#Medical Digital Advertising

[ennobletechnologies]

Revolutionizing Healthcare: Digital Marketing Solutions for Medical Professionals

The healthcare industry has been experiencing a transformation, with digitalization becoming a pivotal aspect of healthcare delivery and patient engagement. In this era, where the internet has permeated every facet of our lives, it is imperative for medical professionals to leverage digital marketing solutions. This article delves into the dynamic world of healthcare digital marketing, offering insights into why it’s essential and how it can be harnessed effectively.

Understanding the Digital Age in Healthcare

The impact of digitalization in healthcare cannot be overstated. Patients are no longer solely reliant on their local physicians for medical information. They turn to the internet to research symptoms, seek treatment options, and even find healthcare providers. Understanding this shift is crucial for medical professionals.

The Changing Patient Journey in the Digital Age

The traditional patient journey, from symptom recognition to diagnosis and treatment, has evolved significantly. Patients now take an active role in their healthcare decisions, starting with online research. This shift necessitates a strong online presence for medical professionals.

Challenges in Healthcare Marketing

While the digital age offers numerous opportunities, it also presents challenges unique to the healthcare industry.

Regulatory Hurdles

The healthcare sector is subject to strict regulations, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Navigating these regulations while conducting digital marketing can be a complex task.

Competition in the Healthcare Sector

Competition among healthcare providers is fierce. Standing out in a crowded market requires a well-thought-out digital marketing strategy.

The Power of Online Presence

An online presence is the cornerstone of any digital marketing strategy for medical professionals.

Establishing a Professional Website

A professional website serves as a digital storefront, providing essential information about your practice, services, and expertise. It’s often the first point of contact for potential patients.

The Role of Social Media in Healthcare Marketing

Social media platforms offer an opportunity to engage with patients, share valuable healthcare information, and build a community. Utilizing these platforms effectively is key to success.

Continue Reading: https://ennobletechnologies.com/healthcare/healthcare-marketing-solutions/

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Privacy first

The internet is embroiled in a vicious polycrisis: child safety, surveillance, discrimination, disinformation, polarization, monopoly, journalism collapse – not only have we failed to agree on what to do about these, there's not even a consensus that all of these are problems.

But in a new whitepaper, my EFF colleagues Corynne McSherry, Mario Trujillo, Cindy Cohn and Thorin Klosowski advance an exciting proposal that slices cleanly through this Gordian knot, which they call "Privacy First":

https://www.eff.org/wp/privacy-first-better-way-address-online-harms

Here's the "Privacy First" pitch: whatever is going on with all of the problems of the internet, all of these problems are made worse by commercial surveillance.

Worried your kid is being made miserable through targeted ads? No surveillance, no targeting.

Worried your uncle was turned into a Qanon by targeted disinformation? No surveillance, no targeting. Worried that racialized people are being targeted for discriminatory hiring or lending by algorithms? No surveillance, no targeting.

Worried that nation-state actors are exploiting surveillance data to attack elections, politicians, or civil servants? No surveillance, no surveillance data.

Worried that AI is being trained on your personal data? No surveillance, no training data.

Worried that the news is being killed by monopolists who exploit the advantage conferred by surveillance ads to cream 51% off every ad-dollar? No surveillance, no surveillance ads.

Worried that social media giants maintain their monopolies by filling up commercial moats with surveillance data? No surveillance, no surveillance moat.

The fact that commercial surveillance hurts so many groups of people in so many ways is terrible, of course, but it's also an amazing opportunity. Thus far, the individual constituencies for, say, saving the news or protecting kids have not been sufficient to change the way these big platforms work. But when you add up all the groups whose most urgent cause would be significantly improved by comprehensive federal privacy law, vigorously enforced, you get an unstoppable coalition.

