Sometimes, it can feel like our data is being harvested left and right, completely outside of our control or consent.
Yet, we still have a powerful weapon to fight back against surveillance:
The power to say no.
As individuals and as a community, it is vital that we exercise this right every time we possibly can.
This is how we stand a fighting chance against the normalization of mass surveillance.
Hi - thanks for the writing. If there is some space for one little consideration. In the “Refuse” section, when we talk about the “Beyond digital realm…” can we also maybe bring the example to refuse sharing your phone number with restaurants, or grocery, or pharmacy, etc…?
Great article @em it’s kinda sad how surveillance has been so normalised now that saying no to these sorts of privacy invasions in the real world and online has become somewhat frowned upon.
Like the amount of weird looks and push back I’ve gotten when I say “No, I don’t want the receipt texted to my phone number, I want a paper one please”.
I’ve always refused giving out numbers, citing SMS spam.
For purchases with cash, I always ask if cellphone numbers are required or receipts and it’s always receipts. With that said, I haven’t really tried returns or replacements because the warranty period always expires first, even more necessitating refusal of giving numbers…
Even with addresses fields, I only put the city address and sometimes even, that feels too much info.
My default position is “No” when asked for PPI.
A few years back, we were switching ISPs and they wanted a cellphone number. At the time I was the only one in the family with a cell and refused to give the number. The accounts isn’t in my name and we have been a customer of this company in the past. A cell was never required before.
I said to the technician “What do you do when a customer doesn’t have a cellphone?”. I got a blank stare. I then asked “What if I was still at work and hadn’t come home early?”
Eventually, a confirmation code was sent to my father’s email.
Another time I got in a heat discussion with a cashier who insisted he needed my postal code. After saying no three times, he totaled up the order.
Is there an easy way in the EU to report websites who don’t make “reject all cookies” as easy as “accept all cookies”?