5 ms·

How the fuck is that even remotely legal? ... "deidentified" my ass.

embedding-shape 29d ago
Ah, but Google promised to remove PII they found in this deidentified dataset, so worry not. > If you’ve flown Spirit and worry that Google will soon know about a testy conversation you had with the airline’s call center, you’re being told not to worry. The court filing says the data was deidentified before being put on sale and Google has promised to scrub any PII it finds in the trove.
- sscaryterry 29d ago
  Ah, trust me bro :)
- akoboldfrying 29d ago
  I basically agree, but I'd also say: Every Gmail user has already accepted such a promise as sufficient.
  - deleted 29d ago
    [deleted]
  - phatfish 29d ago
    I wouldn't be surprised if Gmail data has far more access restrictions internally at Google than this auction bought dump.
  - flaburgan 29d ago
    But the Spirit customers may not have a Gmail or even a Google account? I personally don't.
    - akoboldfrying 29d ago
      Sure, a Spirit customer with no Gmail account can absolutely complain and/or be wary of this. I didn't mean what I wrote as a complete counterargument -- just trying to indicate the "scale" of the privacy issue here, which is that it's something that many people already tacitly accept.
      - frollogaston 29d ago
        Even those customers probably have something that's neither self-hosted nor privacy-focused. If it's not gmail, it's one of the counterparts.
- gspr 29d ago
  > Ah, but Google promised to remove PII they found in this deidentified dataset, so worry not. … and even if someone can prove that they didn't, the only consequences will be a teeny-tiny slap on the wrists. This kind of stuff needs to come with promises to pay the P in the PII big bucks if the I is indeed I.
  - cube00 29d ago
    > even if someone can prove that they didn't Only a whistle-blower could, it'll all be locked down as trade secrets because it's (allegedly) giving their AI the edge over the competition. Unfortunately the whistle-blower will never work in big tech again if they do so I don't see it happening. Not that it really matters, data breaches are happening more then ever with no consequences and data brokers are legal companies.
- frollogaston 29d ago
  Honestly would trust Google more than any other entity to de-identify the data properly.
  - Forgeties79 29d ago
    With their army of lawyers? Absolutely not. Guarantee you they’ve already prepped a response along the lines of “someone else was supposed to take care of that before selling it to us we can’t be held accountable for it.”
    - frollogaston 28d ago
      That's not how they operate. They don't want the legal risk. Too big a target to be trying to squeeze out little gains that way.
noir_lord 29d ago
You know when we (they) tell you not to do any personal computing on work devices/systems and to keep your devices completely separate from work ones. Yeah this (and lawsuits/investigations) are why, the employer owns the data, in some contexts (like this one) it can become an asset (or a liability) but in either case it's not yours. Of course that only gets you part of the way there anyway see Twitch recently opting in all users by default to mined for AI and only adding an opt out after backlash with a quote that was so on the nose it made me stop "If we'd have asked them to opt in, they wouldn't have opted in" (paraphrasing but it was that blunt).
tiahura 29d ago
In your country are you not allowed to discuss who you gave a ride to or what they said? It should really make us appreciate living in a country where freedom is the default.
- Forgeties79 29d ago
  In my country (US) car companies can literally collect data on any sexual activity in the vehicle. We are as bad as any authoritarian state in this regard. Difference is businesses are using it directly for profit in addition to handing it over to governments when compelled in increasing numbers. https://www.mozillafoundation.org/en/blog/privacy-nightmare-on-wheels-every-car-brand-reviewed-by-mozilla-including-ford-volkswagen-and-toyota-flunks-privacy-test/ https://www.mozillafoundation.org/en/blog/privacy-nightmare-...

Ah, but Google promised to remove PII they found in this deidentified dataset, so worry not. > If you’ve flown Spirit and worry that Google will soon know about a testy conversation you had with the airline’s call center, you’re being told not to worry. The court filing says the data was deidentified before being put on sale and Google has promised to scrub any PII it finds in the trove.

sscaryterry 29d ago
Ah, trust me bro :)
akoboldfrying 29d ago
I basically agree, but I'd also say: Every Gmail user has already accepted such a promise as sufficient.
- deleted 29d ago
  [deleted]
- phatfish 29d ago
  I wouldn't be surprised if Gmail data has far more access restrictions internally at Google than this auction bought dump.
- flaburgan 29d ago
  But the Spirit customers may not have a Gmail or even a Google account? I personally don't.
  - akoboldfrying 29d ago
    Sure, a Spirit customer with no Gmail account can absolutely complain and/or be wary of this. I didn't mean what I wrote as a complete counterargument -- just trying to indicate the "scale" of the privacy issue here, which is that it's something that many people already tacitly accept.
    - frollogaston 29d ago
      Even those customers probably have something that's neither self-hosted nor privacy-focused. If it's not gmail, it's one of the counterparts.
gspr 29d ago
> Ah, but Google promised to remove PII they found in this deidentified dataset, so worry not. … and even if someone can prove that they didn't, the only consequences will be a teeny-tiny slap on the wrists. This kind of stuff needs to come with promises to pay the P in the PII big bucks if the I is indeed I.
- cube00 29d ago
  > even if someone can prove that they didn't Only a whistle-blower could, it'll all be locked down as trade secrets because it's (allegedly) giving their AI the edge over the competition. Unfortunately the whistle-blower will never work in big tech again if they do so I don't see it happening. Not that it really matters, data breaches are happening more then ever with no consequences and data brokers are legal companies.
frollogaston 29d ago
Honestly would trust Google more than any other entity to de-identify the data properly.
- Forgeties79 29d ago
  With their army of lawyers? Absolutely not. Guarantee you they’ve already prepped a response along the lines of “someone else was supposed to take care of that before selling it to us we can’t be held accountable for it.”
  - frollogaston 28d ago
    That's not how they operate. They don't want the legal risk. Too big a target to be trying to squeeze out little gains that way.

noir_lord 29d ago

You know when we (they) tell you not to do any personal computing on work devices/systems and to keep your devices completely separate from work ones. Yeah this (and lawsuits/investigations) are why, the employer owns the data, in some contexts (like this one) it can become an asset (or a liability) but in either case it's not yours. Of course that only gets you part of the way there anyway see Twitch recently opting in all users by default to mined for AI and only adding an opt out after backlash with a quote that was so on the nose it made me stop "If we'd have asked them to opt in, they wouldn't have opted in" (paraphrasing but it was that blunt).

tiahura 29d ago

In your country are you not allowed to discuss who you gave a ride to or what they said? It should really make us appreciate living in a country where freedom is the default.

Forgeties79 29d ago
In my country (US) car companies can literally collect data on any sexual activity in the vehicle. We are as bad as any authoritarian state in this regard. Difference is businesses are using it directly for profit in addition to handing it over to governments when compelled in increasing numbers. https://www.mozillafoundation.org/en/blog/privacy-nightmare-on-wheels-every-car-brand-reviewed-by-mozilla-including-ford-volkswagen-and-toyota-flunks-privacy-test/ https://www.mozillafoundation.org/en/blog/privacy-nightmare-...