Notices by Merovius (merovius@chaos.social), page 2

Okay, so, heretical question, but: *Does* ActivityPub actually enable people to easily switch servers on a protocol level?
Like, what prevents a server from just not supporting you moving out?
(Leaving aside whether the actual moving process works as advertised)

@truhe I don't think that matters terribly in terms of my question.

@truhe So ISTM what you are saying is that a) yes, a server could absolutely refuse to let you move out (by not providing the export and not telling your followers to move over) and b) even if working as intended, it doesn't *really* work as advertised.

This is doing numbers, so to maybe preempt the most common responses:

1. "Or you can ask if it's okay" - sure. Go ahead. I just wanted people to be aware of a privacy-preserving option that has the same convenience as just giving out the number. As long as you don't give out my info without consent, we're good.

2. "You know about phone books, right?" - Yes. They sucked. Good riddance. "We used to be even worse at privacy" is not a justification. The world changed, mostly for the better.

PSA, if someone asks you for contact info (e.g. a phone number) of someone you know, the correct response is "I can't give that to you, but I can give them yours".

It's efficient and adds no round-trips, it's privacy friendly, it's non-awkward and it's social engineering resistant. It's a universally good rule.

And the corollary, of course: Don't ask someone for another person's contact info - ask them to pass on yours.