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Cellphones Privacy

Church Official Exposed Through America's 'Vast and Largely Unregulated Data-Harvesting' (nytimes.com) 101

The New York Times' On Tech newsletter shares a thought-provoking story: This week, a top official in the Roman Catholic Church's American hierarchy resigned after a news site said that it had data from his cellphone that appeared to show the administrator using the L.G.B.T.Q. dating app Grindr and regularly going to gay bars. Journalists had access to data on the movements and digital trails of his mobile phone for parts of three years and were able to retrace where he went.

I know that people will have complex feelings about this matter. Some of you may believe that it's acceptable to use any means necessary to determine when a public figure is breaking his promises, including when it's a priest who may have broken his vow of celibacy. To me, though, this isn't about one man. This is about a structural failure that allows real-time data on Americans' movements to exist in the first place and to be used without our knowledge or true consent. This case shows the tangible consequences of practices by America's vast and largely unregulated data-harvesting industries. The reality in the United States is that there are few legal or other restrictions to prevent companies from compiling the precise locations of where we roam and selling that information to anyone.

This data is in the hands of companies that we deal with daily, like Facebook and Google, and also with information-for-hire middlemen that we never directly interact with. This data is often packaged in bulk and is anonymous in theory, but it can often be traced back to individuals, as the tale of the Catholic official shows...

Losing control of our data was not inevitable. It was a choice — or rather a failure over years by individuals, governments and corporations to think through the consequences of the digital age.

We can now choose a different path.

"Data brokers are the problem," writes the EFF, arguing that the incident "shows once again how easy it is for anyone to take advantage of data brokers' stores to cause real harm." This is not the first time Grindr has been in the spotlight for sharing user information with third-party data brokers... But Grindr is just one of countless apps engaging in this exact kind of data sharing. The real problem is the many data brokers and ad tech companies that amass and sell this sensitive data without anything resembling real users' consent.

Apps and data brokers claim they are only sharing so-called "anonymized" data. But that's simply not possible. Data brokers sell rich profiles with more than enough information to link sensitive data to real people, even if the brokers don't include a legal name. In particular, there's no such thing as "anonymous" location data. Data points like one's home or workplace are identifiers themselves, and a malicious observer can connect movements to these and other destinations. Another piece of the puzzle is the ad ID, another so-called "anonymous" label that identifies a device. Apps share ad IDs with third parties, and an entire industry of "identity resolution" companies can readily link ad IDs to real people at scale.

All of this underlines just how harmful a collection of mundane-seeming data points can become in the wrong hands... That's why the U.S. needs comprehensive data privacy regulation more than ever. This kind of abuse is not inevitable, and it must not become the norm.

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Church Official Exposed Through America's 'Vast and Largely Unregulated Data-Harvesting'

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  • by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 24, 2021 @05:41PM (#61616899)

    Some of you may believe that it's acceptable to use any means necessary to determine when a public figure is breaking his promises, including when it's a priest who may have broken his vow of celibacy.

    Nobody sane person gives half a shit about a priest "breaking his vow of celibacy".

    The problem is a priest who is fucking men while at the same time working for an organization that is aggressively anti-gay

    • by ozmartian ( 5754788 ) on Saturday July 24, 2021 @05:45PM (#61616909) Homepage
      Add to that anti-gay uber-conservative politicians who get caught. The world is hilarious.
      • Why the Catholic church has so much problems with gay priests. They grow up Catholic and gay and spend her whole lives being taught they're an abomination and they join the priesthood hoping it'll somehow "fix" them. Sad thing is if he'd been a pedophile instead of a gay man he probably still be a priest. They have hid it instead of exposing him.
        • They have a problem with gay priests the for the same reason someone with no healthcare will vote Republican, or an environmental activist flies around in a private jet: because cognitive dissonance is one hell of a drug. If you've convinced yourself that your actions aren't in conflict with your beliefs, you can keep right on doing what you're doing.

          Hooking up with gay men on grindr is a perfectly normal thing for a straight man to do, as long as the balls don't touch.

    • Re: (Score:1, Interesting)

      by quonset ( 4839537 )

      The problem is a priest who is fucking men while at the same time working for an organization that is aggressively anti-gay

      The problem is a priest fucking boys while at the same time working for an organization that is aggressively covering up child rape for centuries.

