Privacy Awareness - Part 1 of 3

Updated: 18 Jun 2023. Added link to the site "The New Oil".

This post is part of a series. The parts are on the following links: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Let's think about the following situation: would we like a stranger with a camera and a microphone always by our side, recording absolutely everything we do? Why would that be a problem? The reason is obvious: it's because we don't want our privacy to be invaded by someone who isn't close to us, as that would be a potentially unnecessary risk situation.

So why do we allow certain companies to literally record everything we do, when we are immorally used as a source of profit by them? The reason is also obvious, and it is the same as in the previous paragraph.

Human dignity is being harmed by the unrestrained exposure of personal information. Therefore, we need to be aware of privacy and protect ourselves from people and companies that misuse our data. If we don't know how to defend ourselves, we need to ask, research, seek help from those around us. With this, we will build a society where our privacy is respected. Throughout the posts in this series, I intend to argue why we should take this seriously and what we can do about it, but to introduce the subject, I recommend the following links:

Shoshana Zuboff on surveillance capitalism | VPRO Documentary: Documentary which shows in a didactic way the issues we are facing as a society in the current capitalism model.

The New Oil: Site that introduces lay people to privacy in an accessible way.

Privacy Guides: Website with plentyful and useful privacy-friendly software recommendations and guidelines for the public.

Free Software Philosophy: Text describing the principles of the Free Software philosophy.

You don't have to agree with everything the links say (or what I say), I just want to make people aware of an issue that I think is important but doesn't get talked about much. Do your own research and draw your own conclusions.