But first the trump thing, and now this. They should have been WAY more cautious about this kind of thing.
But they weren't. For some reason. Maybe it's standard corporate neglect. Maybe it's that they're trying to support the far right without looking like it. Maybe 100 other things.
I'm not inclined to give Andy Yen a pass because that was egregious, but this seems like they may have allowed people to request sponsorship without enough vetting.
I was looking at VPNs to use and liked how proton had the email and other features. Them supporting someone from Trump's cabinet a few months back sort of killed that. This sealed it. Three strikes are not necessary.
I bailed on them the minute they made that mistake. I had been very content with their service though less so with all of the new things they were rolling out like the crypto wallet, etc. I miss the convenience of everything in one place but it sounds like I ditched them at a good time.
For a VPN? I use AirVPN but I think Mullvad and IVPN are generally considered best in class for privacy, all of which get down to $5/month depending on the plan you choose.
For password manager I use Bitwarden, but they went through their own controversy a couple weeks ago, so.
There is no proof they used an LLM. Plus, LLMs are trained on human text anyway, who actually talk like this... it's not like LLMs invented their own way of speaking.
If you see something like this again, tell us. We rely on your feedback and vigilance.
Or ... you could ensure something like this doesn't happen again yourselves. It's not our job to police your social media purchases.
Plus, it seems like you were notified and got feedback - just that it happened way more publicly than you wanted. Which again, isn't our problem to deal with.
Not worded the best, but they did say they were going to rework how they evaluated where they are marketing. I read that as a last resort when they make a mistake they're willing to listen.
My first reaction was it looks AI generated, but TBH I've seen plenty of corporate CYA pieces like this before GAI existed, so it could just be that's where AI got it from...
G*mers and 4chan my dude. Plus the original Nazi types were turbo nerds in their own way, that's why you had them imagining they were reincarnated Aryan warrior spirits and such.
I believe them when they say this was an error of vetting because they'd have to be naive to think this wouldn't be discovered and that a lot of their customers would have an issue with it. But that in itself is troubling. Proton are not some small-fry company with staff numbers in the single digits. Something like this speaks to their lack of planning, organisation and error-checking which are very bad traits for a privacy-centered set of software developers to have.
I've always been slightly suspicious of Proton without really knowing why but this and the previous Trump thing have made those suspicions more hardened. Everyone makes mistakes but to not even do basic checking and to lack the organisation and judgement to implement it is not something that inspires trust in the software they develop.
for a privacy-centered set of software developers to have
(Especially since they're "not some small-fry company") No developers would have been involved in this, it was 100% marketing dept and likely some service provider they use.
It’s not just an affiliate link, but a partnership announced in the description and through an entire 2min 20s segment embedded in the video.
Vincent Lapierre’s Wikipedia page is quite explicit about his far-right positioning and includes numerous sources. He worked for several years for a far-right organization founded by Alain Soral, which promotes anti-Semitic, Holocaust-denying, conspiracist, sexist, masculinist, transphobic, and homophobic ideas, and who fled to Russia to escape justice.
Feyd, can you explain to me whether you believe this man is actually lying and defaming Proton, or that it's no big deal what he's telling his followers? It can't be both, and I find it difficult to parse your sarcasm.
I think it is easily believable that it was a single sponsorship and Vincent used the word partnership without even thinking about it, and I also find it easily believable that the sponsorship is something that slipped through the cracks rather than having any meaning, and I find the response from Proton to be acceptable. I just don't think it is as big a deal as you're wanting it to be ¯_(ツ)_/¯
I think it is easily believable that it was a single sponsorship and [a man who makes a living on being a political pundit] used the word partnership without even thinking about it
So suddenly the narrative went from Vincent lying, to Vincent making a whoopsie. Odd how fast this stance softened.
Yeah that's why LurkingLuddite said "it's not a partnership. It's a normal sponsor segment. Leave it to a right winger to lie about their affiliations."
72 Comments
homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world · 63 pts · 74d
It's a good PR statement.
But first the trump thing, and now this. They should have been WAY more cautious about this kind of thing.
But they weren't. For some reason. Maybe it's standard corporate neglect. Maybe it's that they're trying to support the far right without looking like it. Maybe 100 other things.
I'm not inclined to give Andy Yen a pass because that was egregious, but this seems like they may have allowed people to request sponsorship without enough vetting.
It's still two strikes.
JustEnoughDucks@slrpnk.net · 15 pts · 74d
https://vger.to/lemmy.ml/comment/26101269
And they are sponsoring the far right grandson of a military dictator in Brazil who has pushed coup attempts.
The strikes just keep adding up.