      • by ozmartian ( 5754788 ) on Saturday July 24, 2021 @06:00PM (#61616963) Homepage
        Hang on there pal! This one is a simple case of homosexuality by a priest. Doesn't mention nor equate anything too pedophilia. Lets stay sane.
        • Doesn't mention nor equate anything too pedophilia.

          Freudian slip checks out.

        • By my read, he was saying both are wrong, not that gay men were also pedophiles.

        • by ghoul ( 157158 )
          At one time society looked on Gays the same way they look on Paedophiles today. Who is to say in the future the LGBTQ movement may not be a LGBTQP movement?
          • Because children can't consent and adults can?

            This is the dumbest slippery slope arguement.

            • by ghoul ( 157158 )
              Greta Thunberg. If children can lecture the world on how to run the world, what makes you think they cant consent. There is actually a movement around to give Teenagers the right to vote (under the reasoning the actions of the govt affect future generations). Whats to say some future stupid politician doesnt move to change the age of consent. After all if they can vote they can consent. So not as outlandish as it sounds at first pass.
      • The problem is a priest who is fucking men while at the same time working for an organization that is aggressively anti-gay

        The problem is a priest fucking boys while at the same time working for an organization that is aggressively covering up child rape for centuries.

        The problem is that certain situations trigger so badly that "anything goes" is considered acceptable.

        The priest has not been accused of pedophilia, he's not the one responsible for centuries (your word) of abuse, and he's done nothing illegal.

        It's a violation of fundamental morality, which is hurting others without needing to do so. It's the specific definition of evil. He's not hurting anyone, so why is everyone hounding him?

        The "anything goes" thing is a slippery slope, and wildly dependent on current ci

        • by PopeRatzo ( 965947 ) on Saturday July 24, 2021 @07:36PM (#61617181) Journal

          The priest has not been accused of pedophilia, he's not the one responsible for centuries (your word) of abuse, and he's done nothing illegal.

          But he was one of the hypocritical jackoffs who sent a letter to the Vatican saying President Joe Biden was not morally eligible to receive Holy Communion because the President believes government has no place in a woman's reproductive decisions.

          Scratch a religious conservative and you'll find some interesting closets in their skeleton.

        • by dfghjk ( 711126 )

          "He's not hurting anyone, so why is everyone hounding him?"

          It turns out he's also involved in attempts to deny Biden communion for his "abortion stance". His use of Grindr may not be hurting anyone but he actively participates in hurting people as a source of his power. The whole story isn't being told here.

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by znrt ( 2424692 )

          It's the specific definition of evil. He's not hurting anyone, so why is everyone hounding him?

          it's despicable, but deep down its an instinct and tribal reaction to something considered offensive ... fueled by click hungry media. however ...

          Homosexuality used to be a DSM-III pathology, but now it's reasonably accepted by society

          this isn't about his homosexuality but about the fact that he's cheating on people whom he presented himself to as a moral example. for a believer this amounts to treason, the worst thing you can do in any tribe. for the rest of the world it just makes a mockery of the moral institution he represents. this is the revolting bit, not what particular stuff he wants t

          • It's the specific definition of evil. He's not hurting anyone, so why is everyone hounding him?

            it's despicable, but deep down its an instinct and tribal reaction to something considered offensive ... fueled by click hungry media. however ...

            This is an extremely worrisome and dangerous way to think. It's the way that vigilante mobs form. When it's a mob lynching a black man, we collectively condemn. When it's an embarrassment for (... insert people or philosophies that we disagree with ...), we applaud. I assume that without exception, we (meaning the slashdot crowd) would condemn and protest a similar invasion of privacy targeted at ourselves. But perhaps we foolishly think that there is nothing embarrassing or hypocritical in our own liv

            • by znrt ( 2424692 )

              maybe because you assume i condone it, i do not (i actually did the opposite, twice). i merely try to explain reality and why this happens.

              read carefully, by jumping so quick to conclusions you might be doing exactly what you are criticising. or else please explain what exactly is extremely worrisome and dangerous in my way of thinking?

      • What if I told you that the *rate* of incidence of child abuse in the Catholic Church is no different than similar organizations throughout the entire country, and although obviously incredibly wrong, hypocritical, and deserving of being fully investigated, it being singled-out is painting an inaccurate picture of the Church being uniquely and especially guilty of it?