America is decades behind on privacy. The last really big, broadly applicable privacy law we passed was a law banning video-store clerks from leaking your porn-rental habits to the press (Congress was worried about their own rental histories after a Supreme Court nominee's movie habits were published in the Washington City Paper):

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

In the decades since, we've gotten laws that poke around the edges of privacy, like HIPAA (for health) and COPPA (data on under-13s). Both laws are riddled with loopholes and neither is vigorously enforced:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/09/how-to-make-a-child-safe-tiktok/

Privacy First starts with the idea of passing a fit-for-purpose, 21st century privacy law with real enforcement teeth (a private right of action, which lets contingency lawyers sue on your behalf for a share of the winnings):

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/americans-deserve-more-current-american-data-privacy-protection-act

Here's what should be in that law:

A ban on surveillance advertising:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/03/ban-online-behavioral-advertising

Data minimization: a prohibition on collecting or processing your data beyond what is strictly necessary to deliver the service you're seeking.

Strong opt-in: None of the consent theater click-throughs we suffer through today. If you don't give informed, voluntary, specific opt-in consent, the service can't collect your data. Ignoring a cookie click-through is not consent, so you can just bypass popups and know you won't be spied on.

No preemption. The commercial surveillance industry hates strong state privacy laws like the Illinois biometrics law, and they are hoping that a federal law will pre-empt all those state laws. Federal privacy law should be the floor on privacy nationwide – not the ceiling:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/federal-preemption-state-privacy-law-hurts-everyone

No arbitration. Your right to sue for violations of your privacy shouldn't be waivable in a clickthrough agreement:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/04/stop-forced-arbitration-data-privacy-legislation

No "pay for privacy." Privacy is not a luxury good. Everyone deserves privacy, and the people who can least afford to buy private alternatives are most vulnerable to privacy abuses:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/10/why-getting-paid-your-data-bad-deal

No tricks. Getting "consent" with confusing UIs and tiny fine print doesn't count:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/02/designing-welcome-mats-invite-user-privacy-0

A Privacy First approach doesn't merely help all the people harmed by surveillance, it also prevents the collateral damage that today's leading proposals create. For example, laws requiring services to force their users to prove their age ("to protect the kids") are a privacy nightmare. They're also unconstitutional and keep getting struck down.

A better way to improve the kid safety of the internet is to ban surveillance. A surveillance ban doesn't have the foreseeable abuses of a law like KOSA (the Kids Online Safety Act), like bans on information about trans healthcare, medication abortions, or banned books:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/05/kids-online-safety-act-still-huge-danger-our-rights-online

When it comes to the news, banning surveillance advertising would pave the way for a shift to contextual ads (ads based on what you're looking at, not who you are). That switch would change the balance of power between news organizations and tech platforms – no media company will ever know as much about their readers as Google or Facebook do, but no tech company will ever know as much about a news outlet's content as the publisher does:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/05/save-news-we-must-ban-surveillance-advertising

This is a much better approach than the profit-sharing arrangements that are being trialed in Australia, Canada and France (these are sometimes called "News Bargaining Codes" or "Link Taxes"). Funding the news by guaranteeing it a share of Big Tech's profits makes the news into partisans for that profit – not the Big Tech watchdogs we need them to be. When Torstar, Canada's largest news publisher, struck a profit-sharing deal with Google, they killed their longrunning, excellent investigative "Defanging Big Tech" series.

A privacy law would also protect access to healthcare, especially in the post-Roe era, when Big Tech surveillance data is being used to target people who visit abortion clinics or secure medication abortions. It would end the practice of employers forcing workers to wear health-monitoring gadget. This is characterized as a "voluntary" way to get a "discount" on health insurance – but in practice, it's a way of punishing workers who refuse to let their bosses know about their sleep, fertility, and movements.

