I agree there. Honestly, I can keep my phone and continue not to use it and not to carry it everywhere I go and only use it for important calls and messages. It just feels wrong to me to be compelled to have a phone and if you don’t you’re out of society game over. It’s because of my values of privacy that I would like to get rid of it. Maybe I’ve been taking the church of Emacs and GNU too seriously lately… But still, today a phone is almost mandatory, tomorrow a national/world ID will be required, finally no cash but only blockchain-based payments, and we’re screwed. I want to fight back.
Fighting back as an individual shows your values.
Fighting back as a community is a force to drive change.
The impact of ditching a phone for your privacy can be done. But also consider switching to GrapheneOS and starting/joining a (positive and healthy) community of those who clawback. Harder to keep a community running without communication and fun, and people find fun in messaging one another.
Up until ~2016 I rarely used any kind of online banking or (shudder) a banking app.
- I withdrew cash from an ATM
- paid in cash including coins at my bank branch (they used to have a machine, not any more)
- made 100% of my payments in shops with cash
- rent paid via standing order (can be set up on a machine at the bank branch)
- online purchases and regular bill payments via direct debit (you just have to give them your account number and bank name, no app needed); I think debit card payments used to be possible without app or SMS code (not any more)
- printed bank statements arrived in the post once a month (now most banks are paperless)
- income arrived via bank transfer
- online banking with printed TAN list
So I just had to check on my monthly bank statement that my balance wasn’t getting dangerously low and otherwise make sure I had enough cash in my wallet for everyday purchases.
It seems that nowadays people don’t even use debit cards any more (let alone cash!), they just pay with Apple/Google Pay.
In the olden days there was also online banking but you got a printed TAN list for logging in and approving transactions. (“Enter TAN no. 42 from your list to confirm”). Alternatively, a physical TAN generator where you insert your debit card, enter your PIN and it gives you a code to use in online banking. I think a few banks still offer these physical TAN generators, though most don’t and make a mobile app (or SMS OTPs) mandatory.
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