        • What if I told you that the *rate* of incidence of child abuse in the Catholic Church is no different than similar organizations throughout the entire country, and although obviously incredibly wrong, hypocritical, and deserving of being fully investigated, it being singled-out is painting an inaccurate picture of the Church being uniquely and especially guilty of it?

          Glad to know the "rate" of incidence of child rape in an institution which claims that sex between men (but apparently not women) is forbidden is the same as other institutions. Wouldn't want to paint an inaccurate picture of the Church.

        • by dfghjk ( 711126 )

          Such an incredible claim would require evidence, but then "similar organizations" doesn't really mean anything. What similar organizations are there to the Catholic Church, and what evidence do you have that they abuse children at similar rates? I think everyone would be interested in that, and no one is interested in your inflammatory comment.

          "... being singled-out is painting an inaccurate picture of the Church being uniquely and especially guilty of it?"

          Bullshit, it is not painting a REMOTELY inaccurat

          • Perhaps we could compare the Lutherans, the Episcopalians, the Puritans, and the Greek Catholics for Christian faiths? Or the Jews, the Mormons, and the Muslim priesthoods for those from the same Abrahamic roots? The Hindi, the Buddhist, and the Wiccans for non-Ambrahamic faiths more familiar to the West? Or the asonishing array of sub-Saharan African faiths, such as the Asante or the Yoruba?

            I don't have the numbers, but there are certainly similar faiths. The Episcopalians are more accessible to English s

        • That may or not be true but the church is also complicit in covering up abuses for decades if not centuries at this point. A priest is caught fucking children and he's quietly moved somewhere else and law enforcement is never told. The boy scouts are currently broke from similar behavior. https://www.npr.org/2020/02/18... [npr.org]

      • by dfghjk ( 711126 )

        This is not remotely "interesting", it needs to be modded down as off-topic. This is not "a priest fucking boys".

      • by PPH ( 736903 )

        The problem is a priest fucking boys

        Better that he hooks up at gay bars or through Grindr (which I assume has age verification) than trolling for kids a the park.

        That said, if you join a club, you abide by its rules. Or they are within their rights to throw you out.

        • Better that he hooks up at gay bars or through Grindr (which I assume has age verification) than trolling for kids a the park.

          Homosexuality != pedophilia

          You probably wouldn't say the same thing in reference to a straight person looking to get his rocks off through a hook-up app.
          "Oh, thank God Jimmy is going on Tinder, instead of hitting on the Girls Scouts in front of the Walmart!"

          • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

            by h33t l4x0r ( 4107715 )
            Apparently you didn't get the memo, but Catholic priests are rather fond of fucking children. So fucking grown-ups is a nice change of pace.
            • Why is this modded troll? That he seeks concentual relationships with other adult men is much better than the usual Catholic priest M.O. And no, I'm not saying a guy who has concentual homosexual sex is in any way a pedophile. I'm saying it would be nice if the Church embraced the concentual one and stopped covering up for the pedophiles. How screwed up is it that's not the case?

          • by PPH ( 736903 )

            Homosexuality != pedophilia

            But like hetrosexuals, there is a certain amount of ephebophilia. And not an insignificant amount either (on either side of the fence). Because there is nothing psychologically wrong with being attracted to post pubescent youth.

            The problem is that we can manage the urges of hetrosexual adults with low self control by keeping younger individuals of the opposite gender separated or chaperoned. No men alone coaching girls gymnastics and no women coaching the boys. But what do you do with the gay coaches or t

            • The problem is that we can manage the urges of hetrosexual adults with low self control by keeping younger individuals of the opposite gender separated or chaperoned.

              We manage the urges by having statutory rape laws, and just as with other forms of rape, we shouldn’t blame the victims. If you can’t trust someone to be around kids/teens, they shouldn’t be around them period - regardless of their sexual orientation.

    • by Somervillain ( 4719341 ) on Saturday July 24, 2021 @08:42PM (#61617321)
      The problem is that if it can happen to him, it can happen to you. How long before a company creates a service to track truancy? Oh, you were "out sick" yesterday, but according to deanonymizerEmployeeTracker.com, you went to the movies....or out on a job interview?...or just going to a parent teacher meeting you forgot you had until the last minute.

      How long before an unethical boss abuses this? What if she's a raging homophobe and discovers your coworker is gay from their grindr profile? It would be pretty easy to figure out based on a simple query of everyone who has visited the office and then see which location they visit the most (their home).

