FREE NEWSLETTER
Go to main Forum page »
My first home computer was a Comodore 64. Let us not dwell on when that was in terms of the year. Suffice it to say that it was long ago. My first PC when I was employed was an IBM PC with 2 5 1/4’ floppy drives, and no hard drive. It cost the company maybe $5500. I have owned many PCs since then. So, even though I clearly remember using old tech like wired phones, record players, etc I have tried to keep current with tech as it has evolved into the present day.
I think that, in general, being an early adopter of new tech can be a punishing experience. If you bought a top end Tesla for north of $70k and then saw the mfg lower the price several times reducing the value of your car you will understand. Likewise recent offerings of headsets that let you experience a new visual reality have all had a lot of shortcomings. Even being an early adopter of an update to your smart phone operating system can hurt as they often have bugs. So, I tend to let others rush in see if they can outrun the lion.
My oldest son left today after a wonderful one week visit. He had been praising the use of ChatGpt on his iPhone. He was recommending that I try it. Of course, Apple has been incorporating some features of AI into their operating system, and Google search does the same thing showing an AI summary when you do a search on Safari. But my son was telling me that to get the full experience, I needed to get and use an AI app such as ChatGpt.
So, this morning, while he is waiting for his flight at the airport, we have been texting about this topic. My very first question for him was how did he set up the privacy settings on the app? Did he allow it to track his location? Was he sharing his usage to allow the ChatGpt model to improve? Was he allowing it to customize itself to relate better to himself? Did he allow it to remember all of his interactions with the app? Did he open a ChatGpt account, or was he using without an account? These are all questions that anyone who is using any app on a smartphone should be asking themselves. And, they are some of the settings choices that you can make within the app. If you value your privacy, you must be proactive.
After this discussion, and before downloading the app, I looked at a few YouTube videos on this subject. They all emphasized not sharing things like your personal financial data, health information, account numbers, login credentials, telephone numbers, addresses, relative names etc, etc. with the AI.
It is unfortunate that we live in a perverse world in which the most successful businesses rely on a business model that needs to shred your privacy to send you advertising. But, the world is what it is. All we can do is understand this environment and be tough minded about maintaining our privacy…..
Those “perverse” business models are funded in large part by using and selling our personal information. Considering how AI uses every bit of data it scrapes, it should be expected it will so with mine. This is why I use multiple, unrelated false identities. Until recently there was very little about me on the WWW and this was by intent. As for putting personal information on a smartphone and using it to access bank and credit cards, or Amazon, etc. We avoid that. We don’t even use campground and RV site logins, preferring a Verizon jetpack and PC. As for being on the “leading edge” I’ve long referred to it as “the bleeding edge”.
Another Commodore 64 user here, then on to an Apple IIC! Because of multiple data breaches over the years, I always operate under the assumption that all of my personal information is already out there somewhere. Credit locks/freezes, identity theft monitoring, malware blocking, and being careful about selecting links/QR codes is my best defense.
Good post stealea99. My MIL had a Comodore 64. My sons and their cousins fondly remember the game they played on it. Our first home PC was an Apple IIGS. I think it cost $2K in the late 80s.
I have played with the web version of ChatGPT on my laptop. Like Winton I’m not sure of the use case for my iPhone. I hate typing on my phone anyway. Your privacy recommendations are spot on. thanks
One thing you can do is to just use the Web browser version. You also don’t have to log in to ask questions (even though it could be helpful for tracking). Of course, best not to share any PII.
stelea99 … Thanks for the great post!
As an old retired techie I’m still trying to come up with a “use case” for me to install AI on my phone.
Your questions about privacy settings are topshelf!!
We used to call initial releases the “bleeding edge”. As an ex-techie who worked on networks I have always been what some might call fanatical about privacy. I’ve never had a Facebook or Instagram account, for instance. Google knows me as “K W”. I have no plans to give an AI a bunch of data. So far I have seen no need to use one: I enjoy research and writing, I don’t want to outsource them.
There are days I regret my networking contributions to the current internet. At the layers I worked at, and below, privacy was always a concern though a much smaller risk. Things really went sideways as the stack grew higher and the app crowd pivoted to its ad-based business model.
Well, some people tried at the lower levels, but the university crowd figured security was unnecessary. Thus Ethernet and IP.
True, though IEEE later glued on 802.1X for Ethernet and the IETF glued on IPSec for IP.
Privacy seems a topic where wants and needs are even more personal than in finance. Given the massive data leaks from cyber attacks, a cynic might argue the privacy ship has already sailed.
I use the ChatGPT app on my mobile and my desktop and have an account. The app’s memory feature, and its new task feature, are very useful. And yes, it’s clearly best to never share your most sensitive information like account numbers, or anything you’d only say to your spouse or closest friend.
I typically allow apps to use location only when I’m using them, with a few exceptions both ways (some never, some always).
We’re likely in roughly the same tech generation. My first computer was an HP 2000E minicomputer in ~1974. My first desktop was an HP 9836 in 1983 at work; the first one I owned was a “Fat Mac” in 1985. My first mobile was installed in a company car (Ford Taurus) in 1989. All of this as dinosaurs roamed the earth.
🦖
I find it extremely helpful and data leaks are omnipresent so at this point I really don’t think that there’s much to be done. It seems every other week I get a letter from a large company telling me they were breached and what my options are. I have asked it about various financial decisions but those are just numbers not account names or locations and especially not login information. However, I understand the concerns and interestingly when I bring them up with in my classes with college students (even before AI) they are completely bemused by my concerns about privacy and how apps seem to follow your locations often even when the phone is off.
I doubt this will happen, but I think the government should start administering hefty fines for data breaches by companies so they start taking them seriously. I am tired of the multiple breaches, having free monitoring placing the burden on me.
Agree the burden and cost of a breach is not fairly shared still today but there has been some progress in that direction.
The government’s responses to the watershed Solar Winds incident took two important steps forward. One step, by the executive branch, established a standard software bill of materials, which makes it easier for companies to know quickly what they need to patch when a vulnerability is reported (this likely happens daily or nearly so). It also required companies to attest, for the first time, that software they sell meets certain supply chain security criteria. The second step, by Congress, required more robust reporting after an incident is detected.
I’m not a legal expert but it seems to me both steps closed key accountability gaps before fines could hold up in courts. But I’d guess other gaps remain today. It’s not a simple problem to solve.