At this point, given the absurd level of surveillance in common every day things, I’m losing hope that it’s even possible to opt out anymore.
Everyone has those doorbell cameras.
Comcast is the first ISP to announce that their routers will function as motion detection trackers to monitor you and your neighbors. They then intend to share this data with third-parties and the government. Meanwhile, the US government effectively banned most independent consumer routers. Even if I have my own router, my neighbors won’t.
Smart TVs scan your screen and some have built in cameras and microphones to monitor you. They stopped selling dumb TVs.
You can’t buy a car made in the last several years that isn’t surveillance tech on wheels. Fewer and fewer older cars are still on the road and they’re only going to get more scarce, harder to find parts for, and more difficult to insure.
Utility companies have switched to smart meters that reports live usage analysis back to them which they can then share with third parties (I.e. they know when you’re home, when you’re sleeping, how many people are in your home, etc).
Medical and psychiatric privacy is non-existent.
Flock, ALPR, and other AI powered surveillance cameras are being setup across the country to watch you whenever you are in public.
Retail stores and the few remaining third-places are basically panopticons.
Surveillance wearables like Meta glasses and the newly leaked AirPods are making every person you come across a walking AI surveillance camera and microphone.
“Age verification” laws are being passed throughout the world that will lock you out of your devices and services if you resist.
Job applications require feeding your data to AI if you want money to survive.
Apartment applications require feeding your data to the frenzy.
Government entities share your data with data brokers.
Every business and institution has become a data collection and/or data analysis company.
Insurance companies are punishing customers and businesses that opt out of tracking.
Every entity is sharing your personal data with everyone.
Even small businesses are throwing in lengthy contracts, forced arbitration clauses, and clauses that permit them to change the contract whenever they feel like it.
Every business is layering AI into their business without a care in the world about data privacy concerns. Even doctors and therapists are recording patients and sharing this data with third-parties,
Consumer rights are a joke.
The government doesn’t care and if anything, is celebrating this new world. At best, they’re slow to act or enable this behavior further with paltry fines.
This is not an exhaustive list.
Even the most basic things like privacy in your own home, on devices that you own, in your own car, etc has been taken away.
While the digital recommendations from privacy advocates is helpful, it’s starting to feel like I’m only putting out a small flame while I have no control over the giant inferno swallowing me up.
You have to get active in the political process. Not one single bit of what you listed will change unless we start taking our civic duty as Democratic constituents seriously. Personal privacy through tech is just putting out small fires.
Political action is the only action that truly secures lasting, by-default privacy.
I’m sorry it is so overwhelming. Try to find a local group for privacy advocacy —and if it doesn’t exist then you start it. It sucks, in a sense, that we are forced to pick up the pieces of broken democracy that our elders have taken for granted. But at least to me, I find no greater sense of meaning than when I am advocating and fighting for others I care about.
I believe that it is a form of protest in and of itself using privacy-respecting services. Not having a centralised database of my emails that anyone can read, not using a shitty operating system, not using a Zuck messenger that monetises all my metadata, not rolling over.
The little things add up, and some of what you have mentioned can be reduced or eliminated entirely.
Something I find kind of funny is that there are a ton of people coming out against the ALPR cameras now (even though they’ve been in use much longer than people realize, but at the same time, they’re happy to carry around that tracking beacon in their pocket that’s stealing much more data than the ALPR could even dream of.
I get it. And that’s an honest assessment. The more you know, the more hopeless it can feel.
I’m not saying that this is the answer, but I found Naomi Brockwell’s framework helpful and encouraging. Three fronts to fight back on: technology, legislation, and litigation. https://www.surveillanceaccountability.com Legislation and litigation progress to slow the juggernaut down (but not stop it) which gives the technology enough time and investment to ultimately subvert it.
I don’t know what exactly Naomi says, but I want to be clear that technology will not counter all of what’s happening. Technology is a way to slow down the juggernaut, with legislation being the more permanent solution.
You have to start supporting companies like Meshcore, who build off-grid communication devices. Basically you need to disconnect from modern society and support alternative tools which do respect your privacy. There are plenty of companies who focus on that but it will require adjustment.
Sadly it’s for tech savvy people often.
We need to rebuild most tools people use nowadays, or instead of watching tv, open a book.