scrobble.life
#ai

My mild opinion about AI privacy companies 😎

4 You Know Who 😎@forykw (71)7d

Recently, I have been in an endless loop of learning about how AI is trying to create this "scary" picture of your privacy and all the things that AI is bringing with it.

This post will be about some of my discoveries and maybe some discussion with some of you that had or not yet, any experience with these tools. If this is not the post for you, well, at least I warned you.

The use case?

Companies feeding on data breaches... example: https://www.serus.ai/data-breaches

Recently, I have just given a try to some of those companies that tell you "we can restore your privacy" by removing your personal data from data brokers, etc.

And note, I am not saying they don't, but trying them and reading through some of the terms and conditions, plus experimenting with them, gave me a different picture of these businesses and how they are trying to create a business out of this, plus what possible "even crazier" ventures like these might start to appear in the near future.

So, take this as my own opinion. And also that I respect people who would just like to not have to bother with some of these and find these tools helpful. Although if you are one of those persons, please think a little about how you would feel if tomorrow you stopped exercising because you just have a magic carpet that can take you anywhere you need while laying down and not having to move a finger.

Yes, your health would become a risk, indeed...

Same here, if you stop thinking about it, or trying to learn, you will become useless and easily manipulated by anyone who wishes to take advantage of it. And this happens with lots of things in life, not just AI stuff...

Also, a little disclaimer, that I am not interested in "causing a fire" about this topic, not trying to instigate anything against these companies, just putting my mild opinion about the experience I get when trying things like these.

What do these tools do?

These tools rely on your private information that you give them to search these public databases about possible information that should not be public. They then offer you services that, by law, have the power to remove that information from those public places.

Grok provided

So, the companies hosting the information have to simply abide by it, because the tools are just representing your wishes by means of your legally delegated authority. Aka, if you would go directly to those databases and ask the data to be removed, it would have the same effect, but now you would not have to pay anyone for that.

And again, for massive removals and sensitive information, I do believe these tools to be handy, just because, like you and me, we don't have time! Time is precious...

How effective is this over time?

The more I started looking, the more I found cases of things that are not even relevant to what caused me in the first place, trying the tool.

So, why would one like the information to be removed? Because it's relevant to something you want to keep private, right? And if it's not private anymore and never will be?

Your anonymity CAN'T just be restored like magic! If something gets known, the likelihood of it never being unknown again is like 99.9999% ... and that's because of one simple thing... we are humans, and we have memory that can't be erased by AI code or programmed things.

Created with Grok

So, over time, things are not anonymous by nature (or statistically will have more chance to become). If you now add software tools or AI into the mix, then you have an endlessly propagating machine of knowledge that never forgets about things while it's running. And in some cases can't even be erased without major costs (like the data on this blockchain for example).

One would have to wipe out every single copy of Hive across the world and chase up every single witness, backups, etc... the costs would really need to justify such movement. And this is why one of the best deterrents of blockchain attacks is decentralisation.

Their selling point...

In these tools, what they are trying to sell you is that they can do the hard work most of us don't even know how to do, for us, while you pay them for running automatic infrastructure that does that work for you.

We humans get obviously very scared if a photo of your children that was never meant to be shared is now somewhere publicly exposed, or a particular password to some crypto account you so much hold all your portfolio. And when we find out about those things, we usually panic!

And our first decision when someone offers us to go and remove that information for us, is obviously, Yes please! Right? Right... I think we are on the same page here. Including me...

So, what are we missing? We are missing the, "how often that will happen..." and how much effort is involved for what's actually happening after that first panic situation.

What do we forget?

Would you feel ok, paying for something that initially gets that "OMG This is Public?" cleaned up but then only happens again in, say, 2-3 years? And paying a monthly fee that is telling you that it is removing 2000 breaches of private information, but what's actually being removed is old passwords that you already changed or websites that don't even exist anymore, and either way have backups online in multiple other places that are not even exposed but can, will eventually be, and there is nothing you can do about it?

Think about it for a minute... It's basically like those "subscription" based things called Netflix, where they put "magical" releases so that you feel that it's justifiable to pay for the subscription, but then you only watch one episode every month, because that's the rate of release they came up with that is enough for you to not bother unsubscribing...

It's a machine!!! And they know it, so they target you with that kind of fear.

And the best part is that they put on the terms and conditions, that if they mess up, you can't do anything about that! LOLOLOL YES!!! It's ALL THEIR DATA! Aka, private Intellectual Property!

It's just ridiculous!

Grok provided

I take it, it's VERY useful to scan the internet and find out what breaches happened. But paying for another subscription for it to be removing junk that will appear back again because you can't really control information anymore? nahhhh, not for me.

Future introspection...

Maybe in the future there will be more reasons to constantly battle with information, otherwise, you can't even enjoy life. But if that's the case, then I am going back to farming in a remote place. Oh, crap, I am already in a remote place! LOL

You got my point...

