Instead of trying to convince people to care about their privacy, I recently changed tactics. You see, to the majority of people online privacy gives them no value, therefore you have to give them something that does give them value.
In this case, the ability to to watch YouTube with no ads. After showing them how to install Brave, the joy on their faces when they watch their first ad free video is noticeable. Of course, that's after they have gotten past the "trauma" of having to do something as simple as installing a different browser :)
Why Privacy?
Zuboff made a name for herself in the 1990s by correctly predicting the future impact of the internet (in 1988). Her book on Surveillance Capitalism (a term that she coined) promises to do the same by providing the first definitive look under the hood of the Google business model. The logic she explores has made its way into every sector of the economy and is inherently anti-privacy. Anyone who wants to understand "why privacy" should put in the effort to understand her contributions, especially the idea of instrumentarian power and why it's more of a concern going forward than totalitarian power. Her takes on Persuasive Technology (BJ Fogg), Nudging (Thaler & Sunstein), and Social Physics (Pentland) and how these ideas are reorganizing societies in more authoritarian directions are very insightful. This is happening top-down in China and bottom up in the US (thru huge "markets in behavioral futures"). A good followup read is "Technofeudalism" by Yanis Varoufakis.
I'm pretty sure Zuboff would heap praise the GrapheneOS project. She is very hopeful about the future, largely because of community driven projects like this one, which act in opposition to Big Tech's drive to impose machine logic on the rest of us.
Wikipedia has a nice summary of the Surveillance Capitalism book, which touches on "why privacy" matters and why it it may not be sufficient.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoshana_Zuboff#Surveillance_Capitalism
DeletedUser127
Well written.
Just because they have been told they can't do that, doesn't mean that they stop.
elih "why privacy" matters and why it it may not be sufficient.
Huge point made here.
It is valid to assume that no matter what steps anyone does to 'stay private', the best you can do is turn down the flow of information a bit. It is likely impossible to stop it completely other than never going online.
I took a partial step towards going 'offline' when I purchased and used a LightPhone for a couple years. since all I did was use it for calls and texting (yes,fully understand even THAT isn't secure)... there wasn't much online data being 'stolen'. I turned down the firehose to a dribble.
However, over time, the effort to use that device just became too much for the benefits I gained.
Using GOS and privacy based browsers as well as other 'privacy' recommendations - I can tell that my efforts, while not completely for naught, have just slowed things down a bit. :(
For now - it is a balancing act - at best.
Always worth a watch. Shoshana Zuboff on surveillance capitalism | VPRO Documentary
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIXhnWUmMvw]
Zuboff is also an excellent public speaker. Here's a recent example
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afOWUuimwOI
Optimist or pessimist, I think all can agree we're in a period of civilization level change, which can be disorienting and fertile ground for charlatans. Zuboff has a laser focus on the issues that really matter for privacy at this level with no hint of trying to sell you the latest snake-oil. At some point privacy relevant decisions come down to costs and benefits. When the information environment is built on hidden costs and targeted benefits, those decisions are bound to be sub-optimal at best (witness the 2007-8 financial collapse, for example, which pales in scale and scope). I barely even talk about privacy anymore. It's too easy to fall into rabbit holes of misinformation. Instead I prefer to talk about the cool tools that I use to navigate the internet (like GrapheneOS) and how they allow me to avoid the hidden costs, which I'm happy to elaborate, and enjoy the benefits -- without the targeted manipulation.
ceramics just saw this article today!
elih it is a huge book to be fair. i'm still in the first 1/3rd of it. but the great thing is that there are many speeches from Zuboff out there to download and listen to, if someone doesn't like reading or is impatient.
Robert Epstein recently did an extremely interesting interview with Joe Rogan
https://dcs-spotify.megaphone.fm/GLT7452376209.mp3
secrec this. Every category of people and their activities are just a regime change away from being persecuted.
https://youtu.be/4-5yxHqYJ-k&t=970, might be interesting to some. It is an ex three letter agency spy speaking.
6 days later
- Edited
Posted a follow up - summary writeup here: Please check it out: Why privacy - Final Redux and Feedback
24 days later
- Edited
Because organizations does not give us back enough. They monitor and collects data about us but what do we gain for giving them our data? Surveillance capitalism is a one-sided profit based on advertisements and it does nothing good for its customers. Big organizations are slow and dumb and the services they provide sucks in simple words. So that is why one would ultimately prefer privacy than leaking data all over the internet. Apple does a niche job but their ecosystem isn't fully capable of supporting their users. And too much telemtry still exists anyways. Nobody asked companies / organizations to monitor themselves for the whole life. In the other side, GrapheneOS is an effortlessness operating system in terms of privacy and security. Installation is simpler than any other OS and with a few click on the Settings you'll be protected with the world's most secure and private OS. It's genuinely better than removing bloatware apps or using firewalls, etc.
lcalamar ask your friend if it would be okay to install cctv in their home so you can watch them on a live feed and say “well you have nothing to hide so why not”
in_search_of_privacy Big organizations are slow and dumb and the services they provide sucks in simple words.
Perhaps... yet for some reason many people use Google Maps...or Waze...
lcalamar Ask them why they have curtains on their bedroom. Ask them why they close the door in the locker room when they change clothes. Ask them why they close the door when they go to the restrooms Ask them why they keep bank statements hidden from other people. Ask them about that locked drawer in their bedroom, that nobody else is allowed to open. Ask them if they would let you read their diary.
All that is done because those people want privacy. So, why do they care for privacy in "real live", but don't in their "online live"?
de0u yes, two groups, those who have no idea and those who don't care.