From: mariond@facts.com   
      
   AJL wrote:   
   > Just as a test I factory reset my latest toy, a 7" ONN Android tablet. I   
   >  then started it from scratch. The first few screens were welcome and WiFi   
   >  connection. Then came the sign in to Google page. It won't go past there   
   >  without signing in. IIRC my other Android toys were the same but I'm not   
   >  going to factory reset all of them just to see for sure...  8-O   
   >   
   > And I admit that I really can't speak for the other 1000+ Android gadgets   
   >  out there.   
      
   Every Android I've had for, oh, I don't know, ten or more years, I haven't   
   signed into a Google Account on it. You just have to find the skip button.   
      
   Even Google says you don't need to have an account to use Android.   
       
      
   >>Yes, it's the fault of the bad guys too, but privacy is like personal   
   >>hygiene where we have to stay clean every moment of our working day.   
   >   
   > I don't worry about privacy if you're talking about bits and bytes on a   
   >  server somewhere. WE (you and I, and most all of us) have none of that kind   
   >  of privacy anyway.   
      
   I agree with you that the worst thing they get is pictures of our pets.   
   But the point about hygiene is apropos that privacy has to be practiced.   
      
   It's also disgusting to me that Google & Apple throw mud on our hygiene.   
   For example, they hoover up our Wi-Fi access points without asking us.   
      
   > For example your doctor records, tax records, car   
   >  registration, home registration, bank records, etc,etc,etc, are all on a   
   >  server somewhere available for access.   
      
   What pisses me off, is when the Capitol rioters were being apprehended, the   
   government used license databases which is, to me, an abuse of power.   
      
   I'm not defending the rioters, but I don't like the fact they looked up a   
   database which contains me, and I had nothing to do with those riots.   
      
   They abuse privileges, e.g., your SSN is used in places that have nothing   
   to do with social security payments. It's abuse. Rampant abuse. It irks me.   
      
   >  And if you're worried about a human   
   >  looking at them you have a much bigger chance of a doctor's secretary   
   >  looking at your really personal stuff than I do having a human picking me   
   >  out of billions of Google accounts to look at.   
      
   See my recent comment to Carlos, where I'm in my 80s and I seem to be   
   spending more time at the doctor's office than at the local pool hall.   
      
   The receptionist today assured me that the medical records will be kept   
   private when I objected that they asked for information they didn't need.   
      
   > But bottom line we're all in   
   >  the cloud big time. The best one can do is try and stay safe. That's one   
   >  reason I use this Google Chromebook for sensitive stuff. It currently has   
   >  the best reputation for security among the competition...   
      
   Well, most of us have had loans for homes, so bingo. You're in it forever.   
      
   I always give them a bogus phone number, for example, which I've used for   
   so long it may as well be my phone number. But if I change it, I'd forget   
   what it was.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)