Yeah, you are right that we already have huge attack surfaces from apps on phones and the phones themselves.
I also agree some regulations and/or laws that prevent companies from engaging in their shady practices and dark patterns would be great if they were enforced and were not simply used to prevent competition by the large companies. I won’t hold my breath though.
I would argue it does not directly or obviously impact device ownership. However, to the best of my knowledge, it would be the first time that the US Government has publicly required a specific set of features for consumer software.
To make matters worse, this is an Operating System level requirement, which means it has more permissions than any other piece of software you run. Every device you run today has an Operating System of some kind, so this bill could impact all devices.
So, I think the conclusion that you no longer own the device stems from the fact that it has software on it doing things and collecting information you did not approve. For normal people, there will be no way to avoid it. Tech savvy users will of course find ways to dodge it unless there are enforcement mechanisms and penalties that are sufficiently punitive.
Definitely not a path we should be going down if we actually cared about freedom, much less privacy. Not to mention, this opens up the whole “slippery slope” argument for more direct government control over software.
If your CEO is genuinely a good person, he would want to know that his emails make him less personable. Maybe you could tell him why the emails do not reflect your in person impression of him, that he actually cares about the employees. The reaction would at least give you good insight into who how he thinks.
Unfortunately, a lot of CEOs have crazy schedules, so they are constantly looking for ways to optimize their time. I think this drive is big reason why they love AI so much, in general.
I wish we weren’t obsessed with optimizing profits no matter the cost in the US.
Maybe Digikey or Mouser. They have large selections of specialized electronics and good search interfaces.