Digital Privacy

Convenience

Privacy often comes at the cost of convenience. Corporations can use our information to provide us with incredible services—services like Google Maps, Instagram, and Zoom that provide unquestionable value to our lives. Nobody working at any of these companies wants to exploit you, it’s just that businesses need a business-model, and selling your data is currently the most profitable way to make money.

The situation is dire, but we can make a change. There are two things we must do as citizens to take back control of our privacy. The first is to demand better regulation—laws that restrict what data companies can collect and how they can use it. The emphasis on the word demand here is strong, as such legislation would go against the best interests of both corporations and the government.

The second is to pay for our services.

• People often defend violations of privacy with the phrase, “if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear.”

  Privacy is about protecting things that matter to you.

  — Electronic Frontier Foundation

• You may fear these violations of privacy not because your actions are questionable, but because their judgment and intentions are.