(giggles…)
On a more serious note, wouldn’t there be a Risk of being charged with something like “knowingly filing a false(? malicious?) complaint” if actually followed-up on (especially to the police?)?
Albeit on the other hand, not doing so might encourage teh creep?
sonofrojblakesays
In fairness, they said “I’m reporting this”. Not “to the police”. It could be “in my column in your local newspaper”. Or “to HR”. It’s pretty funny to think of just leaving it there…
StonedRangersays
I admit that I am an old man. But this is just another reason why I dont have a ‘mobile device’, or whatever you choose to call it. I have one phone, and if it rings once a week and its for me, I am thrilled. It even has call waiting and message capabilities. But its attached to a wire. No texts, no ads, no dick pics.
blfsays
@3, Whilst I tended to avoid mobiles (both “dumb” and “smart”) for eons, concerns about being annoyed by SMS (txt), or other, spam, etc., wasn’t really a reason. (I now live in France, and have essentially lived in the EU the entire mobile era; SMS, etc., spam, is perhaps not so much of an issue here as it might be elsewhere? (I don’t know.)) It was more a mixture of concerns about tracking and other privacy invasions, no need for “immediate” communications (barring emergencies), a dislike of the (lack of?) social skills displayed by people using their mobiles, the nearly-unrepairable construction of most mobiles (including an inability to change the fecking battery!), theft of critical data should the mobile be lost or stolen, and the environmental impact of mobiles, their infrastructure, and the manufacturing and disposal.
However, for awhile now I’ve been using an ethically and sustainability sourced and manufactured phone, which is modular (up to a point) and designed to serviced / upgraded by careful individuals (only tool required — in theory — is a screwdriver): Fairphone. Careful attention to the software on the phone, and its configuration and how I use it, means I’m in much better control of the data on the phone — this includes a deliberate decision not to ever (knowingly) place unencrypted sensitive data on the phone (and to do so only sparingly), plus never installing or using anything like a “banking” or “e-creditcard” app (not even the WWW (website) version!).
Obviously, tracking is possible and happens, and there are known software glitches: The one that perhaps annoys me the most is the external memory card is not encrypted (the internal memory is), so I try to be very Very careful what I put on the external card. E.g., the (rare) independently-encrypted sensitive data is always stored in the encrypted internal memory. And I’m not happy with the current backup strategies (plural) I am using. And parts of Generalissimo Google’s Android security model bother me.
Nonetheless, I have found “immediate” communication useful (albeit rarely used), with a pocket supercomputer with ‘Net access (nominally via a secured VPN over WiFi) surprisingly useful.
When I bothered to connect an instrument to my landline (wired POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service)), at least here in France, I was constantly bothered by “spam” sales cold-calls (and so generally turned the instrument off and only answered pre-arranged calls). Not as bad, I think, as in the States, and there might be a “do not sales call” list (I dunno), but using the mobile has essentially eliminated the problem.
StonedRangersays
@blf I am glad that you found a solution that works for you. Its not completely about the ads, or the spam for me. I dont need to have a phone at hand no matter where Im at. Im just not that important. Yes, the whole tracking thing is an issue for me too, as is the lack of social grace by most mobile users ( at least here where I live). Its just an unnecessary cost for me and a damnable nuisance. It costs a small fortune to buy and use a mobile device. I have this pc that gets replaced every 7 or 8 years and I dont have to carry it with me. I am retired now so the need to feel connected at all times is about zero for me. I enjoy my privacy and with a mobile device that would be ruined.
As a photographer who sometimes posted images of female models I’d shot, I often got dick pics, or comments like “I’d love to get with you” etc. I usually replied “I’m an ageing 57 year old guy, your comment is very flattering – are you sure you want to go farther with this?” Usually, I got blocked. Incels are incels for a reason.
(giggles…)
On a more serious note, wouldn’t there be a Risk of being charged with something like “knowingly filing a false(? malicious?) complaint” if actually followed-up on (especially to the police?)?
Albeit on the other hand, not doing so might encourage teh creep?
In fairness, they said “I’m reporting this”. Not “to the police”. It could be “in my column in your local newspaper”. Or “to HR”. It’s pretty funny to think of just leaving it there…
I admit that I am an old man. But this is just another reason why I dont have a ‘mobile device’, or whatever you choose to call it. I have one phone, and if it rings once a week and its for me, I am thrilled. It even has call waiting and message capabilities. But its attached to a wire. No texts, no ads, no dick pics.
@3, Whilst I tended to avoid mobiles (both “dumb” and “smart”) for eons, concerns about being annoyed by SMS (txt), or other, spam, etc., wasn’t really a reason. (I now live in France, and have essentially lived in the EU the entire mobile era; SMS, etc., spam, is perhaps not so much of an issue here as it might be elsewhere? (I don’t know.)) It was more a mixture of concerns about tracking and other privacy invasions, no need for “immediate” communications (barring emergencies), a dislike of the (lack of?) social skills displayed by people using their mobiles, the nearly-unrepairable construction of most mobiles (including an inability to change the fecking battery!), theft of critical data should the mobile be lost or stolen, and the environmental impact of mobiles, their infrastructure, and the manufacturing and disposal.
However, for awhile now I’ve been using an ethically and sustainability sourced and manufactured phone, which is modular (up to a point) and designed to serviced / upgraded by careful individuals (only tool required — in theory — is a screwdriver): Fairphone. Careful attention to the software on the phone, and its configuration and how I use it, means I’m in much better control of the data on the phone — this includes a deliberate decision not to ever (knowingly) place unencrypted sensitive data on the phone (and to do so only sparingly), plus never installing or using anything like a “banking” or “e-creditcard” app (not even the WWW (website) version!).
Obviously, tracking is possible and happens, and there are known software glitches: The one that perhaps annoys me the most is the external memory card is not encrypted (the internal memory is), so I try to be very Very careful what I put on the external card. E.g., the (rare) independently-encrypted sensitive data is always stored in the encrypted internal memory. And I’m not happy with the current backup strategies (plural) I am using. And parts of Generalissimo Google’s Android security model bother me.
Nonetheless, I have found “immediate” communication useful (albeit rarely used), with a pocket supercomputer with ‘Net access (nominally via a secured VPN over WiFi) surprisingly useful.
When I bothered to connect an instrument to my landline (wired POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service)), at least here in France, I was constantly bothered by “spam” sales cold-calls (and so generally turned the instrument off and only answered pre-arranged calls). Not as bad, I think, as in the States, and there might be a “do not sales call” list (I dunno), but using the mobile has essentially eliminated the problem.
@blf I am glad that you found a solution that works for you. Its not completely about the ads, or the spam for me. I dont need to have a phone at hand no matter where Im at. Im just not that important. Yes, the whole tracking thing is an issue for me too, as is the lack of social grace by most mobile users ( at least here where I live). Its just an unnecessary cost for me and a damnable nuisance. It costs a small fortune to buy and use a mobile device. I have this pc that gets replaced every 7 or 8 years and I dont have to carry it with me. I am retired now so the need to feel connected at all times is about zero for me. I enjoy my privacy and with a mobile device that would be ruined.
A friend of mine used to ask, “is that all?”
She never got a response.
As a photographer who sometimes posted images of female models I’d shot, I often got dick pics, or comments like “I’d love to get with you” etc. I usually replied “I’m an ageing 57 year old guy, your comment is very flattering – are you sure you want to go farther with this?” Usually, I got blocked. Incels are incels for a reason.