I have neither time, resources nor know-how to like go all out on data privacy. But I try doing things like using Proton for Mail, browsing with DuckDuckGo or Ecosia, messaging on Signal instead of WhatsApp, etc.
But I’m having a hard time responding to people who say “why do you do that, it’s completely pointless since companies like Google have all of our data anyways unless we go all out, and nobody has time for all the effort that takes”.
I’m pretty late but hopefully this helps someone:
Privacy is in the moment. It isn’t just about your SSN, or the email address you had ten years ago even you signed up for Pegging by Peggy newsletters. It’s a moving target and the highest value for the people that want your data is as close to right now as possible.
If you digitally disappeared in this moment the value of all the shit they have on you would rapidly decline.
It also is about as complete a picture as possible. Privacy violating data points are valuable in aggregation. An address and name are only valuable when you can tie it to viewing preferences, voting records, etc. The more data points you can hide, the better.
Also, many (most?) people will be more upset with the person who rocks the boat or is the messenger of bad news than the perpetrator of the real problem. “We’ve tried nothing and are all out of ideas” applies to people you might care about just as much as it does to Schummer.
It’s not “all out there”, unless you let it go out there.
Most interaction with people on privacy-hostile services are out there, yes. But that’s far from “all”.
Public figures? Probably true to some degree.
(Even Linus Torvalds said that. He argued that anything that’s worth being backed up, will probably be).The run of the mill Joe Doe? No.
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Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good and if not for yourself but your friends and family. You would want them being stalked online right?
Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.
Ok, what is your social security number, email address with password, your date of birth, and if applicable, your mother’s maiden name.
It’s all out there right?
Then property ownership doesn’t matter, because the land is ‘all out there’ so anyone can go/live anywhere regardless of who owns the property, right?
Ask to see their bank account transactions.
If the data is out there then they should have no problem showing you.
The police have a pretty low hanging bar to getting banking information and the police often seem to ignore the laws for the privileges of using their badges as leverage over private industry and companies. And they use that banking access to fuck with people that don’t like them.
That shit is not “private.”
But banks/credit unions/companies would rather sell you twice than tell you that.
Or ask their phone and browse through all the photos.
Not that I disagree with the general mindset but, this isn’t a valid comparison because its unequal. It’s misinterpreting what those people are saying. There is a difference between giving your landlord a spare key and hanging that spare key on the community bulletin board.
What people really mean when they say “it’s already out there” is that people with the skillset or job to obtain the data have the ability to, not that the everyday person has the ability to. It’s not unknown the information is already out there, but that doesn’t mean that you would want to just publicly disclose the info.
“Privacy is dead” only once you lose all legal rights to your own information. It may be “already out there”, but at least you still have some legal recourse for when your information is being used by a 3rd party, without your consent. (or at least it should)
No one should have the right to just clone your identity, or make AI images in your likeness, or even sell your confidential information to advertisers, against your wishes. If there aren’t laws already protecting your rights in that regard, where you live…there should be.
Give me your debit card pin.
I don’t even try to argue with these people. Thankfully, I have all the important people in my life trained up on proper cybersecurity practices and how to be good end users. It makes dealing with any tech issues for them so much easier lol. I only got yelled at once by a relative and I told him he needed to fix his tone before I’d fix his computer. He hasn’t given me any issues since lol
I’m currently fighting my city over flock cameras and I’m hearing this a lot. More people should care about privacy.
Okay, let me see your browser history.
And while I’m at it, can I sit in that corner over there and watch you have sex with your wife?
Oh are we getting a little uncomfortable now? May I take a dump while you shower?
Wait, wait! What do you mean you suddenly care about privacy?
Sounds fun! Wanna get together this weekend?
That sounds like: “Freedom doesn’t matter because some freedoms are already gone”
I mean, Google might have your info, but why make it easier for non-Google adversaries to like, say, scammers have access to your bank info, or your emotionally abusive parents parents have access to your digital journal?
Even if we can’t hide it from governments or corporations, there are still inter-personal privacy to maintain, and that can be more significant and impactful to your everyday life, than you being just file on a large database.
