I have been pro privacy and anti data harvesting for many years now, however it is becoming increasingly more difficult staying off some platforms. Mostly Meta.
Over the years I have convinced most of my friends and family to use Signal instead of WhatsApp. However, there are still chat groups that I am missing from, and trying to keep up to date with local events seems next to impossible without Facebook or Instagram.
Additionally, I am finding it more and more tiring to have the awkward “No I don’t have WhatsApp. No I don’t have Facebook either. Or Instagram, sorry. Do you want to try an app that you’ve never heard of to stay in contact with me?” every time I meet someone new.
I saddens me that it feels like the multi-billion dollar data harvesting companies are winning, but I no longer know if this is a hill that I’m willing to die on.
What are your thoughts on what we have to give up in our lives just to stay in control of our personal information?
It’s easy, use a VPN and as many fake data as you can, also you can use an AI generated profile pic, if you need a phone number you can use a virtual number like TextNow app.
You are right on all counts.
Just not sure if “easy” is the operative word here.
Thanks, yeah I’m always on a VPN, but as you suggested, maybe nowadays it’s not about trying to live without an account, but having the account with generic/fake profile data.
Yeah the point it’s into giving them fake data, you keep using the service and they get fake stuff at exchange. Better than not using their service.