Privacy

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A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

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📺 How I Tricked Big Tech’s AI Pricing Algorithms to Save $8,793 (youtu.be)

submitted 21 hours ago by davel@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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Most of the things you interact with online are tracking your location, your device type, and your digital footprint to predict exactly how desperate you are to buy something. If the algorithm thinks you have money, or simply lack options, it alters the price in real-time.

To prove how widespread "surveillance pricing" has become, I decided to see if I could outsmart it. This involved exploiting corporate registry loopholes to create a fake corporate entity, hiring an improv actor off Craigslist to establish a completely separate digital identity, and strapping a burner phone to a drone to make purchases from the airspace above the wealthiest gated community in Minnesota.

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[–] davel@lemmy.ml 32 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (2 children)

I don’t think this guy has hacked surveillance pricing in ways that are practicably replicable, but his video has piqued my curiosity.

Edit to add: There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of evidence-based, practical advice currently, except to shop in physical stores and to comparison shop. https://www.kqed.org/news/12088157/surveillance-pricing-is-making-life-more-expensive-heres-how-it-works-and-what-you-can-do

[–] BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago

It does seem that the real purchasing power of AI comes down to erasing the benefits of the internet for individuals by obfuscation.

[–] ropatrick@lemmy.world 30 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Completely un-replicable. There's just no way my drone will reach Minnesota from Ireland.

I'll get my coat...

[–] WhoIzDisIz@lemmy.today 2 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Nah - all you have to do is join the Ukraine army, & you'll have access to drones that can do what was once thought impossible.

[–] ropatrick@lemmy.world 2 points 8 hours ago

Lol they seem to have the good tech alright.