A debate that I often have with my brother is about privacy and how he has absolutely no care in the world for it. Maybe a bit harsh and overdramatized, but your privacy is important and so is your digital privacy!
The Importance
Digital privacy is your right to privacy for your personal devices. Not just anyone can enter your home and search through your property and the same should apply to your digital life.
Most companies make a profit from exploiting your digital privacy. Google used to prioritize products and search engine experience; now, they are a data company, focused on aggregating your data to sell to advertisers. The same goes for other large tech companies like Meta.
The problem is that most don’t understand this “behind-the-scenes” operation and get addicted to short-form content or ease of use at the expense of being exploited. Or, in the case of my brother, most do not care about their data being used. So, let me make the stakes a bit clearer.
Did you know that your car is more than likely the device that collects the most data on you? I drive a 2016 that’s slowly breaking down on me, but any car from this current decade has numerous sensors, cameras, and most importantly that central display screen. As soon as you connect your phone, the manufacturer can read your notifications, listen to your calls, and, yes, see which route you’re going. There have even been reports of some companies even collecting data on actions occuring within vehicles by using interal cameras, recording intimate moments.
Oh, and let’s not forget about those smart glasses. Yes, I bought the 1st generation Meta Ray-Bans. I mainly wanted the music feature, so I could get away with a jam out during some of the more boring classes but stopped using them a few months into buying them. Well, now there are reports of Meta sending collected data to third-parties, and the data being sent is not PG-13…
How Do You Fix It?
Ultimately, the best fix is using the system. Talk to your representatives, vote for laws that prioritize your individual rights and don’t violate them in the name of ‘security’. Unfortunately, it’s hard to garner enough support for this to happen but there are still actions that you can do.
You can switch to services that are built for privacy like Kagi, Proton, Mullvad VPN. You can explore self-hosting search engines and other services too. There are many ways to move away from big tech, all it truly requres is time and a willingness to learn.
Ultimately, your privacy is important, even if you don’t think it is, and we should all do better in protecting it.