Unnecessary and deeply concerning bow to the new “king”

Update: position got backed up by an official Proton post on Mastodon, it’s an official Proton statement now. https://mastodon.social/@protonprivacy/113833073219145503

Update 2, plot-twist: they removed this response from Mastodon - seems they realize it exploded into their face!

17 points

I can understand being fine with a nomination that aligns with his personal interests but from there the journey to « party of small people » likely takes a convoluted path.

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6 points

It’s probably just a language thing. When he says small people he means sub-mega corporations. Actual humans probably pass beneath his notice.

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3 points

So you’re thinking he means small in terms of Proton vs Google.

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3 points

Well, he’s clearly not talking about small people like say, me or you compared to Trump or Musk. And let me be clear, he is probably wrong about that as well. If Trump is anti-google that is likely nothing more than a negotiating position.

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2 points

The little man does some heavy lifting

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0 points

As it’s usually the case.

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6 points

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1 point

I fucking love Oh Brother, Where Art Thou

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27 points

Sad. The way tech companies are changing stripes, we are about to hit a surveillance state by summer

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25 points

The US are a surveillance state already. But I guess it could get even worse.

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15 points

It’s like everyone forgot about the Patriot Act and NSA stuff. This shit has been going on through at least 4 different presidents. And that’s just the modern surveillance state.

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6 points

I don’t understand how everyone can be so blind to the surveillance that already exists.

Literally all your communications or purchase or browsing history, 90% of people’s photos and contacts, everything you ever say near your phone/smart devices, your health data with devices like fitbit, cm resolution spy satelites, 4D maps of the entire globe being created via services like Pokemon Go, phones create and store in the cloud high resolution 3D maps of your face, mesh networked devices like Alexa now surveil without you even having internet access, your home and your exact location down to a meter are already being live spied on. Not to mention full remote access to all your devices.

Sometimes with a thin veneer of privacy on top of it, like Apple pretends to have.

Basically the only part of you that the surveillance state doesn’t constantly surveil already is your butthole.

Even avoiding just 10% of this surveillance in your daily life is almost impossible.

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7 points

Soon smart toilets will also surveil your butthole.

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3 points

It’s like people were born after Snowden’s leaks

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4 points

Embracing politicians… 🤦

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32 points

Let’s not get carried away. The scope of the comment is pretty narrow if you read it closely. This is one member of a 5-person board that also includes Tim Berners-Lee. The foundation structure is also a protection against abuses.

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6 points

It send a chill down my spine nonetheless

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7 points

Yes. The “Trump was a good idea after all” take seems almost to be spreading like a meme at this point.

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38 points

Yes you are right, and no you are not. It is concerning and something to stay vigilent about in the upcoming times.

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16 points

Can’t you both be right? One it is a very narrow complement and also it be very concerning that the “small tech” is also bowing harder than big tech.

But this may be the price for not donating?

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15 points
*

Let’s not get carried away. The scope of the comment is pretty narrow if you read it closely

The only thing I want to hear from you is that you actively disavow Trump, or if you feel this is going to hurt your business, at least say nothing at all. Anything other than that marks you as a shameless suck-up, and I want nothing to do with you or your business.

Ergo, I want nothing to do with Proton. It’s time suck-ups pay the price and see their bottom lines drop because of their dubious choices.

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-10 points

Just be aware that this is a peculiarly American take. In Europe at least, most people will agree that somebody’s opinions cannot somehow pollute whatever it is that they produce. Be it a traded good, or art, or in this case software.

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8 points

Americans did not invent the idea of voting with their wallets. What a preposterous claim

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2 points
*

This. Also, in Europe you can get internet, electricity, email from coops. There are even some “ethical banks” and some survivors from the 2008 (at least in Sapin) as “small savings rural banks” (cajas de ahorros).

And if you aren’t a rich progressist and can’t afford some expensive eco-bio-coop consume, there are 2d hand options, food recicling, stealing is easy enough (and nobody will shoot a bullet to you for this) and so on. So, yeah, off-the-grid is a legit option, but on-the-grid stealing electricity from huge power corps is super legit also. No need to go to the caves.

