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Topic: Audacity will spy you (Read 20112 times) previous topic - next topic
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Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #50
Which is exactly why some people prefer Open Source - to see (and, potentially, modify) what is sent where. It amuses me that, while HA runs on a free forum software, true freedom is seen as dead and buried by its team.

As long as I have the choice between having my data sent to Google and not having my data sent to Google, I'll choose the latter.

Okay, while you are at it:

* Detach from the modern world
* Go entirely off grid
* Live off the land
* Do away with society entirely.

Than you can be 100% Free. Then you will not have to worry about CPU microcode being copyrighted. Or anyone spying at all. Could be fun!

There may be a half way point here mate. Also, this is clearly an informed user telling us that the program he uses is no longer suitable for his requirements. I don't see why we can't respect that.

And I think its pretty hyperbolic of him to say that if I don't mind telemetry, I should avoid FOSS.

Which is a BS statement. There are many other reasons to release code under FOSS than just to satiate people's concerns about privacy. I know I have my own reasons for opening my source code to things I do, none of which are related to privacy or even FOSS evangelism.


Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #52
most free apps you are the product.... learn that ... move on

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #53
True.
audiophile // flac & wavpack, mostly // using too many audio players

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #54
You gotta be kidding me...
I thought they decided not to add telemetry after backlash?
gold plated toslink fan

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #55
I will not go back to Audacity. Fool me once, shame on me...

Point proven, I guess.
audiophile // flac & wavpack, mostly // using too many audio players

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #56
most free apps you are the product.... learn that ... move on

First of all - not true, and second - why "move on"?

If you're fine with it, that's ok. Doesn't mean anyone else needs to be. 🤷

Either way, looking forward to a non-broken fork of Audacity.

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #57
I always liked GoldWave.  ;D


Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #59
How do you change files from aup3 back to the old standard that had the data files at the side? Going back to an older version renders it impossible to open them at all. Or do I have no choice but to use 3.0.0 just to be able to access them?

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #60
The company that bought Audacity is based in Russia?  Better install something else then if that's the case.


Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #62
Telemetry isn't evil. Crash logs aren't evil.

Windows XP actually allowed you to reject sending crash logs. They found this resulted in less than 1% of all crashes being reported.

This whole thing is overblown. The privacy notice is pretty much boilerplate for anyone collecting telemetry of any sort. And law enforcement are free to ask for any data you host on your servers or have within your company, without question. Even if that data is unlikely to ever be requested, and is not personally identifying, and cannot possibly contain anything incriminating.

For the data to be used by their Russian offices and employees, it must be accessible to law enforcement regardless. And the same for the US, since they have US servers and probably either offices or remote workers accessing the data.

Basically, thanks to COPPA, nobody under the age of 13 should even be legally allowed to use a computer that's attached to a network. The law specifically requires that all parties they connect to must receive a signed letter from the parents, BY PAPER FAX. No checkbox or electronic consent form applies, whatsoever. Children cannot use online computers. Or tablets with Internet software that lets them interact with others in any way. Or any software that sends telemetry on the user's actions.

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #63
Windows XP actually allowed you to reject sending crash logs. They found this resulted in less than 1% of all crashes being reported.

Unfortunate, but depriving people of that choice is not the solution. Also, I highly doubt that statistic would be the same for a FOSS program as it was for a closed-source corporate operating system. I mean, look at how many FOSS projects are doing just fine without telemetry and automated crash reporting.

If you think telemetry isn't evil, good for you. It is indeed the case that it isn't necessarily evil, but it's such a meaningless buzzword that a wide-sweeping proclamation that "telemetry isn't evil" is downright nonsensical.

I see absolutely no reason for anyone who doesn't have an issue with telemetry and/or other data collection to complain about anything here - Audacity is a FOSS project and people who don't want that functionality will create a fork and remove it (in fact it's already been done). But the original Audacity is still available for people who do want that. So where's the problem?

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #64
Audacium

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #65
Telemetry isn't evil. Crash logs aren't evil.
It starts like that. It's just crash logs. And then it goes bigger and bigger, deeper and deeper. Silently.

A good example is Google. They started as the 'cool' company, that's how they wanted to look alike. So they could read over your shoulder like a good mate. But they stood there and now they are everywhere: always over your shoulder, in almost all web pages, in your phone, in your glasses, in your living room. "Hey Google" as "Hey mate". BS.
And if you want to change your Google default settings you have to go through dozens of different pages on their web site to find out all of the available privacy settings. They don't want you to do that, they are not going to make it easy. Same goes on your phone: many settings are kind of hidden under sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-menus.
Ask yourself why. That's not cool anymore, that's not about crash logs, that's about tracking you 24/7. Silently.

