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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 9th, 2023

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  • That feature is right on the border between real neat tech and deeply unsettling.

    “Hey, my phone uses its last few electrons to turn into a bluetooth beacon to stay findable” sounds like sci-fi “reserve power emergency mode”

    “I can’t turn off the locator chip in a device that holds half my life and memories” is just dystopian.

    I’m wondering if there would be a way to keep it useful while minimizing impact for people who stay off the grid. A hardware switch would probably be a good start but they won’t fly with current all-touch designs.



  • They occupy a strange niche full of contradictions.

    Entering the code on the device itself should increase security as opposed to entering it on a compromised computer.

    But plugging it into a compromised computer means the data is compromised anyway.

    Their security is way harder to audit than a software solution like PGP. The actual “encryption” varies from actual decent setups to “entering the code connects the data pins with no actual encryption on the storage chip”

    Not having to instal/use software to use them means they are suitable for non-technical users which in turn means more support calls for “I forgot the pin, it wiped itself, can you restore my data”

    They are kind of useful to check the “data is transported on encrypted media” box for compliance reasons without having to manage something bigger.