A privacy law would protect marginalized people from all kinds of digital discrimination, from unfair hiring to unfair lending to unfair renting. The commercial surveillance industry shovels endless quantities of our personal information into the furnaces that fuel these practices. A privacy law shuts off the fuel supply:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/digital-privacy-legislation-civil-rights-legislation

There are plenty of ways that AI will make our lives worse, but copyright won't fix it. For issues of labor exploitation (especially by creative workers), the answer lies in labor law:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/01/how-the-writers-guild-sunk-ais-ship/

And for many of AI's other harms, a muscular privacy law would starve AI of some of its most potentially toxic training data:

https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-updated-terms-to-use-customer-data-to-train-ai-2023-9

Meanwhile, if you're worried about foreign governments targeting Americans – officials, military, or just plain folks – a privacy law would cut off one of their most prolific and damaging source of information. All those lawmakers trying to ban Tiktok because it's a surveillance tool? What about banning surveillance, instead?

Monopolies and surveillance go together like peanut butter and chocolate. Some of the biggest tech empires were built on mountains of nonconsensually harvested private data – and they use that data to defend their monopolies. Legal privacy guarantees are a necessary precursor to data portability and interoperability:

https://www.eff.org/wp/interoperability-and-privacy

Once we are guaranteed a right to privacy, lawmakers and regulators can order tech giants to tear down their walled gardens, rather than relying on tech companies to (selectively) defend our privacy:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

The point here isn't that privacy fixes all the internet's woes. The policy is "privacy first," not "just privacy." When it comes to making a new, good internet, there's plenty of room for labor law, civil rights legislation, antitrust, and other legal regimes. But privacy has the biggest constituency, gets us the most bang for the buck, and has the fewest harmful side-effects. It's a policy we can all agree on, even if we don't agree on much else. It's a coalition in potentia that would be unstoppable in reality. Privacy first! Then – everything else!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/06/privacy-first/#but-not-just-privacy

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[askstrangeweird]

Ambulance Chaser Advertisement: Colorized

[aquaticsomething]

I'm not dead! Flat colours/lineart/sketch:

[amsdigitalokhla]

Digital Marketing Agency for ENT Specialists

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Contact us today for a customized digital marketing plan.

Visit Now - https://www.amsdigital.in/blog/digital-marketing-strategies-for-ear-nose-and-throat-doctors-ent.php

[infusemediagroup]

[uniqpathlab3434]

The Importance of Regular Full Body Checkups in Greater Noida.

Introduction

Focusing on one's health has never been more crucial than in today's fast-paced world. The most important thing you can do for your health and to prevent problems is to get checked up regularly. 

UniQ Path Labs invites residents to experience an unparalleled full-body checkup in Greater Noida, marking a comprehensive exploration of health tests, including the intricacies of vitamin assessments.

The Importance of a Full Body Checkup:

In the dynamic environment of Greater Noida, a comprehensive full-body checkup at Uniq Path Labs is essential for preventative medical treatment.

This exhaustive examination encompasses a range of health tests, including vital vitamin assessments, in addition to routine screenings. The ability to detect prospective health concerns in their early stages enables individuals to respond promptly and efficiently.

Health tests fulfill two essential functions: they diagnose pre-existing conditions and establish a foundation for continuous health surveillance. With its state-of-the-art facilities, Uniq Path Labs provides customized health packages that exemplify the fundamental principles of preventive healthcare.

By adopting this strategy, not only do residents of Greater Noida obtain precise diagnoses, but they also obtain a plan for long-term wellness, which promotes the development of healthier and more satisfying lifestyles.

Why to Choose Uniq Path Labs

Full-body checkup services are exemplified by Uniq Path Labs in Greater Noida, which establishes the standard for healthcare in the area. The facility provides reliable results due to its proficient staff and state-of-the-art machinery.

For those in Greater Noida in search of a comprehensive selection of health tests ranging from routine examinations to specialized diagnostics, Uniq Path Labs is the lab of choice.

The facility's dedication to accuracy is demonstrated through the incorporation of vital vitamin assessments in addition to routine examinations. 

By placing a premium on proactive health management and the welfare of Greater Noida residents via its cutting-edge facilities and steadfast commitment to healthcare excellence, Uniq Path Labs establishes itself as a dependable ally.