      No, they legally can't fire you for that, but they can easily get around it by marginalizing you or subtly sabotaging your performance. If they figure out you're interviewing, you can bet they will marginalize you if they can. If they have the capacity to do so, they will pull you off your projects or scrutinize your every action. Suddenly, you'll get less direction and effort put into helping you do your job. Suddenly, every mistake will be amplified in a bid to make a case you were fired for just cause.

      How long before your insurance company uses this to invalidate your worker's comp claim because you went someplace they deemed unacceptable, like a bowling alley? What if they make YOU prove that you weren't doing anything to injure yourself, but just went there to hang out with friends?

      Inevitably on slashdot someone makes the "well, if you had nothing to hide..." argument, similar to what you're stating here. I will counter with this. I personally have nothing to hide. I only fuck my wife. I commit no crimes. I don't do anything that would get me fired. I am a boring, pathetic dad...with a dad bod to match and dad-of-small-children dead behind the eyes expression and dad-level charisma. You'll find nothing fun on me. However, I am not confident the same holds true for everyone I know. Is my married (to a woman) boss banging dudes on grindr?...eh, it wouldn't surprise me too much. Would I want to know?...really, no. I don't want to know the salacious details of every person I know....affairs, job-interviews, terrible affiliations. I like my privacy and want the same for those around me.

      As an example, I am pretty confident someone I know is having an affair. I think his wife knows. I think they have an arrangement that works for them...primarily because their really religious family doesn't know about it. If it were to be made public, she would be humiliated and it would be really rough on their kids. But our mutual friends think they're probably casual swingers....not doing anything unethical, not harming anyone, but this would hurt their relationship with their family & their careers if it became public knowledge.

      I don't want to know this information. I don't want anyone having their lives devastated...even if they were doing something bad, like cheating on their wife. I don't want to be a part of it. It's not my business and I get no joy from seeing someone's life destroyed for what they do in the bedroom, even if they may deserve it in many people's eyes.

      Finally, how much longer before this story becomes about stalkers? Some dude figures out his ex girlfriend's profile and uses it to figure out where she will be during the day? What if it's a creep stalking a stranger he has a crush on?

      What about the error rate? Your friend lives in a 3 story apartment building. Some psycho's girlfriend lives above your friend...now the location data shows you visiting the building for 2h when he was out of town...now he's following you around wondering if you banged his girlfriend. Do you want to explain to some psychopath brimming with anger "hey dude, I never met your girlfriend, I was hanging out at my bud's house playing XBox."?

      It's not long before someone buys this data and uses it to catch adulterers, but will provide no guarantee of accuracy
      • by g01d4 ( 888748 )

        but this would hurt their relationship with their family & their careers if it became public knowledge

        There's already a myriad of ways shit like this can become "public knowledge" and "data harvesting" is just one more that, like the others, can be mitigated against.

        If they figure out you're interviewing, you can bet they will marginalize you if they can

        Not sure how you calculate your odds, but what's it say about an employer who would marginalize you if you're a good employee assessing your worth in

        • but this would hurt their relationship with their family & their careers if it became public knowledge

          There's already a myriad of ways shit like this can become "public knowledge" and "data harvesting" is just one more that, like the others, can be mitigated against.

          If they figure out you're interviewing, you can bet they will marginalize you if they can

          Not sure how you calculate your odds, but what's it say about an employer who would marginalize you if you're a good employee assessing your worth in the labor market?

          It is what it is, but you have 2 employees and 2 tasks. One task is great (value, highly visible, fun, pleasant, the future of the company), the other sucks (let's say fix a legacy bug and is difficult to diagnose/troubleshoot) both need to be done at the same time and are equally important, so bottom line...they need to be done this sprint.

          Now you have 2 employees...equally valuable and equally suitable for either task. You like them both equally...one is interviewing, the other isn't.

          Who gets

    • by Anonymous Coward

      And children. Knocking up a 14 year old virgin, engaged to someone else, was the foundation of Christianity. The rape of Bathsheba by David is very close to the foundation of Judaism, and the rape of Isaac by his "second wife", Hagar. The Greeks had the seduction of Helen of Troy by Paris, and Zeus being all "pan-sexual" as a bull or a goat in various tales. Loki was very pan-sexual indeed, giving birth to Fenrir the wolf, and do not get me *started* n the shenanigans of African gods. They slept with every

    • Some of you may believe that it's acceptable to use any means necessary to determine when a public figure is breaking his promises, including when it's a priest who may have broken his vow of celibacy.