Same goes for every company which doesn't want you to be aware of is going to happen: now when you install an OS, a simple software or even if you want to sign in to a social network you have to read 30-40 pages of legal pages with often some things hidden in the middle that they don't want you to see. When you install Windows 10, have you noticed that you have granted Microsoft the right to access ANY file on YOUR computer, even in private folders, even on ANY device connected to the computer and to do what they want with it ? No, you haven't noticed that because 99% of people haven't read those legal pages. You just tapped on OK I agree. Easier, faster. But this is not Microsoft's computer, this is yours.

They want you to just accept things without thinking anymore and to stop fighting. This is somehow fascism. Don't give up and fight before it's too late. You are the decider because at the end you are the consumer. You have been warned.



The funniest consequence of this:

And that's a GPL violation. So they can't use GPL anymore.
Let's hope it will go like the OpenOffice-LibreOffice way: the fork will take over the original one.

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #66
https://www.audacityteam.org/about/desktop-privacy-notice/

Quote
4. Who does Audacity share your Personal Data with?
    We may disclose the Personal Data listed above (your hashed IP address) to the following categories of recipients:
...
4. to a potential buyer (and its agents and advisers) in connection with any proposed purchase, merger or acquisition of any part of our business, provided that we inform the buyer it must use your Personal Data only for the purposes disclosed in this Notice;
Crash logs, yeah sure.


Quote
9. Linking to other websites
1. The App may contain hyperlinks to websites owned and operated by third parties. These websites have their own privacy policies and we urge you to review them. They will govern the use of Personal Data you submit whilst visiting these websites.
2. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the privacy practices of such third party websites and your use of such websites is at your own risk.
Clear enough, isn't it.


Archived version of the page, just in case:
https://web.archive.org/web/20210706062852/https://www.audacityteam.org/about/desktop-privacy-notice/

Discussion:
https://github.com/audacity/audacity/discussions/1225/

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #67
Fine, use something else. How about the closed source Ocenaudio? You have no idea what that's doing under the hood, but it's gotta be better than this, right?

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #68
Fine, use something else. How about the closed source Ocenaudio? You have no idea what that's doing under the hood, but it's gotta be better than this, right?

This is possibly the most transparent example of a false dilemma I've ever seen. Impressive.

 

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #69
Don't mind me, I don't know shit. I just blindly use whatever the hell is convenient without a care in the world what it's doing under the hood. The first and last time I read an end user license agreement was the one for Windows 95.

Can't tell if I should care that the 4chan Brigade is running full tilt to promote every fork of Audacity being renamed to "Sneedacity", cuz you know, you have to have special needs to be concerned about privacy in this day and age, right? /s Everybody listen to the people who hide behind the cloak of anonymity every chance they get, except when they go be idiots in person.

Though I do think they're off tilt for harassing the leading fork's developer at all hours of the day and night, both his phone and visiting his house and knocking on the doors and windows. And posting transphobic and/or racist crap issues to the bug tracker, and concocting fake screen shots to implicate him for nasty behavior of his own, which they then share with his known contacts to harass them as well.


Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #71
* Detach from the modern world
* Go entirely off grid
* Live off the land
* Do away with society entirely.

Than you can be 100% Free. Then you will not have to worry about CPU microcode being copyrighted. Or anyone spying at all. Could be fun!
There's black and white and all in between. That it can't be white doesn't mean we have to agree to full blown black.
Is what Audacity doing "full blown black" as some users are behaving like it is, though? Seems to me like a very very pale shade of light gray.

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #72
"This is somehow fascism" Talk about overblown.
The last sentence of kode54 right above your post demonstrates it's not overblown.
Or you can call it mafia if you want, after all both systems are using the same methods.

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #73
Fine, use something else. How about the closed source Ocenaudio? You have no idea what that's doing under the hood, but it's gotta be better than this, right?
What about using the last open source version of Audacity ? And keeping an eye on upcoming forks.

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #74
IMO its a mistake to leave them, Fork or use old versions. That just feeds the status quo.
Instead let them deal with their userbase because if there isn't one - whats the point
of a non-commercial project ?