The Significance of Health Tests:

Early Detection of Health Issues:

The integration of routine full-body checkups, such as vitamin tests, is of paramount importance in the context of full-body checkups conducted in Greater Noida, as it enables the timely identification of potential health complications.

The proactive methodology demonstrated by Uniq Path Labs enables prompt intervention following the detection of abnormalities, which has a substantial influence on treatment progression and enhances overall health results. 

With a focus on accuracy and thorough evaluations, Uniq Path Labs guarantees that residents of Greater Noida not only obtain a diagnosis but also the advantages of timely identification, thereby facilitating preventative healthcare management and overall wellness.

Preventive Healthcare:

A full-body checkup in Greater Noida, specifically at Uniq Path Labs, is predicated on the critical function of health tests, which encompass comprehensive evaluations such as vitamin tests and are integral to preventive healthcare.

These assessments function as proactive instruments, facilitating the timely detection of possible risk factors. Uniq Path Labs places significant emphasis on the precision of health parameter assessments, enabling individuals to promptly implement lifestyle modifications or medical interventions.

Through their function as preemptive mechanisms, these health assessments enable individuals to avert the initiation of persistent ailments.

Uniq Path Labs' dedication to preventive healthcare establishes the organization as an active collaborator in promoting the sustained welfare of the inhabitants of Greater Noida.

Baseline for Monitoring:

Health tests, including vitamin tests and vital assessments, have a twofold purpose in a full-body checkup in Greater Noida. One is to provide a baseline from which future improvements in health may be measured. 

By taking the initiative, as shown by Uniq Path Labs, healthcare providers may monitor the efficacy of treatments and make educated choices on the continuation of therapy.

These tests highlight Uniq Path Labs' dedication to Greater Noida residents' health by offering a constant benchmark for health metrics; they also help with individualized and changing healthcare strategies.

Vitamin Tests for Optimal Health:

Vitamin D Test:

Immune system performance, bone health, and general wellbeing all depend on vitamin D. Bone disorders are among the many health problems that can result from a vitamin D deficiency. Uniq Path Laboratories' vitamin D test aids in identifying and treating such deficiencies.

Vitamin B12 Test:

Red blood cell formation and nerve function depend on vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 deficiency can cause neurological issues, weakness, and exhaustion. Vitamin B12 tests from Uniq Path Laboratories are precise and guarantee ideal levels.

Vitamin C Test:

The antioxidant vitamin C is essential for collagen synthesis and immune system performance. Checking for vitamin C levels aids people in keeping their skin and immune systems in good condition.

Conclusion:

At the epicenter of preventive healthcare, Uniq Path Labs in Greater Noida provides comprehensive, complete body examinations that encompass vitamin assessments and vital health tests.

By means of early detection and accurate surveillance, it functions as a devoted ally, devising individualized strategies for sustained wellness. Uniq Path Labs employs proactive health testing to promptly identify and address abnormalities, thereby establishing a foundation for ongoing surveillance and the development of healthcare strategies.

As the enduring melody of the symphony of health, Uniq Path Labs emphasizes the complete body examination in Greater Noida, in addition to the health test and vitamin test.

Engaging FAQ’s

Q1: How often should I get a full-body checkup?

A full-body exam is advised once a year, although the frequency might vary depending on age, medical history, and lifestyle.

Q2: Are vitamin tests included in the full-body checkup packages?

Yes, Uniq Path Labs provides complete packages that include both important vitamin checks and standard health exams.

Q3: How long does it take to receive results?

Results are usually available within a few days, and our staff ensures timely contact for a smooth experience.

Q4: Can I customize my health package based on specific health concerns?

Yes, Uniq Path Labs offers personalized health programs to meet specific health requirements and concerns.

Q5: Is there an option for express results for urgent cases?

Yes, Uniq Path Labs provides express results for urgent instances, enabling prompt and effective healthcare treatments.