      Nobody sane person gives half a shit about a priest "breaking his vow of celibacy".

      The problem is a priest who is fucking men while at the same time working for an organization that is aggressively anti-gay

      An organization that holds the dual principles of being anti gay, yet enabling pedophilia and overtly protecting men that enjoy fucking little boys.

      If Monsignor Kutchyacockoff wishes to bump uglies with another adult male - you are right - not many care. But there is more to this story

      Interestingly enough the story referenced is all about the poor priests vicious treatment by data brokers. What they completely ignored is this: https://tipsloves.com/catholic... [tipsloves.com]

      You can be completely sure, that whil

    • by ghoul ( 157158 )
      How is the Catholic church anti-gay? For centuries the only respectable profession for men who dont want to marry woman has been to be a Catholic priest. Surely a large number of these men were Gay. Maybe the Catholic church may not like the competition from the open LGBTQ movement - why become a Catholic priest or nun if you can live as an openly gay man or woman
    • by gweihir ( 88907 )

      Let me shorten that for you: "The problem is a priest". That already covers it nicely.

    • IKR?

      Why have an ally inside who might be trying to do their best to change things for the better when you can just destroy them?

      I suppose in the war against religion what's a little forceful outing of a gay man in a way that destroys his life?

  • """ .. That's why the U.S. needs comprehensive data privacy regulation more than ever.
    """
    see above

    • Irrelevant.
      The most comprehensive 'data privacy' laws on the planet only punish violators. Not 'prevent' data breaches.
      • Wouldn't that also apply to laws against murder?

        The thing about laws, such as those that implement the GDPR, are that they reduce sharing of data. There is greater responsibility placed on a company that collects user data. If there is less sharing then there are fewer points of weakness as fewer companies hold that data.

        Certainly it will vary company. I'd hazard a guess that a site that is essentially eBay for cock, which has to advise its users to take regular HIV tests, is probably not a place you'd want

    • see above Yes, I see but it puzzles me.

  • databases (Score:5, Insightful)

    by spaceman375 ( 780812 ) on Saturday July 24, 2021 @05:47PM (#61616923)
    The problem is not data brokers. The problem is human nature. If you compile a database, it WILL be used for unintended purposes. The more sensitive the data, the worse the possible abuses, and you can't predict ahead of time which data can be abused in what ways. Humans are creative and often selfishly motivated.

    We need to put serious restrictions on what data, available to whom, for what purposes, for how long. Especially for how long it can remain correlated and accessed.

    • Re:databases (Score:5, Insightful)

      by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Saturday July 24, 2021 @07:08PM (#61617121)
      You know we could just pass a law that says cell phone companies aren't allowed to sell that data. They used public airwaves at our pleasure. Their public airwaves after all. Yeah they were technically auctioned off but that doesn't mean we can't take them back and give them little or nothing in return. There's absolutely nothing that says we can't do that, or that we can't regulate them as we see fit. Somewhere along the line we became a bunch of pussies who won't stand up to corporations out of some slavish devotion to private property. I don't know when we became such a bunch of wimps that we let these Jokers push us around. I think it was some time in the '80s. My granddad wouldn't put up with this s***.
      • I don't know when we became such a bunch of wimps that we let these Jokers push us around. I think it was some time in the '80s. My granddad wouldn't put up with this s***.

        Probably when we started referring to people/groups as "jokers" and censoring words like "shit".

        • You can thank Google's text to speech for that. What's wrong with referring to joker's as Jokers? You got somethin' against how my granddad talked?
      • You know, it's not like the app doesn't ask for permission to track you. He effectively opted in to that database because he valued gay sex over not getting caught. Or more likely he just clicks yes on every permission.
      • That will happen when someone tracks politicians in this way.

        Will be interesting to see whats found.

    • Database nation [amazon.com] told us over twenty years ago what the problem was.

    • by fermion ( 181285 )
      As a general case, we need to look at how data is used, and exactly how anonymous it actually is. But in this specific case it is nothing more that some who routinely breaks their terms of employment and did the right thing, resigned.

      Data will be more or less public. That is why it is collected, to sell. And while anonymous is location data can be correlated. It is easy enough to track someoneâ(TM)s residence, their work, motel rooms or known sex locations, and put two and two together.

