Wandering Adventure Party

@Ulrich_the_elder @cstross @Fonant @PeterSommerlad

I don't necessarily disagree, but you sound like one of those boring people who see everything in black and white.

So I am not engaging with that.

@aliengasmask @cstross

ip tracking is not "the last bit of data"..it's the first. Advertisers are much smarter than that. This is one of the myths perpetuated by VPN vendors.

If you care, TOR browser will help with many more of their tricks. (Still Not all... If you need proper anonymity use "tails" and proper op-sec)

@ahltorp @cstross @Fonant @PeterSommerlad

indeed.. that, plus the inconvenience of having to use VPNs etc would pretty much kill it dead within a couple of months IMO.

@Ulrich_the_elder @cstross @Fonant @PeterSommerlad TBF... Blair was better..

He communicated better. So he managed to achieve more things that a labour govt should..

Notably in education for him..

But yeah he fucked it up by being a religious nutcase going on crusades in the middle east...(Very Tory) Among other things

@Fonant @cstross @PeterSommerlad

I agree that enforcement will be very leaky at best.

Whether that is "enough" depends on the case. In the case of X/twitter (see elsewhere) it might be, because the power of a network is proportional to N^2.

What makes the OSA very very stupid is that it subjects the 90% of the adult public who are using these services (ie porn etc) legally to a massive invasion of privacy with signficant risk of damaging data leaks by dodgy third parties.

@Fonant @cstross @PeterSommerlad
Yes, I agree that geoblocking would have many holes (vpns, tor, etc), but that is acceptable in this case, IMO

Because the threat that ban would be trying protect against, is serious damage to Europe's democracies. Democracy is a numbers game by definition. So to eliminate a major source of malignant misinformation for say 90% people who can't be bothered to circumvent the geoblock, would destroy the network effect that is so core to any social network's power.

@cstross @Fonant @PeterSommerlad

Complex subject.

For example, I would be quite pro a complete twitter ban in EU/UK.

Is that "nanny state", or is that recognising that X is deliberately manipulated to be a malignant anti-democratic cancer?

Porn for kids.... TBH, I get less excited about that, and selective blocking is hard/impractical.

@cstross @Fonant @PeterSommerlad

100% agreed...

The entire bill is totally technically illiterate with all sorts of backfiring fishhooks... embarrasing really.

No idea why Labour feels the need to do this sort of thing.

Worldproof the child, not childproof the world. And parents' responsibility.

@Fonant @PeterSommerlad @cstross

I doubt that... Or actually... they prob haven't thought about that sort of useful detail.

But just like when your porn account has been age/verified once, you then just "log in" (or carry some kind jwt in a permanent cookie) for subsequent usage.

And yes, if your kid can get access to your computer and log in as you, then all bets are off.

VPNs will likely be similar?

@hypostase @cstross

I have no idea if that is their intention. Highly doubt it, given how clueless they are.

The smart ones will use TOR bridges so it's even less trackable.

But then you were probably being sarcastic, and well, I agree. That's what happens when you put stupid logs in people's way.. they learn to jump over them. And some will break their legs doing it.

@PeterSommerlad @cstross

So in the context of this discussion, and if you lived in the UK, would you object to being age/identity verified when purchasing your vpn subscription?

It is almost certainly not an annonymous transaction anyway, as those are very very difficult to execute..?

@PeterSommerlad @cstross

Well the "home lan" is effectively the "corporate use case" I described, just for advanced IT folk.. (I used to do the same).

The geoblocking use case is "fair" in the sense that it "just works", but almost certainly contravenes the streaming service providers T&Cs. It does nothing for privacy, since you clearly log into these services.

(Psst: I also use TOR to get around geoblocking.. not quite as convenient, but free)

@cstross vpns have their place in corporate networks.

There they provide secure access to internal resources for remote workers.

They are all but useless for personal privacy / anonymity.

So while I agree with the principle of your objection to govts gating services - it is actually a faux battle based on misinformation by the VPN industry.

@cstross it's really not that useful a first step.

It's just what the VPN industry has drummed into us with ubiquitous marketing.

Just install the "tor browser". It's free, cross platform and provides much more privacy than any VPN.

If you need true anonymity then use a privacy focused OS like "tails" - also free and uses TOR internally

Even better, these tools cannot be blocked or gated by governments.

VPNs are largely useless things sold by people who want your money.

@cstross

I agree this is bad...

But anyone who thinks browsing via a VPN is anonymous needs to learn more.