Often times, I tell people to what extend big tech is willing to hurt people, to collect more and more money, as in data! And the reaction is… disappointing. They either don’t care, sometimes even making jokes, or don’t get over the inconvenience of switching.
If I tell them that that some of those privacy apps, like brave compared to chrome, is more convenient, they don’t care. If I tell them that they hurt themselves by using big tech, like TikTok, they don’t care. If I tell them that their use of those apps hurt others, they don’t care.
I don’t think I am convincing enough. So what can I tell them?
Are you above the normies, below the normies, or at the same level of the normies?
I ALWAYS get the “I have nothing to hide🤣” argument.
And I know that is very stupid but I can’t convince them why that doesn’t make any sense.
Private messages, home address, location data. I convinced one of my friends it’s like if a stalker follows you around all the time seeing where you’re at, snooping over your shoulder to see your messages and what apps you open up, what you post on the internet.
Cops know that if they follow someone around enough that they’ll eventually break the law.
Political power can change hands and suddenly you can be part of a targeted group because of what you’ve posted and said online.
Offer user friendly alternatives. The quick win is a privacy friendly browser.
Ask them why the accept all the cookies while browsing when refusing doesn’t change the experience.
I’ve starters elf hosting alternative for my family. If it just works they’ll follow.
Talk to them about things they know about already. Cookie banners, social media, google adware. They just need to have their own concerns reinforced. You don’t need to nor should you give them your entire diatribe
I don’t care what apps other people use.
Well, as said, except friends and family, because a simple reason, not only because you like these, but all people which, eg. in Fakebook or WhatsCrap have your mail and other data stored, expose and tag you, because with it Fakebook also know your data and can track you or sell it to data brokers…
Then don’t give them information you can’t trust them with?
Your family or friends don’t have your direction, mail, phone, personal datas?
My email is public info, phone has horrible security so privacy-wise I don’t care if Google knows about it because the government can read my texts/calls anyways and I would use a different medium for anything important, my physical address already exists in credit bureaus so is also basically public info
I’ve had success acting like a high-pressure marketer to my family. It’s what the regime does, and it works.
First, you get or download an alternative product without asking anyone.
Second, you ask them politely the first time to try it.
Third, if they do not listen, you paralyze their brains and activities with a fight until they listen. Trump does this to great effect on the conservative base.
When you deal with people who don’t care about protecting their privacy, you’re dealing with people who have authoritarian values. You have to be an authoritarian to them because that’s what they’ve been conditioned to respond to.
Dox them
I try to go after the biggest improvement. Aka I recommend a different browser when the opportunity arrives. Like when they complain about ads.
You don’t and stop worrying. I told BIL TVs are spying cause let’s be real it isn’t just LG. And he still hooked up his TV to the internet. Probably thinks I’m super paranoid. People just don’t care.
Everyone’s being so despondent. Of course it’s possible to convince someone to care about privacy. If they’re your friends, you’ll know them better than we do. What do they value? What do they care about?
In my experience more people care about privacy than you think. But they just think it’s hopeless. They’re constantly being told “There’s no point. Every company already knows everything about you. Give up.”
Bullshit. Even if ad companies have a nice tailored set of data on someone’s interests, behaviours, routines, etc. the moment that person cuts off the supply, that data starts becoming less relevant, less useful and less valuable every day. Once I explained that to a few people I had a bit more luck getting them to install ad blockers and stop posting so much personal info online
Talk to them in a language they’ll understand. If they deal drugs, tell them they’re much less likely to get caught using encrypted messaging apps. If they’re into true crime, point out how many stalkers were able to track their victims down using what they’d posted on social media
This is a great answer and I love the most relatable example for this community is having friends that deal drugs, apparently.
While the “something out of the ordinary might happen to you” (getting caught for dealing, being a stalker’s victim) argument works for some, some may realize that rare things are, well, rare. It can be argued the effort to counter rare scenarios can only be justified to a certain degree, or not at all.
I think this language is more universal:
“Remember the notion that if you want to double your success rate you triple your failure rate. […] If you’ve ever watched a kid play in a way that’s pushing their boundaries, they do this thing where – if they don’t know you’re watching – they make a lot of mistakes and they keep pushing through them. But if they catch you secretly watching them while they make mistakes, they put the thing away and walk away from it. It just kills their play. As a father it’s the thing that breaks my heart when I do it, because it’s very tempting to look over at your kids when they’re doing something awesome and intense. But then you humiliate them. You embarrass them. So there’s something about us that wants to have vulnerable moments not take place in public, that wants to choose the moment of disclosure.”
You don’t. They will either come to it themselves, or they will end up in the gulag.
You can’t control or convince others.
What you can do is live your best life and let them know it. Not in an annoying way, but in a real way.
How many conversations do I hear about spam calls or text messages? Everybody hates them and they get in on this commonality thing of yeah we all hate that it sucks. Then I bust out with a, yeah I’m glad I don’t really deal with that anymore… Wait what? I have a solution?
Then I break it down, and I’m very clear my measures are not for the faint of heart. But its a spectrum and there’s some low hanging fruit they can do to dramatically change things from where they are. Do they do it? No. But they now know there is a better way and acknowledge it, then actively choose not to do it.
Does that change anything? Yes and no. No, nothing technically changed. But yes, they understand a little more now. So now they don’t treat you like a crazy person or if you say you’d rather not use WhatsApp or whatever they aren’t so insistent that this is all you being weird.
Stop making it a confrontation is my point. That makes you the bad guy. You’re not, the companies and governments are. Let them see that.
You can try telling them about all the ways their information is used against them. Collect information about how the current govt is using all sorts of information to target and harrass people, especially immigrants.
You can teach them about surveillance pricing, and how companies are using their personal data to drive up the cost of goods.
Realistically, from experience, you just annoy them, and they taunt and dislike you.
To put it plainly, we’re just fucked. We continue absolutely careening towards a surveillance dystopia, and very few people seem to care at all.
First, don’t expect to change their mind with anything you say.
Second, keep it simple and only provide details if they ask.
Third, make it less about logic and appeal to pathos and ethos more. If they’re Christian, talk about your “God-given right” to privacy. Talk about how you don’t like your fourth amendment rights being stepped on. If they ask about that, then start adding in some actual arguments. “If the governments not allowed to invade my privacy, then who do these corporations think they are?” “The governments not allowed to invade my privacy without a warrant, but they just buy my data from these corporations anyway, it’s basically illegal!”
