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Show HN: Zoom Redirector

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279 points arkadiyt | 2 comments | 22 Mar 20 22:11 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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DyslexicAtheist ◴[23 Mar 20 08:54 UTC] No.22662212[source]▶
I don't want to diss an effort made with good intentions. though this is like using duct tape on fatally flawed design - it doesn't solve the problem. We're dealing with an inherently hostile company which aggressively uses dark pattern, ignoring privacy and security best practices. Not only are they ignoring these things they actively bypass the security control on the host-system where it is installed - this is literally what malware does. You don't put duct tape on malware so it works better for you!

If they would be a Chinese company they'd be banned and probably even sanctioned. Stop using this shit and stop justifying its use just because your employer makes you use it. Grow some balls (or eggs) and speak up naming it for what this is (malware) - so that we can all have nice things and not be forced to engage in endlessly justifying ourselves because "team or company XYZ is using it too and it works great for them ..."

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1. capableweb ◴[23 Mar 20 10:37 UTC] No.22662654[source]▶
> Not only are they ignoring these things they actively bypass the security control on the host-system where it is installed

What we're seeing is the constant balance between easy-of-use VS privacy/security and people making the choice without really understanding the consequences.

In the end, privacy/security is so invisible and hard to understand for "normal" people that easy-of-use and performance always seems to win in our current system.

> Stop using this shit and stop justifying it's use just because your employer makes you use it.

This seems a bit simplistic. We're all humans and navigating what's almost a political situation regarding Zoom and it's issues can hurt you individually, while not gaining a lot globally.

I'm not saying you're wrong, ideally we should all stand up for what we believe in. But sometimes the contexts and environments prevent us from doing so, and not all of us are ready to die on the hill that is privacy/security.

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2. DyslexicAtheist ◴[23 Mar 20 11:05 UTC] No.22662827[source]▶
i hear you and I understand this sounds like privacy or security maximalism. but bear with me for a second ...

at some point in the last 100 or 200 years technology has become so complex that society has agreed to compartmentalize problem domains into subject matter expertise and we install specialists to work on these problems.

you're spot-on saying that the majority can't tell and probably doesn't care. but the majority also isn't as deep in this as most people here. if it's not our job as engineers or as an industry to raise raise alarms when it's justified what chances do we have - or what chances do those have who aren't skilled to ask or answer these questions?

Things have become so complex that our reaction is now to no longer question things and instead point to team-XYZ who claim that they are using it successfully (but have they really investigated what they're using or are they just so desperate to turn a blind eye to what's happening?)

I'm not willing to die on that hill but am prepared to fight this for long enough until people wake up to the problem. The point is to stall the nomalization of this behavior for long enough - until a sizable portion of specialists/subject matter experts is aware and can no longer be ignored. The #DeleteFacebook movement and people inside Google and Microsoft fighting ICE contracts are an example that pressure maybe doesn't solve the problem but it still is a very effective "spanner in the works" of Surveillance Capitalism.