Surveillance is a deliberate action. If some incidental metadata is temporarily stored at HN and then evicted and deleted permanently in reasonable timeframes then it is not a surveillance. But as soon as it's analyzed, and/or specifically stored for prolonged periods, and/or unnecessary metadata is collected (not required for basic tech support and server administration), and/or linked to the user profiles more than needed to save and display our posts - then it's surveillance.

If I passed by your house and saw you walking your dog at 10:34 18/05/2023 and then promptly forgot about it, it is not a surveillance. If I set up a permanent observation post across the road from your door and will tail you daily everywhere you go - it's a surveillance. Even if I pinky promise that it is my own internal information and I would not share it, sell it, exchange it etc.

I'm not claiming the relation is causal. I don't know what happens between happy world -> happy world with constant surveillance -> dystopian hellscape. The same is true for HN logs. I'd say, yes those logs are a form of surveillance. If that matters is where the debate is. It's hard to say, because these things are slippery and take (a long) time.

Of course they’re being surveilled on Hacker News. Keeping a finger on the pulse here is the epitome of low hanging fruit for law enforcement and intelligence. Why would anyone suspect otherwise?

“Unlikely” being the keyword here. I know it’s unlikely, but just the act of collecting all this data makes it dangerous. IMO the benefits are small compared to the longterm risks so I lean towards, don’t track, just deliver “good coffee”. No need for hyperoptimalization of the coffee experience.

In your example they are only looking. It would be different if they were recording their observations in a structured manner (aka cameras). Even writing it down by hand would raise flags, would it not? Sure, being a human means looking at me and my coffee to brew it, but recording everything I do in (semi)permanent storage? Is that human? Is that necessary to brew coffee?

On it's face it is harder for baristas to be blindfolded. It would literally be a worse coffee shop at blindfolded baristas than normal coffee.

It’s one thing to say that you’ll keep the data private between you, but from the user’s perspective there’s no guarantee. Whether that’s because you change your mind and decide to sell the user’s data, or there’s some sorta data breach, or or or.