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We've got a bunch of new people now so let's bring back a classic post. What low stakes conspiracy theory do you believe that you cannot prove but feels right to you?

I'll start: I believe that dating apps have made a concerted effort to smear in person meeting people and tie it to being "creepy" through social media so you are forced to meet people online(which was the creepy option just 15 years ago)

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[-] UlyssesT@hexbear.net 55 points 1 year ago

"Smart" consumer products are intentionally spying on you. Full stop.

That's why it's so hard to find a not "smart" anything. The added material cost is well worth the additional surveillance, be it for the sake of ruling class parasites buying and selling the surveillance data, or for their buddies fedposting

[-] silent_water@hexbear.net 38 points 1 year ago

this isn't a conspiracy theory. they literally do this and cooperate with the feds

[-] UlyssesT@hexbear.net 25 points 1 year ago

It's low stakes because I believe it isn't just done but it's done at such a staggeringly wide scale and not many people notice or even care.

[-] silent_water@hexbear.net 30 points 1 year ago

I've gotten into arguments about this with the cryptofash over at programming.dev lmao. literally had one of them tell me to "get over it".

[-] UlyssesT@hexbear.net 25 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The version I hear the most is "everyone does it" as if that makes it somehow acceptable, and its associated cliche "if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear" from so-called "hackers" that get their takes from so called "Hacker News."

[-] Mardoniush@hexbear.net 15 points 1 year ago

Yeah fuck that im still mad over horse armor.

[-] Frank@hexbear.net 4 points 1 year ago

NEVER FORGIVE. NEVER FORGET. Todd Howard will pay for his crimes.

[-] ElRenosaurusReg@hexbear.net 32 points 1 year ago

This is a big reason that high quality TVs are getting so much more affordable. The revenue from selling data subsidizes the cost to bring the price way down. "Telly" is one such company taking this to the extreme and offering the device to consumers free of charge.

[-] UlyssesT@hexbear.net 23 points 1 year ago

When something is free (or cheap) the consumer is often the product. :sus:

[-] BelieveRevolt@hexbear.net 11 points 1 year ago

often the product

always the product

[-] UlyssesT@hexbear.net 13 points 1 year ago

If someone raids a dumpster successfully, that stuff is technically free. alex-aware

[-] berrytopylus@hexbear.net 20 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

This is a big reason that high quality TVs are getting so much more affordable.

There's a lot of reasons like improved technology and efficiency but yeah, the ability to play such targeted ads based off what you're doing is pretty insane and they have a vested interest to sell at less profit.

And at the end of the day the amount of people who are willing to just not connect their TV to the internet in the first place or find a way to circumvent them is low. Like it still shocks me every time I see a YouTuber not have adblock on.

[-] immuredanchorite@hexbear.net 13 points 1 year ago

is there a way to remove the offending programs from tv sets?

[-] rtstragedy@hexbear.net 16 points 1 year ago

You can start by taking it off the internet completely, I suppose.

[-] ElRenosaurusReg@hexbear.net 12 points 1 year ago

If it's an android TV you may be able to use a custom ROM on it, otherwise it's unlikely.

[-] skeletorsass@hexbear.net 12 points 1 year ago

Run local DNS server and configure it to block the domains. Pihole is easy one to do this. Can also block advertisement.

[-] Mardoniush@hexbear.net 18 points 1 year ago

Not a conspiracy theory. It's basically how modern marketing works since...2012 or so, and why it's in a death spiral (you can either afford the data sets or not and that's what determines if your advertising is effective)

[-] UlyssesT@hexbear.net 13 points 1 year ago

I call it a conspiracy theory by way of the deliberate absence/omission of non "smart" choices. It's unspoken but it's there, and it's systemic.

[-] TrashGoblin@hexbear.net 9 points 1 year ago

Well, if you make and sell a non-"smart" TV or whatever, you're leaving money on the table. It's hardly any more expensive to add, and you get the extra recurring revenue stream from selling surveillance data, and maybe subscriptions or service upsells.

[-] Frank@hexbear.net 3 points 1 year ago

I don't think that's a conspiracy they're pretty up-front about that. The bigger not-a-conspiracy is that they can remotely brick all that shit when they decide to stop supporting it, meaning that your expensive smart-house set up might end up being worthless overnight.

Doctorow's "Unauthorized Bread" short story lays it out in a humorous short-fiction format.

this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2023
143 points (99.3% liked)

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