I never use Google Chrome unless I'm using someone else's device, but I was reading this article about someone changing from Chrome.
One sentence made me realise that my prior gut feeling that too much technology is dangerous is true:
"In other words, Google was still able to reach into my machine and forcibly update my software."
I have often been cautious of technological privacy, closing down my Facebook account back in 2009, never using Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and many others. My online presence is considerably limited compared with the vast majority of people.
One update from Facebook, many years ago, made it possible for everyone to view your profile and everything posted... with a privacy option to disable it if you didn't want it.
Software developers often send out updates. This is to be expected, since new technology often prevents old software from working correctly/effectively, and can provide new opportunities.
But I get concerned when it's forced upon us. Adobe Flash Player is one of my pet hates: as soon as a new update is available, everything which uses it seems to stop working until it is updated. When I go to update it, it pre-checks a little box asking me whether I would like to install McAfee antivirus as well. The 'auto-completion' is what annoys me, the assumption that I clearly want a particular product in addition to the one I've sought out.
Although Adobe Flash stops working when an update is released, at least it lets me do the updating in my own time.
When I recently upgraded to Windows 10, I spent about two hours going through all the privacy settings, switching everything off so that I didn't broadcast to the world.
Being a UK citizen, I often want to find out things from the UK, not my current location.
I don't want other devices to 'see' my device because they might find a way to install unwanted programs/viruses.
Google still insists that I make it my homepage, when it is already my homepage.
A recent update to Firefox means I had to cope with a 'Firefox Screenshots' icon, a feature I didn't want and won't use. I didn't ask for it, it just appeared. I eventually found a way to remove it, but it wasn't through the usual method of removing extensions, it was more involved.
Just a few months ago, Microsoft announced they were going to remove Paint in an update. This meant that a program I had used for many years would be removed from my system without my approval. Thankfully, Microsoft had underestimated how many people loved Paint, and so it (currently) still remains.
But it's that attitude of "We can to do to your computer whatever we want" that really gets me.
Imagine reading a book. You like it, so some time later you read it again, but the story's changed.
Many books get updated, but the old editions are still around (albeit hard to find sometimes). Software used to be like that. But the new world of technology assumes that updates are always better, faster, more perfect.
And, to top it all off, new updates can override your previous settings (also mentioned in the article at the start of this post). This means that people will have to go through all their settings every time a new update is installed for a piece of software. But also, a new update could change the settings so that you no longer have the option to 'opt-out' of the privacy risk.
The scariest part is that it's a step towards the 'self-awareness' of technology that films such as Terminator 2 and I, Robot use as science-fiction plot lines.
The current problem is that technology companies are called to account for their actions only after the update has been released and caused issues. Which means, if the issues are quashed, the company gets away with it. It's no secret that younger people are more technologically tuned in, but their desperation to keep up with the current social trend means they may not always read the small print, and companies can use them to get their product out there before the dangers become apparent.
We need to be smart with our use of technology.
One sentence made me realise that my prior gut feeling that too much technology is dangerous is true:
"In other words, Google was still able to reach into my machine and forcibly update my software."
I have often been cautious of technological privacy, closing down my Facebook account back in 2009, never using Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and many others. My online presence is considerably limited compared with the vast majority of people.
One update from Facebook, many years ago, made it possible for everyone to view your profile and everything posted... with a privacy option to disable it if you didn't want it.
Software developers often send out updates. This is to be expected, since new technology often prevents old software from working correctly/effectively, and can provide new opportunities.
But I get concerned when it's forced upon us. Adobe Flash Player is one of my pet hates: as soon as a new update is available, everything which uses it seems to stop working until it is updated. When I go to update it, it pre-checks a little box asking me whether I would like to install McAfee antivirus as well. The 'auto-completion' is what annoys me, the assumption that I clearly want a particular product in addition to the one I've sought out.
Although Adobe Flash stops working when an update is released, at least it lets me do the updating in my own time.
When I recently upgraded to Windows 10, I spent about two hours going through all the privacy settings, switching everything off so that I didn't broadcast to the world.
Being a UK citizen, I often want to find out things from the UK, not my current location.
I don't want other devices to 'see' my device because they might find a way to install unwanted programs/viruses.
Google still insists that I make it my homepage, when it is already my homepage.
A recent update to Firefox means I had to cope with a 'Firefox Screenshots' icon, a feature I didn't want and won't use. I didn't ask for it, it just appeared. I eventually found a way to remove it, but it wasn't through the usual method of removing extensions, it was more involved.
Just a few months ago, Microsoft announced they were going to remove Paint in an update. This meant that a program I had used for many years would be removed from my system without my approval. Thankfully, Microsoft had underestimated how many people loved Paint, and so it (currently) still remains.
But it's that attitude of "We can to do to your computer whatever we want" that really gets me.
Imagine reading a book. You like it, so some time later you read it again, but the story's changed.
Many books get updated, but the old editions are still around (albeit hard to find sometimes). Software used to be like that. But the new world of technology assumes that updates are always better, faster, more perfect.
And, to top it all off, new updates can override your previous settings (also mentioned in the article at the start of this post). This means that people will have to go through all their settings every time a new update is installed for a piece of software. But also, a new update could change the settings so that you no longer have the option to 'opt-out' of the privacy risk.
The scariest part is that it's a step towards the 'self-awareness' of technology that films such as Terminator 2 and I, Robot use as science-fiction plot lines.
The current problem is that technology companies are called to account for their actions only after the update has been released and caused issues. Which means, if the issues are quashed, the company gets away with it. It's no secret that younger people are more technologically tuned in, but their desperation to keep up with the current social trend means they may not always read the small print, and companies can use them to get their product out there before the dangers become apparent.
We need to be smart with our use of technology.
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