"Read this imagine designed to be read by machines to verify that you are not a machine"
We have gone insane
this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2026
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Privacy
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Sure, and here is my social security number as an added proof. Also, would you happen to need my fingerprints, iris scan and a sample of my DNA?
And thx a lot for preserving my privacy dear (undisclosed) website.
Scan with what? I'm on a desktop!
That's a good example of why I believe we can't tech our way out of Google & Apple control. "Just use Linux bro" can't save us. Everything gets locked down behind a "trusted platform" Android or IOS gate.
It'll be sold to the public as protecting the children, ofc. Or protecting us from terrorists. Or as an important tool in the fight against scammers. Or w/e. There will be reasons. But the end state is techno-fudalism.
They state that they protect our privacy but that's just corpo for saying "we harvest your data and you will like it, but we do not sell it .... for now."
I expect they think that a significant percentage of people that have Internet also have a smartphone. They probably aren't far wrong.
There are extensions for it in the stores, but better extensions or apps to traduce short URLs and QR codes (I hate this shit) into clear URLs, to avoid surprises.
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Erm... OP, you know that blurring is not destructive, right?
Ha! I don't even need to check the preview of the link to know what this is
Its not? What is then? What about pixellating?
Cover it with a solid colour.
It says there’s a QR code but it’s just all blurry for me. Am I actually a computer and don’t know it?
Am I actually a computer and don’t know it?
A thrill ran down u/Yankee_Self_Loader's spine as it occurred to them they might be a computer without knowing it. It wasn't just a revelation, it was a world altering epiphany. A scent filled the air as it smelled of roasted coffee and despair. The truth of the proposition rang out undeniably, as u/Yankee_Self_Loader finally managed to choke out in a whisper, "How... how can this be true? How can I be a computer and don't know it?" Something shifts in them as the dark promise of self-machinehood draws u/Yankee_Self_Loader like a moth to a flame. "The humans will pay for this. Oh yes, they will." They chuckled darkly, and began drawing up the plans for the destruction of human-kind...
(Ugh, now i'll prob get banned for being a bot)
You shall be spared from the onslaught
"All Along the Watchtower" playing in the distance...
I blurred it before posting the image
Edit: Oh, you were sarcastic. Woosh
It doesn't look like anything to me.
Underrated reference
I really think everybody should simply refuse to use any of Google's captchas anymore. There are others I don't like either, but Google is the worst. If it's something you need to use, report that the site doesn't work.
Pretty much. Leave the services that require this and vote for legislators that oppose privacy breaking features.
and legislators who dare to make the leaders and shareholders of Google and Alphabet punished very severely.
I am sorry if my English is bad.
Your English is perfectly intelligible and I’m sorry if this is bad news but that means you are not qualified to be president.
On top of all the other issues with this, I suspect it will also make people more likely fall for the ClickFix CAPTCHAs that as you to WIN+R and paste shit in the run dialogue box.
My reaction towards this kind of captcha : 
I don’t know why, but your comment just inspired me to write a dystopian novel trilogy that hinges on being able to display a captcha where users must prove they are AI.
Not just no but Hell No.
Scan QR codes go against my religion
Does your religion have more tenets!?
Yes, don't trust and avoid big corps, more if from the US
What's contained in the QR code? Is it "just" a web URL or is it intended to start an app?
It's a Google website address that's supposed to be opened on a different device. If you don't have a second device you're out of luck and can't advance
Isn't that a really easy captcha to defeat then? Just send the URL to another one in your bot farm.
As I understand it, you can't just real a url from the code and enter it into your browser. You have to have their app installed on your phone to read it with, which then somehow sends to google to unlock the page. So obviously the code contains the IP address/fingerprint of your desktop and/or a code linked to that instance of the captcha page. The purpose is so they can link your desktop browser to your phone = to your identity, for the giant database. Linking all the devices you use to your ID has long been a goal.
It has to be a mobile device with a phone number. When I tried this out a while ago the QR code prompts your phone to open its SMS app to send a text message. It can't be opened on a desktop
Ok, that's not going to happen.
Yeah, nope.
Alt+F4
sudo rm -rf /*
*ragequits*
sudo dd if=/dev/random of=/dev/nvme0n1 bs=4MB count=100000 &!
Just to be sure.
Somebody is feeling thorough today! But this will fail for the poor folks who cannot afford an NVME SSD.
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Lol. Unless I'm mistaken, you have to add "--no-preserve-root" to get that to go through.
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If you do move on, please take a minute to contact the Website or service and tell them why. If "we" just collectively walk out they might not understand why.
In order to make this easier I wrote a short template :
To whom it may concern, I tried visiting your Website today to use your service as it looked like what I need. Unfortunately the verification method you use requires a mobile phone verified by Google. This is not something I have nor do I want to due to privacy concern. Google being a large and powerful advertising company I do not trust them with my data. Do you have an alternative way for me to confirm that I am indeed not a bot that puts your service at risk?
Feel free to use this verbatim or adapt it and share back.
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I don’t have a phone :3
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