Proton is legit i.e. reputable, not a honeypot. Just read all their transparency stuff.
Tor is *probably* legit. Yes, there is US govt involvement, but in addition to all those darkweb cyber criminals, there are all those hallowed "journalists" who depend on Tor for their lives. (Could the NSA be *mostly* good?) Therefore, it comes down to what I used to believe about BlackBerry: BlackBerry is either completely secure or totally compromised (i.e. a honeypot); in the case of the latter, it would mean that in the US, a BlackBerry user is secure up to the State Police (even the FBI) level, meaning that he could probably commit a murder and the prosecution would not have smartphone evidence(1) against him, because the NSA isn't going to reveal its capabilities just to help locals or feds convict someone of a mere murder. "Your secrets are safe with us."
(1) When it comes to a properly configured smartphone, not one being used with watered-down default settings
I feel like you might have missed the point of the post; that is, why do these false ideas keep coming back, and keep getting repeated despite being repeatedly debunked?
I do agree that Proton is probably legitimate, in that they're broadly honest about what they do, and try to live up to their stated values. Tor similarly. People much smarter than me have assured me that that's the case, and I don't even know how to dispute their claims.
That said, why do people keep claiming these false things? My guess, because it fill some individual or social need, which I tried to explore some of in this post. Obviously it's a big question, but that's always true of anything I talk about. I see these posts as introductions, rather than conclusions.
I'm sorry my reply came across as though I had missed the point. I was actually expecting to read a rebuttal that I suffer from confirmation bias (at the very least) or from some of the other analyses I would typically receive in online discussion forums lol. But really, I was just sharing my opinions on those services.
As for why people keep positing that their opinions are facts, I don't know. I chock it up to ignorance. I also think that people go through life routinely copying others. Many times I've warned people about various threats and have been told to put my tinfoil hat back on and many times those same people have come back to me later (often years later) after finally having seen something on mainstream media with, "Did you SEE what they are DOING?!?!?" as if they invented it. I just laugh, and reply, "Yes, yes, I know, I know" and move on.
You wrote that people are weird, and I tend to agree, but I think that many have deep seated issues that amount to more than weirdness. It reminds me of an exchange on an episode of The X-Files where a killer is on a quest to understand why he does the depraved things he does. He asks several psychics, until one of them finally replies, "Son, don't you get it? You do the things you do because you're a homicidal maniac." The killer replies almost gleefully, "Yes, it's all starting to become clear now!" as goes into a rage to kill the psychic. Too funny!
Anyway, I have no training in psychology. I do find it very interesting and am excited by the articles you're posting. (I'll read about psychology from time to time as an interest/hobby.) I haven't had time to read most of them--I think they deserve more time than I've been able to devote to them up until this point--and I hope you will keep them available so I can come back to them. I save my email notifications so I can find them.
No worries, I try to be polite. I'm not always good at it, but I do try.
Glad to hear you find my ramblings interesting! I certainly find them interesting to write; I'm enjoying the challenge of coming up with and writing about a different topic every week, and I really think it's helping to build up my baseline knowledge around the topic :)
Proton is legit i.e. reputable, not a honeypot. Just read all their transparency stuff.
Tor is *probably* legit. Yes, there is US govt involvement, but in addition to all those darkweb cyber criminals, there are all those hallowed "journalists" who depend on Tor for their lives. (Could the NSA be *mostly* good?) Therefore, it comes down to what I used to believe about BlackBerry: BlackBerry is either completely secure or totally compromised (i.e. a honeypot); in the case of the latter, it would mean that in the US, a BlackBerry user is secure up to the State Police (even the FBI) level, meaning that he could probably commit a murder and the prosecution would not have smartphone evidence(1) against him, because the NSA isn't going to reveal its capabilities just to help locals or feds convict someone of a mere murder. "Your secrets are safe with us."
(1) When it comes to a properly configured smartphone, not one being used with watered-down default settings
I feel like you might have missed the point of the post; that is, why do these false ideas keep coming back, and keep getting repeated despite being repeatedly debunked?
I do agree that Proton is probably legitimate, in that they're broadly honest about what they do, and try to live up to their stated values. Tor similarly. People much smarter than me have assured me that that's the case, and I don't even know how to dispute their claims.
That said, why do people keep claiming these false things? My guess, because it fill some individual or social need, which I tried to explore some of in this post. Obviously it's a big question, but that's always true of anything I talk about. I see these posts as introductions, rather than conclusions.
I'm sorry my reply came across as though I had missed the point. I was actually expecting to read a rebuttal that I suffer from confirmation bias (at the very least) or from some of the other analyses I would typically receive in online discussion forums lol. But really, I was just sharing my opinions on those services.
As for why people keep positing that their opinions are facts, I don't know. I chock it up to ignorance. I also think that people go through life routinely copying others. Many times I've warned people about various threats and have been told to put my tinfoil hat back on and many times those same people have come back to me later (often years later) after finally having seen something on mainstream media with, "Did you SEE what they are DOING?!?!?" as if they invented it. I just laugh, and reply, "Yes, yes, I know, I know" and move on.
You wrote that people are weird, and I tend to agree, but I think that many have deep seated issues that amount to more than weirdness. It reminds me of an exchange on an episode of The X-Files where a killer is on a quest to understand why he does the depraved things he does. He asks several psychics, until one of them finally replies, "Son, don't you get it? You do the things you do because you're a homicidal maniac." The killer replies almost gleefully, "Yes, it's all starting to become clear now!" as goes into a rage to kill the psychic. Too funny!
Anyway, I have no training in psychology. I do find it very interesting and am excited by the articles you're posting. (I'll read about psychology from time to time as an interest/hobby.) I haven't had time to read most of them--I think they deserve more time than I've been able to devote to them up until this point--and I hope you will keep them available so I can come back to them. I save my email notifications so I can find them.
No worries, I try to be polite. I'm not always good at it, but I do try.
Glad to hear you find my ramblings interesting! I certainly find them interesting to write; I'm enjoying the challenge of coming up with and writing about a different topic every week, and I really think it's helping to build up my baseline knowledge around the topic :)