Exactly, that’s what I like about this measure. It’s visibly sending a message to the organization that you care and you keep legal traces of the data you’ve sent them.
If they go the extra malicious mile to remove your watermark to share your data without your consent, it’s doubly incriminating to them. It’s not that much about the solidity of the watermark to me, but about the implied threat of legal retaliation it represents to them.
If no human sees it because they just automatically collect the data from the image then store the image, the watermark will remain if there’s a data breach. If a human sees it, they might consult with the legal department. This is all to the benefit of the data subject.
Can you please elaborate on your thoughts of watermarking and how AI changes the game?
By the way, it doesn’t help to insult people’s intelligence. We all are here to learn, we have diverse technical backgrounds, and not everyone is (or ought to be) apprised of everything.
The queer month articles have been nice reads. My understanding is many queer people receive stigmatization, violence, doxxing and other forms of unwarranted abuse, and experience profound isolation. I’m not queer but I feel sympathy for the queer movement. I’m socially pressured into isolation because of something I fell victim to. To make things worse, today’s intrusive mass surveillance (AI, smartphones, cameras, KYC, social media, financial surveillance, etc.) and stigmatization of privacy are facilitating my isolation. I lost many friends over time, seldom have chances to make new friends, and people who became friends pushed me away later on because of what happened to me. I can count the people who still care about me with one hand and I rarely get to see them IRL. I guess you could say my social health is almost zero these days.
But, while social health (relationships) can improve physical (body) and mental health (mind), contrary to the social health article’s claims, I’m not convinced social health is a necessity in the same way physical health and mental health are. The three types of health are not equally-important pillars in the way the article depicts, and human needs have a hierarchy. Social health’s importance differs between people too. Social connection is more important for extroverts who thrive when interacting with people than for introverts who thrive with tranquility and personal space. There are people who thrive as lone off-grid people, cypherpunks, preppers and other types, whether because they think other people are liabilities or because society pushes them away. It’s possible for someone to have zero social health but thrive with great physical and mental health. Conversely, when someone substantially loses physical health or mental health, they are done.
I’m really sorry to hear that. As someone who sometimes struggles with social health, I can empathize. I have a lot of friends and family around the world, and what I find really sad is that with all the amazing technology we have today, most people are not willing to take the time to FaceTime or chat with a friend who lives in another city/country. Even if you try to schedule the meeting weeks or months in advance.
Even IRL, as in with people who live in the same city as you, if you tell a friend:
Hey, the new Superman film comes out in 2 months, want to go see it on opening weekend?
They won’t commit to the date, even though they currently have nothing on their calendar. At least, that’s been my experience. People like to do things last minute and improvise.
To the extent that eating is more important than having friends or family, you’re absolutely right. But if friends and family are the reason you are able to eat, then social health is still quite important.
On a sidenote, as someone who doesn’t drive, I personally find it unfair that not knowing how to cook is more socially acceptable than not knowing how to drive. People are far more likely to judge you for the latter than the former, especially if you live in a car centric city. And yet, eating is a far more important human need,but society feels different.
Even though, anyone can uber, the same way that most people who work full-time almost always eat out or order in (from my experience), not knowing how to drive is somehow considered more life limiting, and hence less acceptable.
I agree, but only to some degree.
EVERYBODY NEEDS SOCIAL CONNECTIONS, EVEN INTROVERTS:
This is why I understand how having an online community can make a significant positive difference in the life of someone who doesn’t have one in real life. Though of course, having healthy, happy, relationships offline is more impactful, but as I’ve previously stated, online relationships can lead to real life (offline) relationships.
I can sympathize with the idea that someone with 3 great friends can be as happy and fulfilled as someone with ten, but my point is, whether we are introverts or extroverts, we all need community and human connection.
Wives often manage their husband’s relationships with their friends and even with their own parents and siblings (the husbands!). This is something that I have personally observed in my own family and the ones of my friends.
INTROVERTS BENEFIT FROM HEALTHY SOCIAL CONNECTIONS, EVEN IF IT’S JUST ONE:
I also think that, whether they realize it or not, an introverted person with few friends greatly benefits from being in a close relationship with someone who is socially confident and healthy, in part because they benefit from the social connections that that person has.
I truly believe that some shy introverted people would have probably never thrived socially and otherwise, if they didn’t have a close, healthy and supportive relationship with someone with more social capital than them, whether that person is a friend or a sibling.
I think that’s partially true to some extent. I believe those people learn a lot about themselves and hone valuable skills. But they still need social connections to find meaning in life. Without it, I’m doubtful that they’d feel fulfilled. I could be wrong, but my doubt is based on the fact that they are human.
I think it’s just best to accept that is their style, they don’t like planning. Some people have the opposite problem, they need to add you to their schedule and plan because they can’t do impromptu.
Assuming you walk regularly, perhaps you could return the favor by criticizing they can’t walk? In car-centric cities, many drivers become dependent on their cars and would struggle to walk for a half hour.
I agree. I didn’t mean to imply introverts don’t need social connection. The “optimum amount of connection” so to speak differs for each person (3 people vs 100 people, daily vs quarterly, etc.) There are harmful effects to physical and mental health of having no social connection when one desires or relies upon it. I cut my post for brevity but I did intend to write what you wrote.
Thank you! I’m very glad to hear you liked the queer month articles Indeed, unfortunately there are still so much stigmatization, marginalization, and discrimination against the queer community.
And, as you aptly pointed out, even if these can sometimes be worse, these issues aren’t limited to the queer community sadly.
I can completely relate to the isolation you describe here, and I think many others on this forum probably can as well.
No matter the reason for needing greater data privacy, there are sadly consequences to it. Even if the protections are required and worth the sacrifice, the isolation it creates isn’t less harmful. This is why, until privacy becomes the default (I dream ), we need to strengthen and grow privacy-respectful communities, like the one we are lucky to have here on Privacy Guides.
I also agree with your comment that not everyone has the same social needs. This is completely valid. The problem is everyone should have choices and the same safe access to fulfill their social needs, regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, or needs for greater data privacy protections.
Basically, all circling back to: Privacy Is a Human Right!
In car-centric cities, many drivers become dependent on their cars and would struggle to walk for a half hour.
Indeed, unfortunately there are still so much stigmatization, marginalization, and discrimination against the queer community.
), we need to strengthen and grow privacy-respectful communities, like the one we are lucky to have here on Privacy Guides.