Why Privacy?

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 :)

umbrin688

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.

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.

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

https://youtu.be/4-5yxHqYJ-k&t=970, might be interesting to some. It is an ex three letter agency spy speaking.

lcalamar He has several books aswell, probably one or more of them covering this in a similar matter. Maybe u can find the transcript of some sorts in one of his books.