RobotToaster@mander.xyz · 0 pts · 73d
"before we storm parliament, first a word from our sponsor"
I thought it would be raid: shadow legends that sponsored the first livestreamed military coup though.
starman2112@sh.itjust.works · 11 pts · 74d
Fron your link: "This is not a paywall."
Don't care, bypassing it anyway
wyldrstallyns@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 74d
Hey chat, no worries, we listened. Totally not a paywall anywhere, so yo. Got a sec to learn abou— __
Nope. "Paywall", staywall, same. ^sidestep^ ^dip^ Sillyass, bitch.
13igTyme@piefed.social · 10 pts · 74d
I was looking at VPNs to use and liked how proton had the email and other features. Them supporting someone from Trump's cabinet a few months back sort of killed that. This sealed it. Three strikes are not necessary.
Yakfolk@anarchist.nexus · 5 pts · 74d
I bailed on them the minute they made that mistake. I had been very content with their service though less so with all of the new things they were rolling out like the crypto wallet, etc. I miss the convenience of everything in one place but it sounds like I ditched them at a good time.
tkohldesac@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 74d
what are you using now? My wife and I struggle to find reasonably priced alternatives. We really only use it for email and password management.
UntimedDiffusion@piefed.zip · 5 pts · 74d
For a VPN? I use AirVPN but I think Mullvad and IVPN are generally considered best in class for privacy, all of which get down to $5/month depending on the plan you choose.
For password manager I use Bitwarden, but they went through their own controversy a couple weeks ago, so.
Mac@mander.xyz · 4 pts · 74d
Onboarding private equity isn't much of a controversy.
I abandoned ship right then and there.
13igTyme@piefed.social · 3 pts · 74d
Mother fucker.
Yakfolk@anarchist.nexus · 1 pts · 73d
My current solution is mullvad vpn and Tuta with a custom domain for email. I didn’t use any of their other services despite having access.
pammyfromthesticks@mander.xyz · 1 pts · 74d
Spin up a vps.... install dockerised mailcow. Set up your your dns via where you get your domain and blam.... you are now a techbro overlord.
wyldrstallyns@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 6 pts · 74d
It's certainly odd that it's happened twi— oh. How many strikes at we at, currently? 🤢
VitoRobles@lemmy.today · 5 pts · 73d
Im happy I cancelled Proton a year ago.
What I'm not happy about is still seeing Proton as recommended in privacy memes over and over again.
HeartyOfGlass@piefed.social · 62 pts · 74d
Has the same kind of simpering tone you'd get out of an LLM.
douglasg14b@lemmy.world · 35 pts · 74d
What do you think LLMs were trained off of, my friend?
DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social · 26 pts · 74d
Or any PR firm, which is why they talk like that in the first place.
This does make me wonder if the AI simpers differently in different languages.
wyldrstallyns@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 74d
Are you familiar with the works of Shao Yu?
calcopiritus@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 73d
Which doesn't mean it was written by an LLM. This has been standard corporate speak from before LLMs existed.
refalo@programming.dev · 6 pts · 74d
Just curious, what could they have possibly done instead that would satisfy you?
HeartyOfGlass@piefed.social · 5 pts · 74d
... not used an LLM to write their apology?
I mean, I'm satisfied. This indicates to me they don't care. That's all I need to hear.
wyldrstallyns@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 74d
And, the scholarly applause of us anons, of course. ☝🏼
refalo@programming.dev · 1 pts · 73d
There is no proof they used an LLM. Plus, LLMs are trained on human text anyway, who actually talk like this... it's not like LLMs invented their own way of speaking.
Would you have preferred no apology at all?
HeartyOfGlass@piefed.social · 2 pts · 73d
My preference is for companies to not use LLMs for public communication.
Sidyctism2@discuss.tchncs.de · 3 pts · 73d
Meanwhile im positively surprised that there is no "sorry you are offended"-BS at all in this statement.
aramis87@fedia.io · 41 pts · 74d
Or ... you could ensure something like this doesn't happen again yourselves. It's not our job to police your social media purchases.
Plus, it seems like you were notified and got feedback - just that it happened way more publicly than you wanted. Which again, isn't our problem to deal with.
otter@lemmy.zip · 13 pts · 74d
Not worded the best, but they did say they were going to rework how they evaluated where they are marketing. I read that as a last resort when they make a mistake they're willing to listen.
RobotToaster@mander.xyz · 36 pts · 74d
My first reaction was it looks AI generated, but TBH I've seen plenty of corporate CYA pieces like this before GAI existed, so it could just be that's where AI got it from...
AnAmericanPotato@programming.dev · 18 pts · 74d
LLMs are soulless.
Marketing and PR people are soulless.
