Wait, Facebook is literally pushing a VPN solution that claims to "protect" you?
A VPN that sends all your traffic through facebook's servers
How dumb do they thin... 33 million installs... Okay they might be right about how dumb people are
@troubleMoney tbf there are definitely places where facebook is the lesser of two evils
@codl true but if you can use facebook's vpn then you could also use any other vpn provider
@troubleMoney i think facebook's is free though
@troubleMoney @codl this is not true. In some places VPNs are banned/blocked but Facebook is not.
In others (Turkmenistan) merely using a VPN might get you in jail. Depending on how that is implemented, using Facebook VPN might actually keep you safe from the local regime.
I hate Facebook with a vengeance , but just dismissing this out of hand is not a good thing to do. Everything depends on your threat model™.
@rysiek you're replying to a month-old post
@codl I am aware of that. Your point?
@rysiek it's weird as hell. imagine a stranger coming up to you offline and trying to debate some offhand comments you made a month ago
@codl "hey, I think I saw your talk at FOSDEM, and I don't agree with some points you've made; here's why"
Seems perfectly fine to me. I would be inclined to listen.
@rysiek come on
you can't compare making a post on mastodon to studying, writing and performing a talk at a major conference
@codl that's not what I did. I ran with your comparison between responding to an old post here and coming up to a person IRL AFK and talking about something from way back -- just added context that made the latter actuall not insane.
It's all about context.
Anyway, I appreciate your indignation about the fact that I dared respond to an old toot you were mentioned in, and sincerely apologize for the inconvenience of reminding you of that thread.
I can't promise I won't do it again, though.
@troubleMoney yeah I don't feel bad at all calling the general public names
@alice people are terrible at thinking things through
And I am in no way an exception
@troubleMoney I'm guilty of it too. Everyone is. Just not as much?
@alice oh definitely just as much, what differs is the subjects individuals are dumb as hell with
Some people have more subjects like that than others, but there's always at least one
@troubleMoney I think a lot of that is when people talk about the concept of safety on the Internet, they are told, "use a VPN" without being explained why, what it does, and what literally defeats its purpose.
I guess the line of thinking is that Facebook's VPN will at least protect you from your ISP. Its not much, but its one layer removes from direct access to everything you see. Even though Facebook is another surveillance apparatus. X(
@troubleMoney never underestimate how stupid the general public is
@soft_chomps I really shouldn't
Hell, I'm allegedly smarter than the average and I bought a goddamn Ouya
@troubleMoney you just have to work in retail or tech support to lose all faith in human intelligence
@troubleMoney me: people cant be that dumb
user: can my laptop measure my blood pressure
@soft_chomps hospitality as well
@troubleMoney they've created a generation of pavlovian end-users who will click whatever's put in front of them
@troubleMoney Yeah, Facebook uses the VPN to spy on browsing habits. It's been proven already.
@troubleMoney replace "dumb" by "uninformed" and I'll agree with you.
The worst part is realizing which percentage of "normal people" are actually uninterested or even careless in regards to both their own and others' perils.
Most people are insisting on simplicity, refusing any level of complexity that would demand extra attention/vigilance or carefulness. Lazy is another word.
Will this situation improve when #AI #automation and #UBI has freed up the majority's #time ?
They are more than right, 99.9% of the population on earth have no idea what they are doing with their computer they trust anyone has long has they look good and successful.
@troubleMoney Haha! It's insane, right?! How dafuq are people so gullible?!
@troubleMoney what is your threat model?
that is the question you have to consider.
if facebook is less of a threat than the thing you are VPN-protecting from....
notbad.jpg.
@troubleMoney @fatboy
Sheeple headed for slaughter...
@troubleMoney No, not dumb. That's an ableist way to approach this. Ill-advised and improperly educated about what they should be doing.
I responded to this whole ordeal by speaking out about the truth and offering a legitimate alternative.
@troubleMoney Next step: CDs in the mail with 1000 free hours of Facebook VPN time.