How we survive the surveillance apocalypse

guest · Dec 31, 2019

How we survive the surveillance apocalypse
Online privacy is not dead, but you have to be angry enough to demand it
December 31, 2019
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/12/31/how-we-survive-surveillance-apocalypse/

Go, go gadgets has long been the attitude in my house. Perhaps yours, too: A smartphone made it easier to stay in touch. A smart TV streamed a zillion more shows. A smart speaker let you talk to a smart thermostat without getting out of bed. That’s progress, right?

Now I’ve got a new attitude: It’s not just what I can get out of technology — I want to know what the technology gets out of me.
I’ve digested the legal word salad of privacy policies, interrogated a hundred companies and even hacked into a car dashboard to grab my data back. There are lots of stories about online threats, but it feels different watching your personal information streaming out of devices you take for granted.

Learning how everyday things spy on us made me, at times, feel paranoid.
After a year of wrestling my data from corporate America, I hardly feel in control. Being paranoid isn’t enough to save us in the age of surveillance.
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Data is power
While we’re busy living increasingly online lives, it’s hard to know what’s at stake in our data.
But there’s a more fundamental problem: Why is so much of our information being collected in the first place?
The arms race
Opting out is more easily said than done.
Around every corner in my connected life lay one of these traps.
Data co-pilots
We won’t regain our privacy if we leave it up to individuals. If we’re going to survive the age of surveillance, we’re going to need help.
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That starts with laws. Privacy isn’t just an individual right. It’s a public good that, when done right, keeps everyone safe, whether they’re paying attention or not. This ought to be obvious: Our data shouldn’t have a secret life.
We should demand laws that not only require companies to come clean about what they’re taking but also place some limits on it.
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