More Deteils:- 

Website Address:- https://shorturl.at/nzOS2

Contact Number:- 7838117700

Address:-  Shop No. 4 Basement, B.J. Mart, Jagat Farm, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201308

[bravelabs]

As competition in the healthcare industry continues to increase, healthcare practices will need to turn to innovative processes to rise above the crowd. BraveLabs is a hospital marketing agency that works on custom digital marketing strategies for healthcare organizations so that they can succeed in this evolving healthcare industry that is going digital.

[radiant-reid]

Pls write one where Reader is a medical doctor and I saw a blurb you wrote before with a wall of degrees and I can’t help imagining the bar’s reaction

"Welcome, welcome." You greet the BAU team as they arrive at your and Spencer's new house. Since you just brought your first house together, you kept in line with custom and are hosting a housewarming party.

Spencer's both looking for their approval and proud to show off the product of the roots you're putting down together. He excitedly shows them around, walking with you through the rooms.

"What's with the frames?" Morgan asks once you've reached the office, pointing to the wall. The room originally was advertised as a bedroom, but together you need that much space.

It's a wall you're immensely proud of. "Our degrees." You answer.

They collectively gawk at the number of frames, well into the double digits. It's impressive, years of blood, sweat, and tears.

"Now I feel dumb for only having two." Hotch jokes, his signature deadpan tone making it funnier.

"Try having zero," Penelope replies.

"Imagine the amount of student debt," JJ adds, making all of you laugh.

Derek's still reading the names on them. "Jesus, did you guys just pick anything but top schools?"

Emily hits him on the shoulder. "Okay, Northwestern."

"Shut it, Yale." He shoots back quickly.

You and Spencer are still grinning at each other, not focusing on Emily and Derek's bickering, just thinking about the immense pride you have for your own and each other's accomplishments.

[queeranarchism]

Hej, I just came across your post about carbon emissions and energy and may be I am wrong but it seems to me to be the entirely wrong approach to reduce consumption on the indivdual level. Because for instance I can't reduce my energy any further in a meaningful way with out compromising my wellbeing. Maybe if I shut down using my computer - which I can't for occupational reasons, plus it would isolate me for good. Well we can go of course the full way and declare electricity a mistake. Would inconvience a whole lot of people, kill plenty of them too and so on. But hey! there's been some emission avoided! Well that is just my opinion and may be I am just too negative

It is aboslutely 100% true that we can not meaningfully reduce CO2 emissions by reducing consumption on an individual level.

Of course we can do some things, like 'eat plant-based and local when possible' and 'don't fly' and 'repair instead of replace' but the impact of these things is minor compared to the total CO2 output and it isn't realistic for most of us.

Simply put: I can not get rid of my car if there is no bus service. I can not repair my phone if companies are allowed to deliberately make phones that can not be repaired. I can not eat local if everything is monoculture mass-argiculture for walmart. I can stop flying, but it is no good if all the private jets stay airborne. I can take shorter showers, but it's no use if the massive digital billboard next to my house is using more energy per month that i use per year.

The real massive reduction that we need requires a full societal transformation. Which means ending capitalism and going from a profit driven economy to one that is based on meeting collective needs while reducing CO2 wherever possible. Which means that when it comes to electricity and battery use, we prioritize human needs like medical care and accessibility devices, NOT the latest gaming platform or super car.

This will be a society without private jets, without fossil fuel mining, without advertising, without unnecessary plastic trinkets, without fast fashion, without mega-farms, without cryptocurrency, without bullshit jobs, without the military-industrial complex, without a constant stream of more wireless and battery operated gadgets. But it will be a society with broadly available and affordable public transport, with locally organized and sustainable food production, with medical care for all, with worker control over the workplace, with free repair-workshops everywhere, and more.

I can't imagine every aspect of that world because I am only one person with limited knowledge of all aspects of producing the things we need, but I know it starts with moving from a society organized around profit to a society organized around meeting human needs, including our very immediate need to stop climate change to prevent even more suffering than has already been caused by climate change so far.

