've kept an interest as privacy and tracking has become common and knowing more has become a technical requirement. Sadly this has even included knowing how to help a user circumvent their own security on their phone to enable authorization for a repair. (I worked in a phone repair position and a customer needed to unlock the phone before a screen replacement. Further confirmation that they owned the phone was already included in the process to approving the replacement.) Account security is a major concern, and privacy for account action is always keeping pace.

[@scottwatschke4192]

I read Google has an average of 250 data points on all Americans.

[@Master1Morrison]

Glad I clicked on your video I love the way you dissected the video and informative

[@chrisP_wheats_and_raisins]

How you have a channel amazes me. Well done

[@A_Treat]

'People don't really care about until it impacts them.' - Words you should all understand and live by.

[@chrisw1462]

Awesome! Thank you!!

[@AaronMichaelLong]

Honestly, the whole concept of "Internet Privacy" is a complete joke. They know what you *TELL THEM*. They don't know if it's the truth. Want the algorithm to think you're fat? Start doing web searches for 'Big and Tall'. You'll see ads featuring huge guys in KZbin feed in no time. Every time you walk into a brick and mortar store, you're recorded on closed-circuit TV, and your shopping behavior is collected, monitored, and analyzed, by the people who consult on how best to lay out the floorplan of the store. And what online user monitoring does is the *exact same thing*. How can you be more outraged by someone using a cookie to track your visits to Amazon to buy toilet paper than literally having your photograph taken and distributed every single time you walk into a Macy's? I wouldn't mind so much if this privacy hysteria wasn't being deliberately hyped and exploited by "privacy grifters", like alternate browsers, search engines, VPNs, etc., all of whom offer no real protection from user surveillance, because, this just in: they still know what you tell them. It's not possible for them to give you the data you ask for, without you asking for it, and that's all they're really tracking: What you ask for. If you want real privacy, here's a pro-tip, for those of you who didn't hear it by the time you entered elementary school: Don't tell people. Don't go to Amazon or Facebook or Google and expect them to keep your secrets for you. And for everything else, just relax! Your relationship with Amazon is like your relationship with BevMo: the keep track of what you buy.

[@JacobP81]

I've gone on that site. It's really cool. Excellent job!

[@CoasterMan13Official]

I looked myself up on one of those reverse people lookup websites, and I did not find myself on there, which means I am virtually untraceable.

[@laurendoe168]

Privacy hasn't existed since about the 70's. Does anyone remember those "customer loyalty cards" of the 80s? Do you really think the only data they collected was the total cost of your purchases? Once the ability to store massive amounts of data (such as credit card purchases) became popular it also became possible to aggregate it. Massive amounts of aggregated data is a product. This began in the 90s. The internet did nothing to decrease the amount of data collected - it just made it far less expensive to do so.

[@ronnymb67]

Finch from Person of Interest: "What easier way to get information than to have people volunteer it."

[@vickisawyer7405]

And I really believed it and taught myself as much as I could and used it.

[@enriquehirshfeltikov2395]

Anecdotally... I was at work a few months ago and for some weird reason the old Annie song "animal crackers" bored a brain worm into my skull and I started absently singing it while working... With my phone in my pocket, "screen off"... For the next month google was constantly interspersed with adds for purchasing animal crackers ...

[@MonCappy]

I generally don't experience targeted advertising. Particularly because I refuse to give any media platforms permission to personalize any advertising they send my way. I also always opt out of any data collection for advertising purposes.

[@agustingomez1575]

It's awesome that someone with a great reach talked about privacy, and I'm glad he outlined the most important concerns. It's important that you corrected him on the cookies stuff, not only for the sake of being up to date, but also because when one takes his first steps towards protecting his privacy, one tends to become overconfident. Happened to me. So it's good to emphasize that it's a little more complex. On his opinion on Monero, sadly it probably reflects what most people think. People often adopt awful ideas that go against freedom and it's hard to fight that. I believe that while people know that surveillance on private lives is wrong, most people wont accept that some of their own beliefs are what enable said surveillance. Don't want to alienate people with politics, but that's also how I believe that some of the authoritarian governments in South America came to be. Anyway, keep up the great work, cheers! Edit: fixed a typo and consistency in a sentence.

[@caseyleenb]

hey just a video editing tip, when you have things placed directly in the corner like you do in this video, even if the clip is fully in view, you should leave a bit of a margin between the edge of the screen and the edges of the video. it might make the viewer think that the video is slightly cut off, especially due to how john oliver’s set is framed. you even do this at 1:58, so not sure why you didn’t do that with JO’s video.

[@jd7863]

I was waiting for your response to John Oliver :)

[@TheFaroe]

I have used people searching websites like that to return lost property, but I definitely see how it could be a problem.

[@StefanGinoFeuz]

Danke!

[@Mat-tg4fk]

You can tell the cyber team that helps Oliver research topics were EXCITED to have their time to shine on the show.

[@RobbieStarburster]

That was excellent. We seriosuly need to using tactics like this against politicans to get things going.

[@promethaus5116]

The reality is that the data brokers are stealing my data with out my permission and monetizing off of that. If they really need my data then they should pay me.

[@L1m3r]

They ARE paying you with the free services you use on/through the internet.... Okay, not in all cases but every time you use a free service that is not supported by donations or something (and is showing you ads) you are the product sold to the "data brokers" for money that pays for that service...

[@promethaus5116]

@@L1m3r This here is a lie that you have been told. cooperate greed doesn't need to take peoples personal info and data to run adds.

[@CrescentUmbreon]

@@L1m3r Nah, I should be getting royalties

[@cyryl3827]

I once tried to check who called me, suspecting it was a friend, but wanting to make sure before calling back. It just brought me straight to her FB page, even though she didn't have her number listed on FB. (years ago, so things might have changed)

[@redeyesdrogon786]

Great video. Thought it was going to be a bit of fearmongering on John Oliver's video. But glad it was easy for people to understand

[@darkerimpulses7146]

Great breakdown video! 👍

[@littlestbroccoli]

I hate that OSs track us. It's basically saying, opt out of the internet or submit to us. Nothing free about that.

[@Noobsaucer]

Great video, as usual! Are you planning to make one on Nym at some point? :)