It is done, Amazon account deletion request sent

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Ebookus

I would recommend you peruse through that YT channel, it is very informative in many aspects which most people might be unaware of. There are lots of interesting videos and recommendations on how to use the internet/technology safely.

I would, but unfortunately I absolutely hate video tutorials. If something's not available as static text for reading, I'll pass.

[John F]

Originally Posted by Graham44

So, just give up and let whoever have all your information? Right got it,

Yeah no way, no matter how defeatist other people want to be I will always strive/ fight to keep the parts of my life that are personal/ not for corporate use, just that personal/ not for corporate use. As mentioned in the video where did this 'it doesn't matter' attitude come from? to me it's staggering. I'm sure my information isn't as private as it could be, but I'm looking to always improve that, because unless I consciously decide to share something with someone, it's none of their business. But it's up to each individual if they want keep their information private/ safe or easily available to whoever wants it.

Perhaps eventually people will see whats being taken from them, but then again maybe not

The reason for my post was your comment on what stood out from the video. I'm surprised that that stood out. I would think if that stood out, there are other things that you may be missing/interested in.

My post was not meant to imply "do nothing".

[Graham44]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Again... it's slightly conceited that you believe others can't have the wherewithal to make solid, informed decisions about their own online privacy concerns. Your "to each their own" mantra rings a teensy bit passive-aggressive when you then keep implying that those whose opinions on online privacy don't align with your own are somehow missing, or not seeing, something. Sort of like "to each their own (but they're wrong)."

How magnanimous of you to allow us poor, underinformed and misguided souls to unwittingly feed ourselves to the wolves.

Sorry you read it that way, I honestly didn't mean it like that. The point I was trying to make (perhaps not in the best way) was this (I've had time to think how to word it properly) there seems to be two view points (with some shading in between) 1) They aren't collecting data you don't want them too and 2) They are collecting as much data as they can on you with or without your consent, obviously I fall into the second line of thought Now me personally I would rather take the second view and be proven wrong because I haven't lost anything, what I was trying to get across (perhaps badly) is if you take the first point of view and it turns out you were wrong you stand to lose more than someone taken the second point of view and being wrong. As I've have said several times everyone makes up their own mind about what they think is the right thing to do.

[Graham44]

Originally Posted by John F

The reason for my post was your comment on what stood out from the video. I'm surprised that that stood out. I would think if that stood out, there are other things that you may be missing/interested in.

My post was not meant to imply "do nothing".

I may have missed quite a bit in the video, I must give it another watch!

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Graham44

Sorry you read it that way, I honestly didn't mean it like that. The point I was trying to make (perhaps not in the best way) was this (I've had time to think how to word it properly) there seems to be two view points (with some shading in between) 1) They aren't collecting data you don't want them too and 2) They are collecting as much data as they can on you with or without your consent, obviously I fall into the second line of thought Now me personally I would rather take the second view and be proven wrong because I haven't lost anything, what I was trying to get across (perhaps badly) is if you take the first point of view and it turns out you were wrong you stand to lose more than someone taken the second point of view and being wrong. As I've have said several times everyone makes up their own mind about what they think is the right thing to do.

Having the second viewpoint doesn't necessarily mean I'll go on a crusade against big tech and stop using all their products. As I already said, convenience wins over privacy in some areas, for me and for many other people. Yes, we're aware they're collecting as much data as they can. But privacy isn't our first priority, or even the second or the third in many cases. In this we're different from you, obviously. That doesn't mean we're not aware of what we're doing, as you seem to hint in some of your posts.

[Graham44]

Looking back through the posts on this thread (it's been an interesting conversation, for me at least ) It seems to me this is one of those topics where in general you come at it from one of two trains of thought and you have to in the end agree to disagree over certain points. Ultimately there is no right or wrong answer just personal opinions and thoughts. As I said it's been an interesting conversation but I think I've probably added all I can to it now, hopefully without upsetting anyone! So I will bow out now

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

We handed credit cards to waiters who disappeared into back rooms with them. Store receipts had the entire credit card number printed on them. My online bill pay through my bank is much more secure than the post office.

I remember that from one trip we made to California when my kids were young. We hit the family attractions in San Diego and Los Angeles with a day trip to Tijuana to see Caliente race track. On the way back, we stopped in San Francisco for the night and had dinner in a restaurant with the waiter taking my credit card into the back to use the zip-zap machine. The next morning we drove from San Francisco to Salem, Oregon where we had dinner at Shari's and spent the night. All was fine and good until a couple of weeks after we got home and I looked at my Visa bill. Hmmm... odd, the same night we had dinner at Shari's and stayed the night in Salem, we have a charge from the San Francisco restaurant for a meal for $8 more than our meal the previous night.

Took about an hour on the phone with Visa to convince them that we did not eat at the restaurant in San Francisco, drive up to Salem (about a 9 hour drive though it took us about 11 hours with a stop for lunch and gas at Weed, plus stopping at lookout points and rest stops, check into a motel and have dinner at Shari's all on the same day. Finally, they agreed and reversed the charge.

[Ebookus]

I believe that we shouldn't confuse willingly sharing data for the gain of convenience and data being taken away from you without your consent. For example, did you know that if you connect your phone to a modern car's computer, said computer will copy the information on your phone, store it, and send it to the manufacturer's data centre? if you sell your car and don't delete that info, the next person will have access to all your messages as well.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/9/2...l-judge-ruling

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/15/b...ion/index.html

I am on view point number 2, I want to be able to decide what information to share and to whom, for example, of course not Spotify, you may not have access to my Local Network or Bluetooth (note: BT audio is handled by the OS, so no need to grant it here).