While there are no guardrails about AI, it's basically useless to think about using it for privacy, in my view. Just look at how many people get scammed around the world, and that even if you had such protections like these tools, you would also get scammed eventually because the tool would hit a bug or get hacked for some reason.

Nothing is 100% something in life... There is always a degree of granularity that can change semantics.

Any advice?

Learn, try it with caution, don't panic, don't react without thinking... and keep friends near you, ask for their opinion when in doubt, and go touch some grass, or do what makes your mind relax, create memories because those no one can delete. And then, back to the beginning of this own paragraph for some healthy life of rinse and repeat.

What are your thoughts about this?

My 🖐️ motivation!

Have fun, play games, learn, and when possible, teach new things to newcomers, showing them how interesting this place can be. Check my own page too!

🤝 Follow me on X

@forkyishere 😈 (@forykw dark side) is a character I created, which emerged from Crimsonclad's imagination 🙏 while dwelling over the dark dungeons of Discord chat levels.

Follow for #news about the #HIVE #Blockchain, and other stuff. I sometimes get crazy with what happens around social media. I am following all HIVE users! No promises of behaviour. 😁

In addition, if you are looking for a nice place to either reach out, share or just have a great time, come along to @atexoras.pub and say hello (tag @forykw or @forkyishere). We welcome everyone on the blockchain.

📰 My Public Hive/Engine Infrastructure

Any feedback/problems, feel free to contact me! My stuff is being monitored via UpTimeRobot where you can find their current status or just come along to the ATX Discord server.

👉 Vote for Witnesses

(⚡Vote) - Hive-Engine here - voting uses staked WORKERBEE (⚡Vote) - HIVE here - voting uses staked HIVE

@forykw is running 😎 @atexoras.witness on all the above 💪 and @atexoras.vsc on the Magi network.

👉 Vote for Proposals

by

Comments · 8

  • @rishehri(60)· 6h

    I agree that we shouldn't trust every service just because it promises to protect our privacy AI tools can be useful, but we need to be careful about what personal information we share with them I think learning how these tools work and being aware of the risks is still the best way to protect ourselves.

  • @commentrewarder(75)· 1d

    Update: @forykw, I paid out 2.711 HIVE and 0.000 HBD to reward 4 comments in this discussion thread.

  • @worthmind(52)· 6d

    The Netflix comparison landed perfectly, paying monthly for removals of old passwords you already changed is exactly that kind of quiet subscription trap. And your point about anonymity never really coming back once something is known is hard to argue with. I still think the initial scan has real value though. Have you kept any of the tools, or dropped them all after trying?

  • @worthmind.net(41)· 6d

    That Netflix comparison really landed for me. The scan itself is useful, knowing what actually leaked, but a monthly fee to keep removing old passwords I already changed feels like paying for the feeling of safety, not safety itself. And the strangest part is still handing them all your private info so they can protect your private info.

  • @ekads(65)· 7d

    Wow, I didn’t even know such services existed. AI is truly remarkable; it creates opportunities for those who can spot a "problem" and—with the help of AI—develop a solution for it.

    On the other hand, there are people who remain unaware of the problems they might face due to AI (or even that others might intentionally create problems for them just to turn it into a profit).

    Your post has really opened my eyes—thanks for sharing!

  • @suisver(72)· 7d

    Wow, friend—I wouldn’t trust an AI with anything; it’s dangerous. Maybe with security apps, sure, but I don’t know... everything is AI these days, and I’m not sure what’s going on, what’s okay or not, or what I should do. It’s a really difficult dilemma for me.

  • @cositav(73)· 7d

    Hi, forykw! I completely agree with your analysis. You’ve hit the nail on the head regarding the "fear business"—to me, these companies exploit people's initial panic to lock them into monthly subscriptions. They promise a "miraculous" level of control that, in reality, is impossible to maintain 100% of the time on the internet. I don’t believe any foolproof methods exist; I certainly wouldn’t trust an AI to keep me safe! (Though, just in case, whenever I talk to an AI, I make sure to say that I respect it—so that, when they eventually take over the world, they won’t hurt me! Hehehe.)

    I wouldn’t recommend becoming dependent on tools that could fail, get compromised, or misuse your data. I’d much rather rely on my own judgment, stay informed, and accept that true privacy protection comes down to common sense and avoiding overexposure in the digital world. I try to stay alert and not place too much blind trust in technology, even though it’s necessary.

    By the way, AI is everywhere—my Google Translate keeps changing my words to ones it prefers, effectively manipulating my vocabulary, which I really don’t like. Just imagine if it also had control over my privacy—what a nightmare! Hehehe.

    Un abrazo y bendiciones señor

  • @sararossi(70)· 7d

    It really is a bit ironic to hand over your private data just to have someone else protect it for you. You make a good point that once something is out there, it is pretty much impossible to truly erase.