[ennobletechnologies]

Revolutionize healthcare marketing with digital solutions for medical professionals. Enhance your online presence and engage patients effectively. Explore now!

Do Read: https://ennobletechnologies.com/healthcare/healthcare-marketing-solutions/

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The surveillance advertising to financial fraud pipeline

Monday (October 2), I'll be in Boise to host an event with VE Schwab. On October 7–8, I'm in Milan to keynote Wired Nextfest.

Being watched sucks. Of all the parenting mistakes I've made, none haunt me more than the times my daughter caught me watching her while she was learning to do something, discovered she was being observed in a vulnerable moment, and abandoned her attempt:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2014/may/09/cybersecurity-begins-with-integrity-not-surveillance

It's hard to be your authentic self while you're under surveillance. For that reason alone, the rise and rise of the surveillance industry – an unholy public-private partnership between cops, spooks, and ad-tech scum – is a plague on humanity and a scourge on the Earth:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/16/the-second-best-time-is-now/#the-point-of-a-system-is-what-it-does

But beyond the psychic damage surveillance metes out, there are immediate, concrete ways in which surveillance brings us to harm. Ad-tech follows us into abortion clinics and then sells the info to the cops back home in the forced birth states run by Handmaid's Tale LARPers:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/29/no-i-in-uter-us/#egged-on

And even if you have the good fortune to live in a state whose motto isn't "There's no 'I" in uter-US," ad-tech also lets anti-abortion propagandists trick you into visiting fake "clinics" who defraud you into giving birth by running out the clock on terminating your pregnancy:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/15/paid-medical-disinformation/#crisis-pregnancy-centers

The commercial surveillance industry fuels SWATting, where sociopaths who don't like your internet opinions or are steamed because you beat them at Call of Duty trick the cops into thinking that there's an "active shooter" at your house, provoking the kind of American policing autoimmune reaction that can get you killed:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/14/us/swatting-sentence-casey-viner/index.html

There's just a lot of ways that compiling deep, nonconsensual, population-scale surveillance dossiers can bring safety and financial harm to the unwilling subjects of our experiment in digital spying. The wave of "business email compromises" (the infosec term for impersonating your boss to you and tricking you into cleaning out the company bank accounts)? They start with spear phishing, a phishing attack that uses personal information – bought from commercial sources or ganked from leaks – to craft a virtual Big Store con:

https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/safety-resources/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/business-email-compromise

It's not just spear-phishers. There are plenty of financial predators who run petty grifts – stock swindles, identity theft, and other petty cons. These scams depend on commercial surveillance, both to target victims (e.g. buying Facebook ads targeting people struggling with medical debt and worried about losing their homes) and to run the con itself (by getting the information needed to pull of a successful identity theft).

In "Consumer Surveillance and Financial Fraud," a new National Bureau of Academic Research paper, a trio of business-school profs – Bo Bian (UBC), Michaela Pagel (WUSTL) and Huan Tang (Wharton) quantify the commercial surveillance industry's relationship to finance crimes:

https://www.nber.org/papers/w31692

The authors take advantage of a time-series of ZIP-code-accurate fraud complaint data from the Consumer Finance Protection Board, supplemented by complaints from the FTC, along with Apple's rollout of App Tracking Transparency, a change to app-based tracking on Apple mobile devices that turned of third-party commercial surveillance unless users explicitly opted into being spied on. More than 96% of Apple users blocked spying:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/05/96-of-us-users-opt-out-of-app-tracking-in-ios-14-5-analytics-find/

In other words, they were able to see, neighborhood by neighborhood, what happened to financial fraud when users were able to block commercial surveillance.

What happened is, fraud plunged. Deprived of the raw material for committing fraud, criminals were substantially hampered in their ability to steal from internet users.

While this is something that security professionals have understood for years, this study puts some empirical spine into the large corpus of qualitative accounts of the surveillance-to-fraud pipeline.

