This made me laugh. It’s funny cuz it’s true. And one of those crayfish is a newbie.

should you share biometric data online?

FUCK NO! And this is why - These abusive corporate sites already prison-rape our privacy, profile us and sell our secrets to who-the-fuck-ever will pay for it. Meanwhile, they can’t keep their databases secure, so our personal and private details go for sale on the dark web. It’s then used to screw us over further by extortion, theft and identity theft, which is really difficult to rectify. Who the hell thinks giving these incompetent morons more unique identifying data to keep safe for us is a good idea? If you’re in doubt just go for a visit to the data breaches community on any instance that has one. The thing we NEED to be doing is taking control of our own identities by implementing web3 technology and using methods that preserve our data for our own use. We decide who gets what. One example for clarification purposes is something like InternetComputer’s solution.

We’ve all grown accustomed to managing hundreds of usernames and passwords, recovering forgotten accounts over text or email, unwittingly permitting companies to profit from our data at the cost of our personal privacy, all while falling victim to threats of identity theft and fraud.

On the Internet Computer blockchain, users can securely authenticate themselves without ever needing an email, username, or password. Using a passkey, users can login conveniently without their information being monetized by tech companies. Internet Identity is designed to prevent Web3 services to track user activity across dapps.

And yes, you could still use fingerprint or faceID, but you’re not handing it over to anyone else.

There are some open source tax software around. Depending on your country’s requirements you should get by with it. It might be “clunky”, and you might have to persevere with some kind of inconvenience, but I’m of the opinion that any open-source transparent software, preferably a local installation, is worth using. The alternatives are usually hostile to you despite selling as convenient and friendly. Remember that any cloud solution is basically “someone else computer”. Would you put your most private financial information on some random person’s computer? Any assurance of security is a farce. There’s been many data breaches of tax prep corporate databases. Having said, that’s not the worst aspect of using most app based or online tax prep software. Most of them look at your data, profile you, and then sell that information (your private financial information) to data brokers! If you’re using the app you likely agreed to them doing that whether you’re aware or not. Check the privacy policy and terms of use. Additionally, many hold your records for ransom! You need to keep a certain number of years worth of records, and if you aren’t keeping a local copy for yourself they are the only source. Many will deny you your tax records if you haven’t payed for their services. It’s extortion. Something that belongs to you cannot be attained unless you pay them to give it to you. It ensures that you remain a customer forever. If you want to quit them, they know they will get years of payment out of you because you need access to your own financial documents. This is an insidious practice and I don’t know why anyone puts up with it. Find an accountant who is willing to work with alternate open source software. They exist.

Thanks.

So…nothing has changed except they have notified people the data they’re already scraping and keeping is now going to be used to train AI too.