I really resent the way that the Overton window has shifted for online privacy, so that I sound like a hysteric when I say that I don’t want Facebook and Google to know everything about my life.
‘I don’t mind Facebook showing me pretty dresses.’
Cool! That’s the absolute least of what they do, though! They’ve experimented on inducing depression in their users! They actively interfere with elections! And they spy on everyone – not just their users, but all internet users. And they’re capable of working out who non-users are based on information their users feed them! Pardon me for thinking that’s not okay!
‘Advertisers don’t listen into your phone as much as everyone thinks.’
Cool! But they do fucking do it! And the amount I would like them to listen in on my conversations is none! I would like none spying! Zero tracking of my internet activity! Especially by companies who want to sell me shit!
Remember how in the 80s, ad companies would listen in to your private conversations in your house, and then send different catalogues to your mailbox as a result? No! Because they didn’t, and couldn’t. And people would have – quite rightly – considered that a massive invasion of privacy.
Remember how in the 90s, ad companies opened and read all of your personal mail, making copies to keep on microfiche, before allowing the re-sealed envelopes to reach your house? Because they didn’t, but it’s what Google does with your email! So they can serve you ‘more relevant ads’ in your inbox!
Why am I the outrageous radical for thinking that I should be able to at least partly control my own data? My own likes and dislikes? I’m not even proposing leaving the internet entirely! I didn’t even stop using Facebook because they’re shitlords, but because using it made me miserable. And I’m considering switching from Gmail to something else like Protonmail. I already use Firefox, and have an add-on installed that reduces Facebook’s ability to track me from site to site.
Why am I so strange for wanting to return to an internet where the people who serve me ads can’t name my age, postcode, eye colour, purchasing history, dietary preferences, and half-dozen closest friends without having to try to do it?
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