I am extremely concerned about the new laws that are going to require ID to use any operating system. I know there is an exception for FOSS at the moment, but the phase 2 plans to deny access to web services for unverified devices would essentially make that exception useless.
I’ve been thinking hard about everything my home server connects to, and it isn’t looking good. How will I pull containers from GitHub or DockerHub when those sites will undoubtedly be subject to the same verification rules? How is SearXNG going to work when my users searches are tied to my identity? Put simply, how are we going to get around this as a community?
Ideas I’ve had:
- Hire an anonymous person and use their identity. Problem: if they commit a crime, the authorities could think it was me, and if I’m suspected of a crime, they could be in trouble.
- Figure out a way to route services through a virtual Windows 95 machine since many ATM’s run on that and maybe there would be an exception for them. Problem: my gut tells me that they would also be blocked and that ATM’s make direct connections separate from traditional web services.
- VPN to the safest country possible during setup and pretend to be in a region that doesn’t require identification. Problem: even if the country doesn’t require it, it doesn’t mean that the OS company won’t require it.
- Move to a more reasonable country and go full FOSS for the rest of my life. Problem: leaving everything I know behind and still potentially have blocked access to some sites that deliver FOSS software.
That’s pretty much it. Moving seems like the option with the greatest possibility of success, but it comes at a huge cost. I’d need to change jobs and start my life all over, but on the other hand, my home server is the only thing that makes my poverty tolerable here. If I lose that, then I have literally nothing to do but read books and wait to die.
So, with humility and anxiety, I come to you, my friends with bigger brains than me. What are we going to do? How are we going to remain private and free? What is your personal plan because I’m drawing blanks and starting to feel like everything I’ve ever believed in is crumbling around me.
Thank you for any advice or theories on how to navigate this paradigm shift. I never would have thought, when I first fired up Netscape and got connected to the whole world, that it would come to this before the end of my lifetime.
I’m not as worried about the first phase, but the second, where they are talking about limiting access to Google, Apple, and Amazon services (etc.) for non-verified devices is what really concerns me. Do you think those companies will restrict it to the US only and allow a VPN to get around it, or do you think they will see the potential in the ultimate identifier for ads and make it mandatory for all users globally?
At its worst extreme, I could see this being used to identify every user of every device and then potentially use harvested data to deliver targeted and customized propaganda that could circumvent VPN anonymization since they are confident of who the specific device belongs to separate from an IP address it is connecting from. With AI, the ads could even be altered and customized to specifically prey on that individual user’s insecurities and biases. In a political context, this would be the most powerful propaganda weapon ever invented, and the capitalistic value of it would be immense.
Huh. I guess I hadn't thought of that because I don't personally plan on using any Google, Apple, or Amazon services or devices. Kind of already cut most of it out of my life, but for companies that still will insist on having Google support yeah those jobs probably will still demand you give ID to those companies. That will suck.
They kind of already identify people's devices, phones anyway. Canvas tracing is getting most people id'd by correlating the info like how you describe. For marketing and propoganda that might be worth the effort. I think the real cash cow in forcing everyone to use their services will be claiming ownership of any work that gets created using it. Kind of like employers do if you build anything while under a contract.
As I was reading it, this would affect any site that is using Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon (etc.) infrastructure services as well. That covers a huge swath of the internet—GitHub, news sites, eBay…it’s hard to think of a major site that wouldn’t be tangentially connected to one of those mega-providers through ads, hosting, networking, and the rest.
I’m not even considering work computers, I’m talking about my personal server potentially needing ID to download stuff or serve results through SearXNG. The dependency on major service providers extends to so many sites that it is hard to fathom how we could access much of anything other than torrents and Lemmy, and even some Lemmy instances could end up affected depending on how they’ve set up their instance.
I don’t think they’d go to all this trouble if it just meant you couldn’t see the next iPhone on the Apple website—they’re doing this to create an environment where you’d essentially need a license to use the internet…”for the children.”
hmmm maybe you and I are in different kinds of ecosystems with different worries. Protecting yourself at home isn't easy but it's way less hopeless. If it would help, you should look at ways to cut those out of your life now. Not trying to convert you to anything, but you might be surprised how much is out there even after you degoogle, and switch to foss kinds of stuff.
I’m already in that transitionary phase. I need to save money for a new phone and laptop to complete the move to FOSS completely, but everything that matters is already running on my Linux server.