Even in case of no alternative (say, I must have an id and a cellphone number), this doesn’t justify anything from CEOs. Fun fact is, in the case of Proton, there is PLENTY of alternatives. So, let’s use all the colorful gradients instead of accepting to remain in a dark-gray scale

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0 points

Even Michael Jackson?

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2 points

Idk in the rest of Europe, but in France I’ve witnessed the contrary a lot of times. I do however not have a study on a big enough sample to make a claim, this is all anecdotal evidence on my side.

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4 points

I mean for most people there are lots of variables here. You have to pick and choose your battles. This is the entire concept of The Good Place TV show.

The only people that are 100% “good” are living in a fuckin yurt.

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0 points

if you disavow every company contributing to the republican party/trump you might as well sell all your belongs, and learn to live off grid. no internet access, no power, no retail.

we just dont live in a black and white world. its lovely shades of depressing grey gradients.

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10 points
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if you disavow every company contributing to the republican party/trump you might as well sell all your belongs, and learn to live off grid. no internet access, no power, no retail.

As much as possible, I will take my business to companies that aren’t openly terrible.

we just dont live in a black and white world

Tell that to the orange utan. He sure is about to turn the word from RGB to 1-pixel color space.

Do you really think I want to split people into people I can talk to vs. people I want to avoid at all costs? Trump is doing that. He’s forcing shitty choices on everybody. I’d rather have constructive and peaceful interaction with my fellow man. But can you honestly shake hands with a magard and not feel sick to your stomach? I can’t.

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1 point

Sure, there’s not always an option, but sometimes there is. My tiny bit of $ isn’t going to make or break a company, but i try to give it to places who donate less to the big orange turd. I’m in a constant struggle choosing among home Depot, lowes, and Ace hardware.

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2 points

no internet access, no power, no retail.

Does this actually sound like a utopia to anyone else or just me?

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2 points

If I could live off grid I would. It’s not even an option. I’m forced to live like caged rat in a society that crushes my soul.

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16 points
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Who makes your phone?

Who makes your computer?

Who is your ISP?

Who do you bank with?

What email client do you use?

Let’s take a closer look.

I get what you’re driving at truly but man we do what we can and accept we can’t be perfect. I avoid Amazon as much as I can. I’ve left google, I don’t shop at Walmart. I don’t eat chik fil a. I try to avoid known evil brands where I can knowing I can’t be perfect.

Proton gives me a lot of what I need and is exponentially better/more ethical than major competitors like Google. I am good with computers but not good enough to roll my own entire email/calendar/cloud storage system. We sometimes have to accept compromise or i guess just simply not participate in modern society.

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13 points

I think the big difference is what the companies stand for.

If the CEO of The Anti-Spyware Company comes out in support of Spyware, is that not significantly worse than the CEO of The Spyware Company doing the same?

I supported The Anti-Spyware companies because of what they believed in. Now that is in question.

FWIW I don’t use Proton but switching to it was in my 2025 plans. Not so sure about that anymore…

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-3 points

I am good with computers but not good enough to roll my own entire email/calendar/cloud storage system

NextCloud is almost an “out of the box” experience for all of these.

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-2 points

Do you even use Proton?

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0 points

Yeah plus it’s a swiss company…with a crypto banking feature. They probably just want to attract Nazi bitcoin.

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6 points

that also includes Tim Berners-Lee

You mean that traitorous piece of shit who sold us out to DRM on the Web?

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5 points

Actually I ended up coming round to his view on this. If Firefox has stuck to its principles on DRM, then it would have been goodbye Firefox. And then you would have had no decent options at all, and neither would I. The setting is still opt-in.

Sometimes we have to compromise.

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14 points

If you think any anti trust shit is happening to any company who gave trump a million dollars, I have a used car I would like to sell you.

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1 point

what’s the big deal with second hand cars in the USA ?

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9 points

Information imbalance and weak consumer protection laws

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1 point

Can you give a little more detail?

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2 points

Used car salesmen are seen as swindlers who make superficial fixes to hide real issues.

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3 points

Scummy used car salesmen, and lack of consumer protections in the US.

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