It's not coincidence they sound alike.
frank@sopuli.xyz · 7 pts · 74d
When LLMs started to sound like middle managers we made the mistake of assuming it was conscious instead of assuming that middle managers weren't
eleijeep@piefed.social · 6 pts · 74d
It's 100% LLM slop.
ironycanal@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 23 pts · 74d
This reads like chatgpt.
krashmo@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 74d
"Write an apology to placate the angry nerds on the internet"
ironycanal@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 5 pts · 74d
No the fascist ones are fine. Just need to placate the angry wokes again.
krashmo@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 74d
I don't know very many fascists that fall into the nerdy category though
FarraigePlaisteach@piefed.social · 1 pts · 74d
The tech industry at large is fascist, I would say https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:waplkqr2wuy2c4qbge6h6ed4/post/3mnult3hv4c2d
DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social · 1 pts · 74d
G*mers and 4chan my dude. Plus the original Nazi types were turbo nerds in their own way, that's why you had them imagining they were reincarnated Aryan warrior spirits and such.
Dojan@pawb.social · 11 pts · 74d
No way in hell this wasn't shat out by an LLM.
halcyoncmdr@piefed.social · 5 pts · 74d
There's a LOT of corporate CYA bullshit to train from.
tyler@programming.dev · 20 pts · 74d
Responded to what
lefty7283@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 74d
https://lemmy.world/post/47908059
db_null@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 74d
I got the same reply to my support ticket I raised
leraje@piefed.blahaj.zone · 16 pts · 74d
I believe them when they say this was an error of vetting because they'd have to be naive to think this wouldn't be discovered and that a lot of their customers would have an issue with it. But that in itself is troubling. Proton are not some small-fry company with staff numbers in the single digits. Something like this speaks to their lack of planning, organisation and error-checking which are very bad traits for a privacy-centered set of software developers to have.
I've always been slightly suspicious of Proton without really knowing why but this and the previous Trump thing have made those suspicions more hardened. Everyone makes mistakes but to not even do basic checking and to lack the organisation and judgement to implement it is not something that inspires trust in the software they develop.
Arcka@midwest.social · 5 pts · 74d
(Especially since they're "not some small-fry company") No developers would have been involved in this, it was 100% marketing dept and likely some service provider they use.
leraje@piefed.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 73d
Of course, but they are a software development company. Its the strategy (or lack of it) I'm criticising, not their ability to write code.
Deebster@infosec.pub · 13 pts · 74d
I'm out of the loop here, what's this drama about?
XLE@piefed.social · 17 pts · 74d
https://www.reddit.com/r/degoogle/comments/1tzbizh/proton_is_funding_the_french_far_right_on_youtube/
LurkingLuddite@piefed.social · 14 pts · 74d
It's not a partnership. It's a normal sponsor segment. Leave it to a right winger to lie about their affiliations.
XLE@piefed.social · 7 pts · 74d
Vincent and his audience might disagree...
Feyd@programming.dev · 25 pts · 74d
You Really Think Someone Would Do That? Just Go On the Internet and Tell Lies?
Loid@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 74d
why did you type it like a title?
Feyd@programming.dev · 15 pts · 74d
I copy pasted it from know your meme lol
XLE@piefed.social · -2 pts · 74d
Feyd, can you explain to me whether you believe this man is actually lying and defaming Proton, or that it's no big deal what he's telling his followers? It can't be both, and I find it difficult to parse your sarcasm.
XLE@piefed.social · -4 pts · 74d
I find it all to be very strange.
Proton pays Vincent money for a sponsorship.
According to you, Vincent defames Proton.
Proton doesn't seem all that worried about the defamation.
Feyd@programming.dev · 16 pts · 74d
I think it is easily believable that it was a single sponsorship and Vincent used the word partnership without even thinking about it, and I also find it easily believable that the sponsorship is something that slipped through the cracks rather than having any meaning, and I find the response from Proton to be acceptable. I just don't think it is as big a deal as you're wanting it to be ¯_(ツ)_/¯
XLE@piefed.social · -5 pts · 74d
So suddenly the narrative went from Vincent lying, to Vincent making a whoopsie. Odd how fast this stance softened.
starman2112@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 74d
Yeah that's why LurkingLuddite said "it's not a partnership. It's a normal sponsor segment. Leave it to a right winger to lie about their affiliations."
NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone · 6 pts · 74d
Whenever you see something like this, a wizard did it.
IceFoxX@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 74d
DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com · -4 pts · 74d
Too late
Too many fucking strikes with too many "oopsie whoopsy we did a fucky wucky"
Proton supports hard right fascists. End of story. No more. Done. Finished. Finito.