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naikrovek 6 days ago

Yes.

“Sure, you can borrow my laptop. It’s fine. Take it home. I promise not to spy on you while the lid is closed. I promise not to record aaaaaany audio or anything! And I definitely won’t hear any conversation that contains information that I’ll use to stalk you later!”

There are a million ways that some nefarious person could spy on another, but at least this isn’t one of them.

And I am a very suspicious person, thanks to some eye opening experiences that I’ve had. When someone says that they want to do something that not a lot of people want to do, I immediately wonder how they will use that against myself or someone else. Because that has happened multiple times to me.

I also hate that I am suspicious of people who want to at least have the opportunity to fully own their devices; something that is perfectly reasonable to want, but I am. What would that additional ability do for them? What will they be capable of doing that they can’t do now? How and when will they use it to get what they want out of someone? Or out of me?

If you don’t think like this, I really envy you. For the longest time, every teacher, every supervisor, every commander, every non-familial authority figure I had until I was probably 35, used and manipulated me for the purpose of advancing themselves. Every single one. The ones in the military didn’t even attempt to hide it.

I’m so scarred because of people convincing me to help them screw me over that I no longer trust anyone who is concerned about things like laptop lid angle sensors. Because who are you trying to screw over and why does that angle sensor stand in your way?

AnonHP 6 days ago | parent | next [-]

> When someone says that they want to do something that not a lot of people want to do, I immediately wonder how they will use that against myself or someone else. Because that has happened multiple times to me.

I’m intrigued. Would you be comfortable sharing some of these real experiences here (with sensitive details fudged/removed)?

naikrovek 6 days ago | parent [-]

I'd rather not. They're very foggy memories now, and the ones that aren't are all attempted sexual abuse. Conmen are everywhere, and they will say things in the nicest most innocuous ways possible to sway you to do things for them. They'll do it over time, and they will very gradually ramp things up. "this is just a small change from that, what's the matter" ugh. people suck.

KurSix 6 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I think it's possible to advocate for device ownership and repair rights without having malicious intent

naikrovek 6 days ago | parent [-]

that is correct. my specific history pushes me in the direction where i suspect malevolence, though. yours might not. but let me tell you; people are absolutely capable of the worst things you can imagine, and if those people require your cooperation they will try the carrot long before they try the stick.

commandersaki 6 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I mean nobody expected pager bombs, but here we are.