On Privacy
After talking about security, I realized that a topic on privacy is warranted. So, here I will attempt to talk about what it is to be private.
Privacy is an illusion. Something that is worth more than gold, and vanishes faster than anything you know ever will. Data that are yours, make your life private. The thing is, we give our data away like it means nothing. Within the culture, there is a saying. You will hear it from me over and over again, and when you do, pay close attention, because you are likely trading privacy for some “free” service.
If you are not paying for something, you are the product.
Read it again. Understand it. If you don’t understand it, read it again, then ask me about it, then read it again. The most valuable thing that you have, is your data. It is worth more than money, more than reputation, more than anything you own, any piece of tech. When you give it away, make sure you know who gets it, what they are doing with it, and most importantly, how they will keep it safe.
Privacy is your name, age, address, workplace, work history, criminal record, lovers, photos, metadata from those photos, the sites you visit, the porn you look at, your shopping habits, your browsing habits, your search history, your shopping history, what profiles you look at on social media, how often you talk to your maternal grandmother versus your paternal grandmother. And if you think for a second that any of this information (especially your porn habits, sicko) is NOT worth money, think again, because companies like Google and Facebook go to great lengths to gather this information about you, curate it like a fine wine, age it, study it, so that they can sell it, and sell you.
Privacy is you. It is who you are, what you do, and how you do it.
What can you do about it? Know what your data are. Know who has it, how it is used, how the system is set up to market you everything. Twenty years ago we collectively decided to give up large amounts of our private data to these companies in exchange for convenient services. “Free” email, “free” social media sites, “free” porn… These are not free. The price paid is part of your privacy. So, know what you are, know what you have, and own it.
Just like perfect security is a device that has no connection and no functionality, the perfect privacy is not to interact at all. This is the most difficult thing that you will ever do, and not even a thing that I would advise you to do, it would mean giving up all modern human interaction, which is not healthy. Trust me on that one, I’ve been there, it isn’t a good place to be.
Yikes, this one is long.
TL;DR is just what I said above “if you are not paying for a service, then you are the product.”