TacticalPandaLE @tacticalpandale@librem.one

@me Facts. we're not the customer, we're the commodity.

@darth Yes sir, USA born and bred. I don't know how widespead WhatsApp is used within the United States, but I've heard its considered the go-to messenger app for overseas travels.

imessage is very common, as is facebook messenger. I don't actually know anyone who uses Signal or Telegram. The idea that the government/big tech spies on everything we do/say on our devices is so commonplace that no one (or at least very few) seem to care anymore.

@darth I never got into WhatsApp, but I finally went through and deleted all my social media (except this one). I don't regret the decision one bit, but there has come an element of social isolation from it. I've been asked if I live under a rock because I haven't heard of (insert viral internet content here).

@LinuxRenaissance I've thought about trying Sailfish. I've also heard people have success running Waydroid as a work-around to access android apps in a Linux environment.

@tdp_org I read this as, "Do you want news websites to invade your privacy and harvest your data in order to send you specialized propaganda that they think you want/need." That answer is no. There is a reason why newspapers had specific sections for news/sports/comics/etc, so you could sort through and find what interested you from the news of the day.

@LinuxRenaissance Good topic. We need more open source options outside the Apple/Google duopoly. I'm currently running a Librem 5, which lets me do most major smart phone functions, but isn't reliable enough yet to ditch my iphone. I am also stuck using apps like Microsoft teams for work.

@gardiner_bryant

Got to read the fine print when you sign that contract.

@IslandUsurper @gardiner_bryant A loan would imply you could turn the gift card back in for cash value. In simplest terms, a gift card is nothing more than pre-paying for an item you haven't decided to buy yet.

@LinuxRenaissance I agree. But I'll be the first to admit I am also guilty of complacently from big tech spying. It takes a lot of effort to avoid, and may not be completely possible.

@LinuxRenaissance I have been a lifelong Windows user until now. I loved Windows XP & 7. But I've made the switch to Linux. Typing this right now on a Thinkpad T400 running PureOS. Windows 10 is where the creep factor became too much for me, throwing targeted adds onto my desktop. I refused the upgrade to 11. This new recall feature has no apparent practical purpose other than spying on your data.