Can you advocate for privacy by showing it? Does it work or will people never learn privacy in practice?
Can you advocate for privacy by showing it? Does it work or will people never learn privacy in practice?
Will people start caring for their privacy if most of the links posted were tracking free?
The reason I am asking is because despite the amount of posts I posted and all the ways that I advocated for getting news from tracking free websites/ non-profits, people don't seem to change.
I still see people posting links from people, the independent, CBS, Vox Media and other evil companies still being posted.
Will people on the long-term change or is it a lost cause?
You have to decide for yourself whether your efforts are worth it despite no visible effect. You don't know whether your content may have affected one reader (or many more) who simply didn't say anything.
I'll personally never stop notifying people of tracker-free URLs, for example. The way I look at it is: I don't care if they actually change or not. What I care about is that I ensure they are without excuse if they don't change, because I served as the messenger and they heard the word, even if they reject it.
So at least I will have done my part, so no one can put it back on me and say I didn't try. Putting the ball in their court is what matters; why would you change your behavior because of what others do/don't do? That'd be one flimsy philosophy, right?
My family members had that same attitude of "you are not going to change the world on your own". Which to I responded "well yes, but it is the same reason why I do not litter streets"
I think a lot of Americans are about to find out why privacy was and is important.
Also, an expert gathering OSINT about someone will make anyone shit their pants (this can be illegal, don't do it, unless you have written consent).
I have this awful feeling that Americans have been raised in such a way that they are incapable of learning lessons. They have been raised on “if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear” - which is literally a parable against that mindset - and are so blindly defferential to authority due to half a century of authoritarian brainwashing that no amount of abuse will ever convince them otherwise.
Look at all the “leopards eating faces” news right now. “This is terrible, why is this happening, this isn’t what I voted for… but I would vote for it again in a heartbeat.”
Doing OSINT is exactly what converted me into a privacy advocate.
I saw some retiree earlier today trying to take a pic of something. Opened his phone holding it up for all to see, and has only stock Android and bloatware apps. Like he just set it up yesterday. Worn cover and screen indicates, nope, not a new phone. I sighed a heavy sigh of sadness. Old guy has no idea. And would be pissed if he actually knew how much data he sprays all over.
This is super true. The more IT savvy you are (especially network administration and app development), the more you end up thinking "how the fuck is this legal and no one cares?".
Edit: Forgot to mention OSINT and pentesting as they are obvious.
How often I have seen older peoples unhinged comments on explicit posts, while having their photo, full legal name and sometimes their address and phone number on public display is insane.
Telling them this and running wireshark on their device, explaining the logs in simple terms could change their minds.
Hmm, seems to me the more reasonable ask would be for people to play solid general defense rather than to cut out specific "evil companies". Use a decent piece of anti-tracking software. Be thoughtful about what data they give out when signing up for services.
Versus telling people to avoid CBS, which likely comes off a wee bit conspiracy-sounding to the layman.
One problem I see in your way of thought here, adblock use among social media users will never reach 100%.
Furthermore, adblockers are getting weaker with Google Chrome MV3. All of this leads to the logical conclusion in my eyes that you can only change the sources that power users use which will eventually lead to better privacy for all people involved. You will never be able to control people setups to be super private.
Not gonna get people to stop watching CBS either.
I once heard an intersting tedtalk about privacy and a lady explained the matter so everyone should be intersted in privacy, and it still is my argument against "i have nothing to hide" conversations:
"online you do not care about privacy only because you don't see how you are beeing spied on. If a stranger was looking with its forehead on the window inside your living room as you watch tv with your family, you'd tell ' to fuck off imediately and close the shutter"
Will people start caring for their privacy if most of the links posted were tracking free?
No. Most people won't notice, and the sites they're visiting have other tracking mechanisms.
I advocated for getting news from tracking free websites/ non-profits, people don't seem to change.
Yes. Those sites fill a need/role. Non profits typically don't have the same content factories that for-profit orgs do.
Will people on the long-term change or is it a lost cause?
Legislative change is the only way forward. You have a threat model that involves privacy, but most people don't. Instead of trying to change everybody, focus on legislation that would improve privacy regulations for all.
Honestly I think the battle for privacy will always be a losing one until selling our data becomes unprofitable or illegal. Most people don't have the time or energy to care and I don't see that changing. Don't stop what you are doing though. Those who are susceptible to what you have to say will listen. I was convinced by people like you and I am certain you have helped convince others.
keep fighting the good fight. it’s worth it.
i’ve had more friends ask me about lemmy and peertube bc of stuff i share, which is good because that means they’re noticing. no one in my friend group is “into privacy”, but sometimes i like to ask them questions like “what will it take for you to switch from (big tech service) to something else?” & let the discussion flow from there.
since they aren’t “into privacy”, they’re not aware of how their habits feed the big tech beast, which in turn feeds all these terrible agendas. an example is how they’re against the ICE raids and say things like ACAB, yet they use Ring cameras.
recently, i’ve had a few friends ask me for alternatives to (big tech service), and one of them even asking for help degoogling!
it definitely gets hard when you feel like your advocacy has fallen on deaf ears or whatever, but all we can do is lead by example. stay the course <3
I mean you could create a community no track news or something where the rule states no urls with tracking components.
Advocacy doesn't mean shit to people who don't care about the topic. Most people do not care about security beyond preventing identity theft.