Smart Devices Think You're 'Too Lazy' To Opt Out Of Privacy Defaults

[HardOCP News]

I don't agree with the sentiment that people are "too lazy" to opt out, I think it's more about people not realizing they have to opt out in the first place.

"The default from these tech companies is they will share your information unless you opt out," says Jaigris Hodson, a digital media professor at Ryerson University who teaches courses on social media and Big Data. "The line they always give is, 'we're putting your privacy in your hands.' What they don't mention is that the default option could be the other way around."

 

[Liger88]

Love how all the techno hippy slaves are all over the Smart TV's. These "fake" geeks who worship all electronic devices are going to be the death of us.

 

[wabbitseason]

Too lazy or too stupid to care describes the vast majority of people. That's the truth of the matter.

 

[Tak Ne]

It doesn't help when you get things like...

[_] Please uncheck this box to indicate that you do not wish us to not track you.

Also, quite a few companies choose to ignore do-not-track settings when the software/device defaults to no tracking.

 

[lilbabycat]

Android had a built in program, AppOps, but they removed it. You can mod it back in, and its absolutely wonderful to be able to strip specific permissions from specific apps.

 

[Quix]

Love how all the techno hippy slaves are all over the Smart TV's. These "fake" geeks who worship all electronic devices are going to be the death of us.

"Smart TVs" aren't aimed at geeks. They're just locked down appliances, real geeks buy something more programmable. I picked up a Nexus Player, not because I think it's the best option, but because the form factor is decent and it's easy to write my own apps or port other people's. It runs XBMC like a champ too.

 

[Jagger100]

Android had a built in program, AppOps, but they removed it. You can mod it back in, and its absolutely wonderful to be able to strip specific permissions from specific apps.

There's ways around that. My weather app want location services. For a long time when I would say no and they would default to the stored address which is what I want anyway. But now they clear that out after only a couple of times, forcing you to re-search for it almost every time

 

[Liger88]

"Smart TVs" aren't aimed at geeks. They're just locked down appliances, real geeks buy something more programmable. I picked up a Nexus Player, not because I think it's the best option, but because the form factor is decent and it's easy to write my own apps or port other people's. It runs XBMC like a champ too.

That's why I called them fake geeks. They pretend like they're knowledgeable power users who drive technology when in reality technology drives them. If it's new, hip, trendy, and cool they flock to it like it's the greatest thing since sliced bread.

You know the people. The ones who roll their eyes whenever people mention privacy as if we're curmudgeons holding back technology from its greatness.