      Again, thi

  • How can this all be fixed when so much money is being made by so many? Nearly all startups I've interviewed at have some data selling going on behind the scenes even though they're all "green" and helping the environment. Vomit!
    • About all you can do is leave the phone at home. If it never moves from the bookshelf, then there is nothing to track.

      The other thing you need is a dummy load to disable the cell transmitter in the car. That is easy to build IF you can find the correct connector.

    • Nearly all startups I've interviewed at have some data selling going on behind the scenes even though they're all "green" and helping the environment. Vomit!

      Careful, your politics are showing...

    • Maybe if the media starts actually naming and shaming the specific companies that are selling said user data. Instead, they seem satisfied with using vague terms to describe these companies.

      I have a theory that the media itself does not want to actually name and shame the companies and CEOs responsible for selling ad metadata because the media benefits from them, either directly (they use the location data to scoop stories) or indirectly (through ad revenue).

      Either way, I would like to be proven wrong by se

  • They have turned information on us into trillions of dollars. They pay little tax. And they're global. I know this is a US centric site but come on guys, rein the bustards in.
  • by evanh ( 627108 ) on Saturday July 24, 2021 @06:05PM (#61616983)

    The real issue is having targetted advertising of individual and the tracking used to achieve it.

    She's absolutely correct to say we can choose to have alternative advertising solutions though. After all, advertising worked just fine before the internet allowed for the cheap tracking of individuals.

  • by Rosco P. Coltrane ( 209368 ) on Saturday July 24, 2021 @06:25PM (#61617029)

    I'm utterly shocked. SHOCKED I tell you!

  • ... or stop doing things that you know are bad, because you will be tracked.

    Everyone would prefer it, if you stopped doing the bad things.

    • by dfghjk ( 711126 )

      To be clear, this guy's problem isn't using Grindr, it's his gross hypocrisy...and he isn't being tracked for hypocrisy through his phone.

      "Everyone would prefer it, if you stopped doing the bad things."

      Turning off his phone would not accomplish that. You think using Grindr is a "bad thing"?

      • Grindr is bad only because they sell people's data. I assume Tinder is also selling people's data.
        Looks like people need a hook-up app that doesn't sell their fucking data.

  • by UnknownSoldier ( 67820 ) on Saturday July 24, 2021 @07:21PM (#61617155)

    > it's a priest who may have broken his vow of celibacy.

    Part of the problem is that the Catholic clergy can't even read their own damn bible. Why is it expected that EVERY priest should have a vow of celibacy when scripture clearly says otherwise that this was NOT required.

    Peter, an elder of the church, had a wife.

    1 Corinthians 9:5 Don't we have the right to bring a believing wife with us as the other apostles and the Lord's brothers do, and as Peter does?

    Deacons were allowed to be married, something the [Catholic] Church conveniently forgets.

    1 Timothy 3:12 A deacon must be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and his household well.

    Maybe if if priests were married they wouldn't be chasing after gays and forgetting Matthew 7:1 in the process

    Matthew 7:1 Do not judge, or you too will be judged.

    • Part of the problem is that the Catholic clergy can't even read their own damn bible. Why is it expected that EVERY priest should have a vow of celibacy when scripture clearly says otherwise that this was NOT required.

      Not every priest. There are actually a few that are married. Priests' celibacy is by tradition, not dogma or doctrine, so it's allowed in some very rare cases, and could be allowed for all priests, if the church leadership decided to allow it (there are arguments for and against, though I'd say "they might be having gay sex if they're not married" is not a particularly strong one).

      Deacons were allowed to be married, something the [Catholic] Church conveniently forgets.

      Deacons are allowed to be married (though again by tradition they cannot marry after becoming a deacon).

      • Nope, Second Lateran Council of 1139 was when priest celibacy *required*

        Just admit the Roman Catholic Church is a twisted organization that breeds sexual deviants, about 15 percent estimated to have molested their flock

    • by dfghjk ( 711126 )

      "Maybe if if priests were married they wouldn't be chasing after gays and forgetting Matthew 7:1 in the process."

      That marriage would have to include same sex marriage for it to be true for priests that would pursue gay sex. "gay" is not a consequence of not being married to a woman, and the vow of celibacy is not the only problem here, arguably not even the most important one.

