ActivityPub, the protocol that powers the fediverse (including Mastodon – same caveats as the first two times, will be used interchangeably, deal with it) is not private. It is not even semi-…
There’s nothing “hidden” about the dangers of the fediverse. They’re there, and even obvious really, for anyone with the wit to see them.
It’s a funny thing really, because one of the recurring things I see people say about the fediverse is that it reminds them of the early days of the internet - just people sharing stuff with people, without this whole layer of corporate scumbags squatting over everything, trying to extract profit.
And another of the hallmarks of the early days of the internet was that it was commonly understood that the ONLY person who could protect your privacy was you, and that you accomplished that by not being a dumbass.
It’s really a very simple concept - if there’s information about yourself that you don’t want to be public property, YOU DON’T SHARE IT.
And if there’s information about yourself that you don’t want to be public property and you go ahead and share it anyway, well… you’re a dumbass.
But somewhere along the way - somewhere between those early days of which the fediverse is reminiscent and today - we moved into an era in which the standard way to interact with the internet is to be a dumbass and share virtually everything, then go “Waaahh! Somebody needs to protect my privacy!”
No - you just need to stop being a dumbass.
Yes - the fediverse, due to its decentralized structure, is and will likely continue to be a threat to dumbasses, because there is no central authority that can be meaningfully tasked with protecting them from the consequences of their own dumbass actions or sanctioned for not doing so.
There’s nothing “hidden” about the dangers of the fediverse. They’re there, and even obvious really, for anyone with the wit to see them.
It’s a funny thing really, because one of the recurring things I see people say about the fediverse is that it reminds them of the early days of the internet - just people sharing stuff with people, without this whole layer of corporate scumbags squatting over everything, trying to extract profit.
And another of the hallmarks of the early days of the internet was that it was commonly understood that the ONLY person who could protect your privacy was you, and that you accomplished that by not being a dumbass.
It’s really a very simple concept - if there’s information about yourself that you don’t want to be public property, YOU DON’T SHARE IT.
And if there’s information about yourself that you don’t want to be public property and you go ahead and share it anyway, well… you’re a dumbass.
But somewhere along the way - somewhere between those early days of which the fediverse is reminiscent and today - we moved into an era in which the standard way to interact with the internet is to be a dumbass and share virtually everything, then go “Waaahh! Somebody needs to protect my privacy!”
No - you just need to stop being a dumbass.
Yes - the fediverse, due to its decentralized structure, is and will likely continue to be a threat to dumbasses, because there is no central authority that can be meaningfully tasked with protecting them from the consequences of their own dumbass actions or sanctioned for not doing so.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.