As the authors note in their conclusion, this analysis is timely. Google has just rolled out a new surveillance system, the deceptively named "Privacy Sandbox," that every Chrome user is being opted in to unless they find and untick three separate preference tickboxes. You should find and untick these boxes:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/09/how-turn-googles-privacy-sandbox-ad-tracking-and-why-you-should

Google has spun, lied and bullied Privacy Sandbox into existence; whenever this program draws enough fire, they rename it (it used to be called FLoC). But as the Apple example showed, no one wants to be spied on – that's why Google makes you find and untick three boxes to opt out of this new form of surveillance.

There is no consensual basis for mass commercial surveillance. The story that "people don't mind ads so long as they're relevant" is a lie. But even if it was true, it wouldn't be enough, because beyond the harms to being our authentic selves that come from the knowledge that we're being observed, surveillance data is a crucial ingredient for all kinds of crime, harassment, and deception.

We can't rely on companies to spy on us responsibly. Apple may have blocked third-party app spying, but they effect nonconsensual, continuous surveillance of every Apple mobile device user, and lie about it:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

That's why we should ban commercial surveillance. We should outlaw surveillance advertising. Period:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/03/ban-online-behavioral-advertising

Contrary to the claims of surveillance profiteers, this wouldn't reduce the income to ad-supported news and other media – it would increase their revenues, by letting them place ads without relying on the surveillance troves assembled by the Google/Meta ad-tech duopoly, who take the majority of ad-revenue:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/05/save-news-we-must-ban-surveillance-advertising

We're 30 years into the commercial surveillance pandemic and Congress still hasn't passed a federal privacy law with a private right of action. But other agencies aren't waiting for Congress. The FTC and DoJ Antitrust Divsision have proposed new merger guidelines that allow regulators to consider privacy harms when companies merge:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/FTC-2023-0043-1569

Think here of how Google devoured Fitbit and claimed massive troves of extremely personal data, much of which was collected because employers required workers to wear biometric trackers to get the best deal on health care:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/04/google-fitbit-merger-would-cement-googles-data-empire

Companies can't be trusted to collect, retain or use our personal data wisely. The right "balance" here is to simply ban that collection, without an explicit opt-in. The way this should work is that companies can't collect private data unless users hunt down and untick three "don't spy on me" boxes. After all, that's the standard that Google has set.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/29/ban-surveillance-ads/#sucker-funnel

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[northwindow]

where the heart is

a domestic syllabus [x]

"lecture on the history of the house" by claire schwartz

poem by american poet claire schwartz, published in poetry magazine and her 2022 collection civil service.

"the house. from cellar to garret. the significance of the hut" by gaston bachelard

the opening chapter to bachelard's seminal work the poetics of space. bachelard theorizes that the house's role as a site of reverie lends it a profound influence on the psyche. coining his own term, topoanalysis, to explore this influence; he surveys different poetic images of houses as representations of mind and soul.

the bedroom: an intimate history by michelle perrot, trans. by lauren elkin

french historian michelle perrot's history of the western bedroom as the site of birth, sex, illness, and death; from the ancient greek kamára to the postmodern bedrooms of today. perrot traces developments in the bedrooms of royalty, families, laborers, women, children, recluses, monks, and travelers. see also "black in bed" by art historian ella ray on the legacy of black bed art and "the bedroom of things" by caitlin blanchfield and farzin lotfi-jam for a discussion of private space through digital images.

rooms by rohan mcdonald

animated short film by illustrator rohan mcdonald featuring interviews with participants about their rooms and homes.

never home alone: from microbes to millipedes, camel crickets, and honeybees, the natural history of where we live by rob dunn

book by biologist rob dunn about the nearly 200,000 other species that live in our homes, from welcome pets to reviled pests. dunn's work researching the ecosystems of houses has illuminated the sheer scope of creatures that thrive there, often unbeknownst to both inhabitants and scientists, as well as the benefits of a biodiverse household.