      But who cares what any passage of fiction says anyway? Quoting scripture itself is at the root of the problem, religion is merely a

    • Maybe if if priests were married they wouldn't be chasing after gays and forgetting Matthew 7:1 in the process

      Yeah, letting people have heterosexual marriage totally works to eliminate homosexuality in the general population, so it should work just as well within the church. /s

      My take on it is that the church can have all the anti-gay rules they want, so long as their power to enforce them doesn't extend beyond the walls of their buildings.

    • Catholicism is not a literalist sect of the Bible.

      Maybe if if priests were married they wouldn't be chasing after gays and forgetting Matthew 7:1 in the process

      Unless that marriage is gay, that married priest would still be chasing after gays. And what's the Catholic Church's stance on gay marriage?

      • And what's the Catholic Church's stance on gay marriage?

        I know this is rhetorical, but realistically speaking, their stance is probably just a generation or two behind the times. The church got over the Earth not being the center of the universe, the emancipation proclamation, and women's liberation. They'll eventually come around to gay marriage too.

        Every fall, the church up the street from where I live sells pumpkins for what was originally a Celtic pagan festival called Samhain [history.com]. Of course, we now call it something else, and celebrate it with mass produced

        • They'll eventually come around to gay marriage too.

          They haven't even come around to no-fault-divorce and not blaming the woman for not putting up with a violent husband.

        • Times change.

          However:

          "I am the LORD, and I do not change." -- Malachi 3:6 (NLT)

          "Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father (...). He never changes or casts a shifting shadow." -- James 1:17 (NLT)

          Public opinion about what's acceptable changes all the time. Gods standards for right and wrong never change however, and will never change.

          • by nazrhyn ( 906126 )
            Too bad we can't talk to Him about what those standards are without a fallible human proxy in the middle.
  • The Catholic Church and organizations should use Internet data to expose Clergy and lay people that are sinning against the Church.
  • Tattletale (Score:4, Interesting)

    by rtb61 ( 674572 ) on Saturday July 24, 2021 @07:45PM (#61617201) Homepage

    Thought of a cute app the authorities can use, which ever authority it be, a real data collecting app. Load up your tattletale app and then take a photo of the transgression and it is automatically uploaded to that authority. Ensure the photo or series of photos or video have identifiers for prosecution, add a comment and it is automactically uploaded to the authorities. Successful prosecutions earn a reward, a piece of the fine. All so, so, mean but I could not resist, so funny ;DDD.

    A new kind of data mining, the police using the public to tattle tale on whom ever for what ever, upload the data provided by their app, which adds location and time to your comment, on the spot investigation and the authorities due the fining and revenue chasing and provide you a little reward.

    So, so, many people will get busted, just so FUNNY ;DDD. People will love to tattletale on the police to the police, as funny as.

  • Recognize that data is a creation and deserves copyright. Even a mouse click is a creative act (a choice) and the creator (clicker) deserves a copyright interest in any personally-identifiable information. It is valuable enough to be worth recording. So the recorder may keep their records as they were given them but may not distribute/copy them further without explicit permission.

  • First of all: yet another dupe [slashdot.org] from our highly-attentive marketing - I mean, "News for nerds" overlords. At this point I'm convinced they're doing it on purpose to get a rise out of us.

    Second: The amount of stereotyping, off-topic, bigoted anti-Catholic comments on here is astounding, even though it probably shouldn't be. If you'd mod down the same sorts of ignorance if it was directed at non-Catholics and other faiths, but you think it's fine to go after Catholics, then you're a bigot, and you're a lesser

  • TFA states: âoe According to commercially available records of app signal data obtained by The Pillar, a mobile device correlated to Burrill emitted app data signals from the location-based hookup app Grindr on a near-daily basis during parts of 2018, 2019, and 2020âoe

    Could someone please tell me where to buy this app signal data or who offers it for sale?

  • IN 1988 the Video Privacy Act\ [wikipedia.org]was passed. I expect Congress to pass something similar for location tracking data once a member of Congress' data gets outed or it's used against a family member.

  • Look at you all getting bent out of shape ... .. and missing the point. The gays and catholic thing is minor compared to the issue that regardless your data is being shared/monetized. Consequently given enough access you are vulnerable to extortion or worse in a way that required an intimate relationship or many man hours of surveillance and research before. We have seen it coming down the pipe and done nothing now chickens are roosting. I cannot beleive how many posters just focused on the Grindr thing ..
  • The only priest to resign is the one *possibly* having CONSENSUAL sex with an adult?!? Why don't they just re-assign him like the pedophiles?

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