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Google Opt Out Feature Lets Users Protect Privacy By Moving To Remote Village

The Onion · 2M views · 2009-08-11 · 2:18

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Overview

A satirical Onion news segment announcing a Google feature that lets users opt out of Google's data collection by moving to a remote village without Google products or sunlight.

On Hacker News

Used as a punchline in privacy and opt-out threads, mostly as a joke that reality has caught up to the satire.

Discussed on HN; no positive recommendation is recorded in this export · HN mentions 2016–2025

Topics

Satire & parodyPrivacy, surveillance & cybercrime
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the oniongoogleprivacysatireopt out

What people said

roxolotl · 2025-07 · Joke / meme

The Onion has a great response to this from 2009: [VIDEO] Of course you can opt out. People live in the backwoods of Alaska. But if you want to live a semi normal life there is no option. And absolutely people should feel entitled to a normal life.

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roxolotl · 2025-05 · Joke / meme

Reminds me of the wonderful Onion piece about a Google Opt Out Village. [VIDEO] I appreciate the frustration that, if not quite yet, it’ll be near impossible to live a normal life without having exposure to GenAI systems. Of course as others say here, and the date on the Onion piece shows, it’s not sadly not a new concern.

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lozenge · 2021-10 · Joke / meme

When Apple killed Flash, it killed Flash for you too. Now if Facebook promotes division and misinformation... just because you don't log onto Facebook, doesn't mean it has no impact on your life. [VIDEO] vibes

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Sources

Video by The Onion, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

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HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

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