"human stains" by heather havrilesky

author and "ask polly" columnist heather havrilesky on the endlessness of housework and "the strange gift that laundry brings to our lives."

the midcentury kitchen: america's favorite room from workspace to dreamscape, 1940s-1970s by sarah archer

a visual history of american kitchens, using examples of advertising and deisgn photography to show the evolution of their aesthetics, technology, and cultural ideals. see also sarah archer's episode of you're wrong about on martha stewart.

"full spectrum" and "if these walls could talk, listen, and record" by emily anthes

excerpts from the great indoors by science journalist emily anthes, which investigates the intersections of health and design in indoor spaces. "full spectrum" (republished by next city as "everyone has a basic right to good design") follows an apartment complex designed for autistic adults. "if these walls could talk, listen, and record" (republished by slate as "senior care homes are becoming high-tech medical devices") reports on the promise and limitations of smart home technology for the elderly.

"inside out, or interior space" by rebecca solnit

essay from rebecca solnit's collection of work on place, the encyclopedia of trouble and spaciousness. solnit discusses the pursuit of the "dream home" through decoration and renovation, examining our desire to craft the perfect nest.

windowswap by sonali ranjit and vaishnav balasubramaniam

a collaborative online database of user-submitted videos shot from windows around the world. conceived as a way to "travel" during early phases of the covid-19 pandemic, visitors can shuffle through videos to experience the views from homes in a plethora of different environments.

[infusemediagroup]

Top 3 Medical Device Sales Strategies to Grow Sales

Discover the top 3 medical device sales strategies to boost your sales at InfuseMed. Gain insights into innovative approaches tailored to the healthcare industry. Elevate your sales game and maximize growth potential with expert guidance. Unlock success at Infuse Media Group.

[liesmyteachertoldme]

A New Type of War

While many still have not realized it, we are at war. The aggressors are government intelligence and security agencies that have turned their weapon of choice — information — against their own citizens.

And, while the organizations doing the CIA's dirty work may have changed, the basic organizational structure is the same as it was in 1967. Taxpayer money gets funneled through various federal departments and agencies into the hands of nongovernmental agencies that carry out censorship activities as directed. As recently reported by investigative journalists Alex Gutentag and Michael Shellenberger:6

"The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) are nongovernmental organizations, their leaders say.

When they demand more censorship of online hate speech, as they are currently doing of X, formerly Twitter, those NGOs are doing it as free citizens and not, say, as government agents.

But the fact of the matter is that the US and other Western governments fund ISD, the UK government indirectly funds CCDH, and, for at least 40 years, ADL spied on its enemies and shared intelligence with the US, Israel and other governments.

The reason all of this matters is that ADL's advertiser boycott against X may be an effort by governments to regain the ability to censor users on X that they had under Twitter before Musk's takeover last November.

Internal Twitter and Facebook messages show that representatives of the US government, including the White House, FBI, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as well as the UK government, successfully demanded Facebook and Twitter censorship of their users over the last several years."

What we have now is government censorship by proxy, a deeply anti-American activity that has become standard practice, not just by intelligence and national security agencies but federal agencies of all stripes, including our public health agencies.

September 8, 2023, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's injunction banning the White House, the surgeon general, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FBI from influencing social media companies to remove so-called "disinformation."7

According to the judges' decision,8 "CDC officials provided direct guidance to the platforms on the application of the platforms' internal policies and moderation activities" by telling them what was, and was not, misinformation, asking for changes to platforms' moderation policies and directing platforms to take specific actions.

"Ultimately, the CDC's guidance informed, if not directly affected, the platforms' moderation decisions," the judges said, so, "although not plainly coercive, the CDC officials likely significantly encouraged the platforms' moderation decisions, meaning they violated the First Amendment."

Unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, the U.S. government is not acting alone. Governments around the world and international organizations like the World Health Organization are all engaged in censorship, and when it comes to medical information, most Big Tech platforms are taking their lead from the WHO. And, if the WHO's pandemic treaty9 is enacted, then the WHO will have sole authority to dictate truth. Everything else will be censored.