Privacy fatigue

CakeG

I've been on my privacy journey for about 2 years now, and I just feel stuck , there just seems to be more and more hardware/software entering my life where I find the need to replace with a private/opensource solutions And it is affecting my life as I find myself not being able to complete my work/do things efficiently/be compatible with the people around me .

I cant seem to figure out my threat model,moreover, holding the passport of a country with mass surveillance does not help .

If anyone has any advice i would appreciate it . Please feel free to list your experience as well.

DohnJoe

CakeG

You are probably way ahead of a lot of people, but just to be sure of not leaving anything behind, there are some good guides online you can use to set/adjust your threar model, which I think it is the first step you should take.
I usually link this guide, which I found very useful.

Also, letting off steam every now and then is healthy, don't worry!
I think @Digitalia gave very good advices, would probably solve your burnout if followed correctly :)

CakeG Please feel free to list your experience as well.

I can't say I feel stuck on where I am, but curiosly I have two "feelings" together, even if one might be the opposite of the other.
One one hand I have to admit that I feel like I have to perform more actions to achieve the same goals of the average user, which bothers me sometimes...
On the other hand I feel like I could (and I am willing to) do more than what I am doing.

I guess that over time I built some tollerance to this privacy fatigue and a lot of (messy) things come out "naturally".

I can also tell you that my threat model changed over time and maybe this was the key to perform well, even if I didn't know it at the time.
I started to "degoogle" (quotation are needed, because my objective was not to ditch Google) around 12/13 years ago, but my objective was to scatter/segmentate my data around to prevent people to have it all with a simple search or a hacker having access to everything with a single password.

I guess that this way of acting gave me the peace of mind and the time to absorb certain practices, and I could build some momentum to keep it running nowaday.

Pocketstar

CakeG From a psychological standpoint, it's best practice to view this issue as a challenge rather than an obstruction, otherwise it can indeed be quite depresssing, I faced a similar issue myself. In my case I see the removal of every replaced proprietary app with trackers, every third party service attached to mass surveillance, etc. as a win, almost like a game of sorts.
The challenge is to reach as close to "privacy perfection" as you can, learning along the way.
It is quite exciting this way and the more trouble you cut out of your life, the better you feel.
For example; recently I discovered that my smart TV had ACR enabled, (automatic content recognition, which takes a screenshot of your TV every second or so and sends it to third parties) so I disabled that and permenantly cut the internet connection to my TV, however, not all the devices in my house are ever a hundred percent private, there is always "something" more. (A router setting like the DNS setting not set to an encrypted service, a smart meter phoning home to my energyprovider etc.) Yet, every step in the right direction makes me a little bit more happy every time.
You don't have to face all issues in one day, give it time if your threat level allows for it and like others have said, sometimes its best not to reach for perfection, but for a "good enough" approach.

edent

Who or what do you want privacy from?

I run an ad blocker. If Facebook is selling details about me to some shady broker - so what? I don't see any adverts about it.

I want to keep my friends' info safe so I use the contacts scopes. But seeing as most of them are on WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram - does it really matter? It isn't like I'm discussing with them how to overthrow the government.

If the CIA want to track me, they'll go straight to the providers rather than hack my phone.

When I sign in to free WiFi I give my date of birth as 29/02/1900 and my email as sod@off.com - but that's mostly because I don't want spam.

I think the key thing is to be intentional. With every action you take, think about what you want to share, the risks it brings, and whether it is worth it for you.

MineralWater

I simply came to the conclusion that i try to use less "IT/Smartphone Apps etc." than before, better said only were necessary. So if my job or government want me to use an app etc., it's just the job or official correspondence.

But i separate it from personal things. On my phone I use only a few apps for consuming media, email or messengers, no games, no AI, no social media.

And i almost don't use forums anymore or comment sections on YouTube etc., because first of all, i know zero of the people there and literally nobody cares who writes what. It's all an illusion of debate, dialogue and conversations.

They can only pull personal data or track your person if you provide information. If you leave almost all distractions aside, there isn't much to collect.

I don't use streaming, if there is nothing on TV i read a book or simply look out the window, there is so much alternative to the online life and it's makes you feel more alive.

So at all i know i will never be anonymous on the internet, i can only keep personal information out of it.

I use Graphene less because i feel threatened, but to keep tracking harder when i use apps I can't avoid using them, knowing that i still will be tracked, just to a lesser extent.

Trying to outsmart billion dollar corporations is pointless, the key is simply to refuse giving them more the necessary. Lending a book or dvd at the library or buying them used is not bad, and you avoid being caught in subscriptions and binge consuming entertainment.

And if i want to discuss politics or something like that, i do that offline with friends and co workers, not online with bots and strangers. If i would really want to change something i would join a political party etc..

I don't even think that is privacy fatigue, but general internet fatigue. It's just not the same anymore. Web searches don't work anymore, it's all ai and seo trash. It's much easier to research things in an actual library.

Streaming shows and music are not as good as older shows and movies, music were, so why numb myself with watching it?

If i want to be bombed with advertisements, scam and manipulation, i simply go to the supermarket, there i get all this without security risks.

oldschkool

MineralWater On my phone I use only a few apps for consuming media, email or messengers, no games, no AI, no social media.

Same here. My phone setup is minimal AF. OTOH, my wife and I are devout TV streamers. That may change with the way the world is going.

schweizer

MineralWater I do not think your approach does what you intend to achieve. Go to the libarary to borrow a film or book? They will register it in a cloud service. On the way to the library you are captured by dozens if not hundreds of CC TV cameras. While your government may not be allowed to use these streams the ones who have illegal access do not care. And neither does the majority of the private operators.

It is simply not true that you can research things as easily in a library than online. The printed encyclopedias are long gone. Just as an example.

At the end I think I have more control over my data on my GOS phone than in the analog world where more and more companies and even governments insist on credit cards.

At the end we have to adapt to the world around us and must accept we cannot change the bic picture. That was the same a few hundred years ago.

calpurtmun

I get the fatigue. What helped me is to view it as marathon, not a race. As long as you're taking a step in the right direction (whatever direction you want to go), you're doing good. We are human after all.

legreteco

Well it's all about compromises. Take small steps. Or some steps back to find a good middle ground. I still use my Gmail account, but I'm not okay with google services having privileged access, so I installed GrapheneOS. The google keyboard with all the speech to text stuff is still nice, so I kept using it. Who cares? We all tend to radicalize ourselves about certain ideas and in the GrapheneOS community it is privacy. Just take a step back and breathe for a little. Not everything has to be open source.