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Starlink users must opt out of all browsing data being used to train xAI models

97 points| pizza | 1 month ago |twitter.com

28 comments

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xp84|1 month ago

https://x.com/scottbuscemi/status/2013397238568099843?s=20

last item here seems to indicate that the OP tweet is a (bad faith?) overly broad reading. The "in accordance with our privacy policy" link part is showing right there in that original tweet, and doesn't seem to have been checked.

I know a lot of people think Musk is simply a mustachio-twirling comic book villain so there's not a lot of critical thinking ever applied to this sort of story, but even still, he'd have to be an order of magnitude dumber than buying Twitter, to think they could just train on all browsing data and that people would be chill about it.

proactivesvcs|1 month ago

The UK's BT Broadband did this around 2007 via Phorm. Actually they did worse - used the data to inject custom advertising. Not only were their customers chill with it, so was the Information Commissioner's Office, the government arm that ostensibly protects our privacy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phorm

maxerickson|1 month ago

Pretty hilarious that they call enabled by default "opt in".

watwut|1 month ago

> , to think they could just train on all browsing data and that people would be chill about it.

I mean, he does think he can do what he wants with impunity and track record is that yes, he can. He thinks that asking his bot to not produce child porn is an imposition, for example.

random3|1 month ago

why do you think buying twitter was dumb?

crimsonnoodle58|1 month ago

So, as most of the web is HTTPS now they have DNS requests (if users haven't used a third party DNS like 1.1.1.1), and IP addresses. Maybe the SNI domain name if they are doing packet inspection.

Not really sure how useful this would be on model training?

Maybe ranking which sites it should give as answers based on popularity?

pizza|1 month ago

This x thread may not be the best source of clarity on what is actually being default opted-into. Sorry. I looked into it and it seems that Starlink denies browsing history would be shared [0]. Seems I can't edit the title any more.

> Do you share my personal information for AI training? We are committed to protecting your privacy. In some instances, we may share personal information with trusted third-party partners who, among other activities, help us develop AI-enabled tools that improve your customer experience, although you can always opt out. Rest assured that we take reasonable safeguards to protect and secure your information whenever it is used or shared.

> Will these AI models see my Internet history? No, your internet history will never be shared with AI models, including individual browsing habits or geolocation tracking, and we comply with laws prohibiting unauthorized surveillance.

> What personal information does Starlink collect from me? We only collect what’s needed to provide you great service—like your name, address, email, and payment details when you sign up or order. We also gather some technical information (like IP address or service performance data) to keep your connection fast and reliable.

[0] https://starlink.com/support/article/b82cf54a-8e57-917a-bd06...

kingstnap|1 month ago

I was thinking the same. It's not like there is vast amounts of unencrypted HTTP just running around everything uses TLS nowadays.

They could find URLs to scrape maybe, but whats the point of that when certificate transparency lists exist?

netsharc|1 month ago

I wonder how much one can analyze with timings and sizes. If a news article on a known hostname has 5 Xitter embeds and 4 Instagram ones, the Creep in the Middle can count how many bytes are transferred in the HTTPS requests to Xitter/Instagram (there won't be 9 separate TCP connects due to connection reuse), and compare that to its own scrape of news articles of that host...

andsoitis|1 month ago

> cryps1s

Post by CISO @OpenAI. Must be a slow day.

metalman|1 month ago

I was on the fence with switching to starlink from cellular data, but I realy cant stand the idea of a wrestling match with another giant corporation, weaponising "may", might", "occasionaly", "certain terms and conditions", "reserve the right to" better the perv I know then some new more ambitios one.

blacksmith_tb|1 month ago

It's gross, but of course we think many ISPs are abusive in similar ways? I haven't ever used a Starlink connection, I wonder if their latency a problem for VPNs or tunneling.

atarvaneitor|1 month ago

It was impossible to do this through the app (a website opened from the app XD) or the website.

When creating the ticket,a chat opens and a warning appeared: "By continuing, you agree that your data will be used to train AI models. See the Privacy Policy for how to opt out."

Does this mean it's impossible to get support if I don't want AI?

After disgustingly evading Grok's support AI, was it possible to open the ticket to disable data sharing for AI training and therefore cancel future support? XD

foobarkey|1 month ago

Like what data, my DNS queries and TCP connects? Ok I guess