Saw something interesting today a Recall implementation for Linux that’s been making the rounds. Let’s just say… it’s more functional than you’d expect at first glance:
Bring Microsoft Recall to Linux!
That’s all I’ll say for now, check it out yourself and see what you think. 
okay, but why? What is the usecase? I don’t get it 
It’s more of a tongue-in-cheek nod to Microsoft’s Recall feature than a serious tool, though, ironically, it actually works. lol
Part joke, part proof-of-concept. Whether we use it is another discussion entirely. 
I think it’s great as a joke. But it also has a more serious undertone and a warning about what the future of Microsoft and other proprietary systems could look like. Or are we already in the future? 
Indeed. lol. Recall shows how quickly convenience can blur into surveillance. (Also testing reply by email)
I love the joke, it makes me nervous that it works though 
The great thing is we can read the script source! but I think I’ll avoid to install it on my system : P
@hydn the antiX community is ultra paranoid about anything tracking people. I don’t particularly like the idea of being tracked necessarily but I’m far from paranoid about being watched.
Some of the paranoid behavior makes me think to myself, “What are these people trying to hide?”
I agree that this sounds like a joke but it’s almost a joke about paranoia!
It is not that most people worry about hiding anything. It is that corrupt corporations and governments use your small details against you.
For example, if a corporation knows that you like to eat apples, the prices of apples will be raised for you specifically. All the people who do not particularly like apples will pay the lower price.
I have long been a fan of privacy. Even in a post Snowden world, I do not think that folks grasp the seriousness of the pervasive surveillance.
No code stored on GitHub. Instructions to pipe a tinyurl link into bash. Uh, no thank you. At least it did not require sudo.
Some of the GitHub “Issues” comments were hilarious.
I thought this had to be an April Fools joke. Regardless, thanks for the laugh. 
There are still many people who don’t realize that Microsoft owns both GitHub and LinkedIn. For years now.
I’ve set up ad and tracker blocking on my home network using pfBlockerNG, and to be honest, it works well. But even with Apple’s “Do Not Track” feature (the one app developers complained massively about), and even after declining every tracking or sharing option inside apps, they still manage to track you enough to show relevant ads just based on the content you visit.
So unless we completely avoid social media, including LinkedIn, avoid web browsers that offer sign in features, and avoid any apps with third-party tracking, it’s nearly impossible to stay off the grid.
Even with the linuxblog.io and the forums here, it’s challenging to monetize effectively without tracking visitor demographics like age, gender, or interests.
Most websites rely on ad networks like Google AdSense, which don’t just show ads, but also they collect and build a profile on you over time based on your browsing habits. Which is why it’s not used here even though monetarily it performs exceptionally well in the tech niche.
So when sponsors email requesting user demographic data, I explain that ads on the linuxblog are hosted in-house only, with no third-party tracking and no third-party ad servers. That means there’s no detailed demographic info available. lol
Interestingly, these forums have helped me understand our community more organically than before. I always suspected it was a mature crowd, but now I can confidently say a large chunk of us are 40+ just from our conversations here. Even though I don’t know what percentage and can’t show any data by age ranges or gender. Which is preferred, because all of us in this field usually don’t want to be tracked or our info used in that way.
I’m not big on tracking. Even in Google Analytics, which both websites DO use, I’ve disabled every tracking option outside of counting visits and page views. Because that’s what I’d want for myself.
You’ve probably noticed there’s no cookie or consent popup on the blog or forum. That’s because:
No tracking, no consent. Which reminds me I need to update the privacy policy of the blog. Tried using Matomo for traffic analytics, but it does not carry as much weight, and so had to switch back to Google Analytics as its so widely trusted. Albeit heavily disabled to count only visits and pageviews without keeping visitors specific data.
Good joke. But it is so last week.
@hydn I’m so happy that you not only have great policies, the whole group of us who communicate here are transparent about what we discuss and we have intelligent, often illuminating conversations about a wide range of topics.
There have also been a number of topics that are new to me. When I find such topics, I try to find time when I can return to them and even as a retiree, to learn something I’d never known or seen previously.
Many of us do well in this, and several people have a good sense of humor too, a much added plus. Thanks for no tracking, no consent, and no B.S. Works for me very well! 
Yes, a website’s policies should be built around its users. Members and readers here have always been security and privacy conscious. Less than 1 in 10 forum members who sign up at our forums create posts; most are readers who do so privately. Regardless of activity, all members should have the same level of privacy.
I feel the same way about the forum. The blog is well over 10 years old now, and I’ve learned so much more in the past 3 years here in the forums than before that, just publishing blog posts.
Learned a lot about Linux, but also about the many unique ways we all accomplish a lot of the same or similar goals via our Linux systems.