[h3ct0r]

Amazon are an awful organization who exploit and extort their unsuspecting user base. Anyone who believes they aren't funneling every bit of discernable data and telemetry to their servers to then fuel their self learning AI systems are fooling themselves, its their whole business model.

It goes much further than the usual infantile mantra of using your data to push you tailored ads to generate more revenue, at the macro level it amounts to social engineering and psychological manipulation - at both the individual and societal level alike (and everything in between). Shame on you bezos.

And other big tech operators are no better for that matter. Just look at what Microsoft are cooking up with recall and all the other perfidious ai garbage they're baking into their sub standard operating systems which amount to nothing less than fully fledged spyware. No better time to switch to Linux and even that is under constant covert attack.

Big tech will stop at nothing until the entire global populous have been effectively herded into their cyber digital smart gulag, by which time everyone will have already been so thoroughly domesticated in their smart tech curated digital safe spaces that they won't even bother looking for an exit route

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by h3ct0r

Amazon are an awful organization who exploit and extort their unsuspecting user base. Anyone who believes they aren't funneling every bit of discernable data and telemetry to their servers to then fuel their self learning AI systems are fooling themselves, its their whole business model.

It goes much further than the usual infantile mantra of using your data to push you tailored ads to generate more revenue, at the macro level it amounts to social engineering and psychological manipulation - at both the individual and societal level alike (and everything in between). Shame on you bezos.

And other big tech operators are no better for that matter. Just look at what Microsoft are cooking up with recall and all the other perfidious ai garbage they're baking into their sub standard operating systems which amount to nothing less than fully fledged spyware. No better time to switch to Linux and even that is under constant covert attack.

Big tech will stop at nothing until the entire global populous have been effectively herded into their cyber digital smart gulag, by which time everyone will have already been so thoroughly domesticated in their smart tech curated digital safe spaces that they won't even bother looking for an exit route

I can see now there's really no reason to keep on living, since life as we know it is now doomed.

Thank you for your eye-opening information!

[Graham44]

Originally Posted by h3ct0r

Amazon are an awful organization who exploit and extort their unsuspecting user base. Anyone who believes they aren't funneling every bit of discernable data and telemetry to their servers to then fuel their self learning AI systems are fooling themselves, its their whole business model.

It goes much further than the usual infantile mantra of using your data to push you tailored ads to generate more revenue, at the macro level it amounts to social engineering and psychological manipulation - at both the individual and societal level alike (and everything in between). Shame on you bezos.

And other big tech operators are no better for that matter. Just look at what Microsoft are cooking up with recall and all the other perfidious ai garbage they're baking into their sub standard operating systems which amount to nothing less than fully fledged spyware. No better time to switch to Linux and even that is under constant covert attack.

Big tech will stop at nothing until the entire global populous have been effectively herded into their cyber digital smart gulag, by which time everyone will have already been so thoroughly domesticated in their smart tech curated digital safe spaces that they won't even bother looking for an exit route

[haertig]

Originally Posted by h3ct0r

Amazon are an awful organization who exploit and extort their unsuspecting user base. Anyone who believes they aren't funneling every bit of discernable data and telemetry to their servers to then fuel their self learning AI systems are fooling themselves, its their whole business model.

...

My own tendency is to believe something like this, to some extent. But I'm not to the point of stating it as fact. Because I am not privy to this kind of detailed knowledge about a company. I consider the above as an opinion - which I at least partially share - but not a fact. Maybe the statement was only meant as hyperbole.

[Ebookus]

Originally Posted by h3ct0r

Amazon are an awful organization who exploit and extort their unsuspecting user base. Anyone who believes they aren't funneling every bit of discernable data and telemetry to their servers to then fuel their self learning AI systems are fooling themselves, its their whole business model.

It goes much further than the usual infantile mantra of using your data to push you tailored ads to generate more revenue, at the macro level it amounts to social engineering and psychological manipulation - at both the individual and societal level alike (and everything in between). Shame on you bezos.

And other big tech operators are no better for that matter. Just look at what Microsoft are cooking up with recall and all the other perfidious ai garbage they're baking into their sub standard operating systems which amount to nothing less than fully fledged spyware. No better time to switch to Linux and even that is under constant covert attack.

Big tech will stop at nothing until the entire global populous have been effectively herded into their cyber digital smart gulag, by which time everyone will have already been so thoroughly domesticated in their smart tech curated digital safe spaces that they won't even bother looking for an exit route

As someone who tries to interest people in Privacy and Online Safety, this comment is a text book example of "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." This does more bad than good. Telling people variations of "you are wrong" or "wake up sheeple" is just not the way to get people interested in anything, it does actually the opposite, it makes you look as patronising and obnoxious.

I hope you can see that although you mean well, you are not helping the cause but driving people further away from it.

[Deskisamess]

Hmm, Morlocks and Eloi? Perhaps H.G. Wells had it right all along.

[Ebookus]

the isn't necessarily linked to privacy (I mean it is, but not in the way we have been discussing it) or this thread (Amazon), but it is certainly an interesting book to read about the antics at Facebook and why perhaps we should consider how we interact with tech companies.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/b...smid=url-share

I have personally been listening to the audiobook as memoirs/autobiographies are usually rubbish (as far as I am concerned), but this one needed to be one for legal reasons.