Obsessed with Privacy

Take it easy. With all privacy tools you use they still get your data. While it is probably less data, but it is still valuable, maybe even more, as you stand out from the crowd. Now think why they need “data” and what is this “data”. Probably to show you ads? Thai failed, you won. I choosed to be less private, but more freedom to use whatever tools/services I like. I even use Google, at least they will keep my data safe and secure from others, like them, but less professional. Like Mozilla…

Friend, idk if it’s off topic reply, but your post is making me seriously consider the possibility that I have OCD too… It’s not just privacy, but everywhere. I am trying to make every single thing I care about perfect and couldn’t stop considering the possible downsides 24/7. Maybe, I should get an examination from my therapist…

OCD is sneaky, getting an examination could clear your doubts

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Hey guys, I’m the OP of the post and wanted to give a little update on the situation and ask for some advice on what to do.

My therapist said I need to fully confront this issue to overcome my OCD, by doing exposure and response prevention (I was already doing it, but not at high levels).

Basically, it’s about exposing myself to this privacy obsession by disabling various protections (cookies, VPN, etc.).

Now, my threat model is only about avoiding advertising tracking and similar things since I live in a free country.

What’s blocking me is the fact that some accounts, if exposed to cookies, fingerprinting and other things, will forever know my true identity, and that scares me quite a bit…

Every piece of advice and perspective is welcome :heart:

Buy a cheap used laptop. Install a free Linux distro on it. Only use that that one device for specific purposes. It’s like having a profile
For a device. Device A is for personal stuff. Device B is only for work stuff. Get a TAILS USB for private searches etc. Compartmentalize your life across multiples devices to reduce tracking.

ask your psychiatrist about supplementing your SSRI with N-acetylcysteine, many have started prescribing it the past few years to make OCD more manageable and it has actual research demonstrating its effects.

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Thank you forma coming back to us! :+1: Feel good for you that you saw a therapist, who is helping you.

If this worries you, you will be able to delete and recreate those accounts in the future when you turn privacy on again (clean accounts). I did this once (I may be a bit pathologic with privacy too😅). You could even change all of your accounts to new email aliases of a new clean account (and delete the old one), reset your devices to do clean setups, export all the data of your accounts (pictures, notes, passwords,…) into new clean accounts, etc.

But you (we) probably shouldn’t go this far anyway so I hope that you won’t be scared of this anymore!! Because there are no reasons. Unless you want absolute privacy just because why not… just because you want, even if you don’t need it.

Best wishes

Hi, thanks a lot for your reply. It’s been almost a month since I started following the therapist’s advice, and I won’t lie, it’s not easy, but here’s what I’ve done:

  • I disabled the VPN and DNS protection from trackers, viruses, and more (on both PC and phone).

  • I installed mainstream apps (Amazon, Temu, AliExpress, and a few others) on my main profile.

  • I created accounts in these apps + various other accounts I don’t need, just for exposure.

  • I disabled tracker and fingerprinting protections in the browser (Brave, in this case).

  • I changed the email for some accounts to my main one instead of an alias.

  • I installed Chrome on my PC.

  • I talked to chatbots about more or less personal things.

  • other small daily things that help me fight this obsession with controlling my data (but also in general).

I know these might seem like reckless things to do, especially coming from a place like Privacy Guide, and after years of focusing on privacy and information about it, but it’s the only choice that can truly make me happy. So, it’s the only good path to take to overcome all of this.

It wasn’t healthy to have my heart race every time something went wrong with privacy.

(For example: Using one browser instead of another and dwelling on the choice, someone asks for your email and maybe you don’t want to give an alias, a friend takes a photo of you as a joke and you start feeling anxious).

In short, I’ve decided that my health comes first, but I won’t lie, the path is complicated, perhaps still long, but I already feel like I’m making good progress, even if sometimes I fall back into some thoughts or actions related to privacy :slight_smile:

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Good stuff, glad you’re prioritizing your health!

I’m adding some explanation in case anyone is interested or would like to consider the same path, or simply doesn’t understand why this is necessary.

What I’m doing and putting into practice is called ERP: Exposure and Response Prevention.

It “trains” the brain not to react to these fears (in this case, privacy) with actions (compulsions), both physical and mental (e.g., compulsion: checking thing x multiple times, ruminating multiple times about thing y, tidying up thing z).

For Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, this is the most commonly used technique that, in most cases, leads to results.

So, this exposure is necessary to be able to live a normal life, keeping the anxiety alarm at bay and preventing it from sounding when a danger isn’t truly that dangerous.

Despite everything, I still like privacy as a lifestyle, but with this exposure, I hope to be able to have a healthy relationship with it.

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