Hey, howdy, hallo,
I was talking to one of my friends recently, and he told me about a doctor visit he went to. As usual (at least in the United States) he waited in the room for a while for the doctor to show up. Once they did, they asked him "do you consent to an AI note take app running during our visit, it transcribes the entire visit and stores it so we can look at it later".
When he told me, I was shocked. I absolutely despise the medical industry and the digitization of our data. Everything is stored in an online portal, easily accessible, and simple to share with any other providers. While I can see the benefit to this on the surface, it’s a prime target for malicious actors (and third parties that want this data).
Now, my entire confidential conversation with my healthcare provider is going to be transcribed and stored?
This email isn’t going to be about the medical industry and data, it’s going to be a reminder that it’s OK to say no.
How many times have you been at a store checkout and the cashier asks for an email or phone number? Do you instantly give it to them? It’s OK to say no. The reason they do this is that the company wants to track your purchases and habits. Besides the credit card you use, getting your phone number/email is another uniquely identifiable value they can use to track and market to you.
There are some stores (for warranty purposes) that I need to provide a phone number. In that case, I have a dedicated number and "persona" I use just for that purpose. So worst case scenario, when/if that store gets hacked, my personal number isn’t exposed.
I know the theme of this email so far has been "just say no" but sometimes you DO need to provide something personal in order to receive service. Maybe you’re going to the doctor, and they need to see a copy of your ID for service. Let’s be clear, you’ll likely need to give them it to receive service. But that doesn’t mean you can’t ask why. Any time something personal is requested by a 3rd party or my ID (except when at a bar) I ask why. Typically, employees just blindly follow these policies and ask for whatever their employer asks them to collect. If you’re going to take my personal information that I truly don’t think you need, at the very least, tell me why.
Perhaps it accomplishes nothing and just makes me feel better about handing my personal information over. Or maybe, it will change the mind of one person, and they might think twice about why they’re forced to collect all this information.
Just because you have to hand over your personal information, doesn’t mean you have to willingly comply. This should go without saying, but don’t be a d!ck about it either.
At the end of the day, making people question conditioned habits is never a bad thing.
I hope you had a great August, and I’ll see you in September!
-Josh
A collection of random optical illusions.
I’m currently finalizing the topic for Season 3 and will hopefully be releasing new episodes soon.
🎧 Margaret Hamilton — From stacks of code taller than she was to a Medal of Freedom decades later, Hamilton’s story is one of intellect, innovation, and true engineering brilliance.
🎧 Ken Thompson — Long before Linux, there was Unix — and Ken Thompson was at the center of it. The quiet legacy of a developer who shaped how computers, code, and operating systems work today.
🖥️ You’re no longer allowed to forget — This video is currently unlisted, but I’ll be publishing it on Tuesday. Enjoy the early access in the meantime!
🖥️ Some thoughts on switching to KeePass — I switched to KeePass.
I needed something better for monitoring Yellowball, so I set up PagerDuty and installed the app. I’m now using it to ingest, triage, and alert for any notifications I receive. I also installed Proton Mail into a private space on my phone.
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I host my show In the Shell on it—and if you’re thinking of starting your own, check out Yellowball or just reply to this email. Happy to help.
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I don’t track or analyze these emails, so the only way I know they’re read is if you tell me. If you enjoyed it, reply with a 🍁. If not, send back one sentence with what you’d improve.