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charcircuit 2 hours ago

Yes, I do believe from the bottom of my heart the users trust the operating systems they use. Apple and Google have done a great job at security and privacy which is why it seems like users don't care. It's like complaining why you have a system administrator if the servers are never down. When things are run well the average person seems ignorant of the problems.

wolvoleo 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Google certainly hasn't done a great job on privacy. Android devices leak so much information.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/10/phone...

https://peabee.substack.com/p/everyone-knows-what-apps-you-u...

About Apple I just don't know enough because I haven't seriously used them for years

charcircuit 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Yet, in the big picture Google is doing a good enough job that those information leaks have not caused them harm. When you really zoom in you can find some issues, but the real world impact of them is not big enough to influence most consumers.

fc417fc802 44 minutes ago | parent [-]

What sort of hypothetical harm are you imagining here? Suppose the information leaks were a serious issue to me - what are my options? Switch to Apple? I doubt most consumers are going to consider something like postmarketos.

The carriers in the US were caught selling e911 location data to pretty much whoever was willing to pay. Did that hurt them? Not as far as I can tell, largely because there is no alternative and (bizarrely) such behavior isn't considered by our current legislation to be a criminal act. Consumers are forced to accept that they are simply along for the ride.

charcircuit 27 minutes ago | parent [-]

Lets say that Google let anyone visit google.com/photos?u=username to see all of the images from their camera roll and left this online not caring about the privacy implications.

People would stop taking photos with their camera that they didn't want to be public.

fc417fc802 19 minutes ago | parent [-]

People would presumably switch away from gcam and the associated gallery app. Or they would simply remove their google account from the phone. They have realistic options in that case (albeit somewhat downgraded in most cases).

If Google did something egregious enough legislation might actually get passed because realistically, if public outcry doesn't convince them to change direction, what other option is available? At present it's that or switch to the only other major player in town.

michaelmrose an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

They used Windows XP when it was a security nightmare and many used it long after EOL. I just talked to someone whose had 4 bank cards compromised in as many months who is almost certainly doing something wrong.

charcircuit an hour ago | parent [-]

I'm talking about people's feelings. People can feel like a Masterlock padlock is secure even if it may be trivial to get past.

bigyabai 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> which is why it seems like users don't care.

...and not because, in truth, they don't care?

How would we even know if people distrusted a company like Microsoft or Meta? Both companies are so deeply-entrenched that you can't avoid them no matter how you feel about their privacy stance. The same goes for Apple and Google, there is no "greener grass" alternative to protest the surveillance of Push Notifications or vulnerability to Pegasus malware.

charcircuit 2 hours ago | parent [-]

They would stop using them, or reduce what kinds of things they do on them if they didn't trust them. No one is forcing you to document your life on these palatforms.