There have been times in my life when concerns about privacy kept me up at night. Using credit cards online, social media, email, giving my social security number to get my teeth cleaned, etc.
Other times I forget all about it. I recently went to the airport and the TSA wanted to scan my face at security. Yes, I know it's voluntary, but does it really make sense to flag yourself as the guy who doesn't want his face scanned, especially since the whole area is being monitored by video surveillance anyway? I could fight that battle and deny them the scan. What do I accomplish? They have all the power in that circumstance. They have my name, address, and the photo on my passport or driver's license. Rather than let my facial scan join the millions of others that some lazy bureaucrat will never look at, I should instead single myself out for suspicion?
Along similar lines, does it make sense to use a vpn for privacy? You are flagging yourself as someone with something to hide. I’m just asking the question. I still use one myself.
Maybe we take the wrong approach to privacy. Maybe our fancy tools can in fact do more harm than good.
Resisting a more powerful opponent will result in your defeat, whilst adjusting to and evading your opponent's attack will cause him to lose his balance, his power will be reduced, and you will defeat him. This can apply whatever the relative values of power, thus making it possible for weaker opponents to beat significantly stronger ones. This is the theory of ju yoku go o seisu.[24]
My father used a pc to handle his bookkeeping and accounting tasks for his investments. It was overkill. I tried to convince him to get an internet connection, but he refused. He was convinced he was worried about being hacked and having his privacy exposed. He was always intellectually curious, so I tried to convince him by talking about all the information he would have at his fingertips.
No luck. He was content with his newspaper, magazines, books, and cable TV. He passed away in the early 2000s, so there is no telling whether he would have held out if he had lived another decade.
Making an effort to preserve privacy online is an effort. It is inconvenient. You wake up and read that one of your methods is compromised. Using a privacy focused email address makes you a target. It's suspicious. Same with using Graphene OS (I love mine). Tor too. I don't want to argue the particulars of each method here. The point is they all have their weaknesses and limitations.
I remember reading newspaper stories about the old mafia dons. They would never use a phone for important conversations. They would walk around the block and talk to the person, one on one. If they had suspicions, they would check the guy for a wire first. Telephones were for dinner plans, arranging to have the kids picked up after school, etc.
They didn't spend all their time sweeping their social clubs for bugs. They went outside. They didn't worry if their phones were tapped. They never said anything important on a phone. They knew that David rarely beats Goliath in the real world. The younger guys never learned that lesson. Most of them died in jail.
My point is not to encourage criminal activity. What I'm trying to convey is that jumping through hoops to ensure privacy using the wonders of modern technology is a losing battle. We can't match the technological powers of multinational corporations or state actors. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try. No one wants to get hacked, doxxed, or have your bank accounts drained. Take precautions. I do. But, for really important, private stuff, nothing beats a pen and paper, or a big, heavy safe, or a deep hole in the yard.