Why Privacy is Like Broccoli

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Believe it or not, there’s a lot of parallels between being healthy and privacy. Both seem simple on the surface but get complicated fast. Yet, both are acheivable. So what can the health journey teach us about the privacy journey?

In this video we break down so of the most common pitfalls people fall into when they begin to care about their privacy. One of the hardest things to do when starting new habits is to actually be consistent and make them stick, so we also talk about the best way to make those changes and make sure that you can continue them sustainably.

This is a separate video from the article that appeared on the Privacy Guides blog.

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Excellent video as always.

But someone from the outside, it’s odd to see a new video when incomplete series already exists. It almost only feels natural to expect those sets of videos to come out first before a brand new topic is published. I’m referring to the smartphone security series and the threat modeling series.

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I have to admit that I am a bit disappointed by this video to be fully honest.

I really do like the first half of the video, I think the analogy to health is really great. But in the second half, you keep on making a list of things that one can do to improve their privacy. It does feel like to me both parts contradict each other involuntarily, because it feels like everything listed in the second half needs to be done. It probably feels overwhelming for a beginner, which exactly what we don’t want. Am I the only one feeling that? Would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Otherwise, the sound quality is great, the visuals/illustrations are great and the video is very well edited.

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All the things PG recommends likely need to be done.. the point is to take it slow, step by step, and not overwhelm yourself. Like Nate says, taking small steps and becoming comfortable with it one step at a time in order to ensure you keep sticking with each improvement is key to properly correcting your online and digital lives and habits for optimal OPSEC (whatever this is for you).

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I think it’s fine to release new content in-between series. It would be odd if they started a new series (such as switching to Linux or self-hosting series) without completing the smartphone series.

EDIT: I guess it’s not really “new” content since it’s a video version of a published article, and all of it is just information that can be found on the website, probably intended for new viewers. But also, I had to correct myself since there are two incomplete series, so you’re right.

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I also feel that when you say something is going to a series, there will always be someone wanting to do and replicate the things shown in the video for themselves. And if there’s long gaps between videos, the momentum is lost (along with the urgency) and feels like a missed opportunity.

I don’t like it the way PG is doing it here. I get that there were holidays in between but more than enough time has passed.

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Great video! :heart:

I definitely was in the extreme camp of “waking up at 6am + go all in on everything like GOS”, made me quite laugh because I can very much relate. :joy:

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Yes, that is me, all at once pedal to the metal! :rofl:

I have gotten so much done over the past few weeks and it was and is very labor intensive.

The biggest thing I am sweating right now is buying a new pixel 9 pro new. They are running out of stock and I can’t afford a new one. I want the 9 series so I can keep my physical sim card.

But briefly what I have done so far:

Changed to the recommended email providers and finally deleted my gmail accounts and microsoft account. One email service for my known online identity with multiple email addresses and a different service for more privacy based stuff like forums and new social media accounts.

Changed passwords and email to websites that are needed and remembered and using a private open source notepad to organize each website and service details like user, email (Multiple emails), and password. While I was there at each site, went through and opted out of what I could and if they offered 2FA over the authenticator app I set that up. If not offered, I use my number where I am known anyways.

(On a side note, it boggles my mind more of these banks, credit bearos and so on don’t use an authenticator app based 2FA. Of all the websites and services I have, only a small fraction have a way to use a 2FA app)

Changed all computers to linux, for now using ubuntu flavors till I can make secure blue function the way I need. Looking into ways to lock those flavors down to get me by.

Two VPN accounts from different providers for known identity websites and services and one for any new social media.

Basically raped my Samsung galaxy of many system apps inculding google play. Over 200 apps. Though it is scary because I hope I did not delete an app I genuinly need for security out of ignorance. I have been deleting everything I can till soomething critical doesn’t function. Lost my dialer yesterday! Downloaded an open source one and was back up and running. Got the disable sensor tile in my pulldown menu through developer options.

Some apps tend to reinstall (Or reactivate if disabled) after a reboot. Particularly Android webview. Funny enough, the weblibre browser was the only browser that will work without webview enabled. Using weblibre and foss browser on the phone and freetube for youtube and of course a vpn.

Using the Mullvad browser on linux machines. And will start using others that are recommended.

Making backups of all that data on dvd and encryted drives.

I still have to learn how to use Keepass and secure blue, how to organize browsers and figure out how to best reduce my fingerprint (Gosh, just learned captchas collect all kinds of data and tracks you through the entire web session of the site, wish there was a way to hide my machine specs at the very least).

Ok, I need to calm down and breath. What I am doing is still full of holes, but I should be ahead of the masses who don’t even bother. Now it is just waiting for a Pixel and a lot of learning and change more stuff as I learn.

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I also wantes to mention I was guilty of giving up in 2013. I did not know then in detail what I know now.

The biggest thing I remember is, I switched all my emails to Lavabit. Big brother stepped in and try to get user’s data and supoosedly they would not comply so they got shut down. And so did my access to all my email!

But I am without an excuse and a moron.

Why?

My first interaction with the internet was WebTV. For those that don’t know what that is. It was a device to hook to a televison and surf the internet. It did’nt take long to dawn on me that that technology can easily be used to build profiles on each individual.

Fast forward to 2026.

They have outdone all my expectations with flying colors and are far worse then what my thoughts were back when I got my WebTV.

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I love that you make companion videos to your articles. @nateb is doing a fantastic job!
This is a great video for beginners.

I would also recommend Naomi Brockwell’s video on 3 simple changes beginners can make to protect their privacy.

It’s also available as an article for those who prefer reading:

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You can definitely use KeePass for this, which is not difficult to use, but are you trying to learn how to sync your passwords? Syncthing would be the best option, but you would need a secondary device. Secureblue is a steeper learning curve, but you should be more comfortable with it if you have been using Linux (Ubuntu/Fedora, etc.) extensively for about a year.

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I just want to know how much Peyote has used in the conceptualizing of this video? :cactus::woozy_face:

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I created new passwords manually and by a password generator. I just don’t yet know how to put them in keypass or there is a manual way to do it.

Then I don’t know how to make use of it even if I could import my hand wrtten passwords.

I may forgo it all together, I don’t mind manually entering credentials. I just don’t know yet because on the surface it seems like a convienient tool yet another attack surface. I could be wrong, just my intial hunch till I can research it. :blush:

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I was wondering why I saw this title pinned on the forum again.

Really loving the analogy with health. It puts threat models back into perspective for me. Threat models are like health goals. Losing 50 pounds of fat, gaining 10 pounds of muscle mass, and boosting your lung capacity are very different goals. The advice given to these people, although they can overlap, are consequently going to be very different from each other. This makes me appreciate the common goals/threats wiki more.

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One pitfall I see a lot is people trying to replace everything at once — OS, browser, email, cloud and then giving up when it becomes overwhelming. Treating privacy like health, with small, incremental improvements, feels much more realistic.

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