Privacy is a human right, and it applies online too. However, sacrificing convenience is not the best way to achieve it.
Privacy is a spectrum, you can choose how much information you share, depending on your comfort level.
For this article’s sake, I will divide privacy into 4 levels
Sharing everything (Level zero)
- Freely publishing everything, including your most private info and photos Sharing most information (Level one)
- Share most things except highly sensitive information like your address, phone number, or sensitive photos Sharing selective information (Level two)
- Publishing only the necessary information online. This includes basic stuff like name, profile photo and non-revealing photos Minimal online presence (Level three)
- Keeping your online footprint very minimal, sharing limited or no personal info.
You are free to choose any level you want, its not what I want to talk today.
It’s important to be cautious about sharing personal information like your name and photo with strangers online. However, completely avoiding major platforms like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft just because they collect data can be impractical.
In fact, these companies do collect information like location, age, and preferences to show you ads. And they may sell your information to third parties. However, it’s important to note that this data is usually anonymized and not directly linked to you. (Have you ever heard of Google doxing someone?)
So, If you don’t like these services, then not using them is fine. However, avoiding these services entirely just for privacy reasons might make it hard for you to connect with people and access valuable tools.
Also using alternative clients with different features is fine. However, using these clients for the sake of privacy, sacrificing features over privacy is not a wise thing to do. It makes your life more complicated, and it could become a phobia or an unhealthy obsession.
If you try to protect your privacy in this extreme way, then it will also have some negative effect on your health too. The fear of data collection may cause you distress or interfere with your daily life, or it might be a sign of an underlying anxiety disorder.
While protecting privacy online is important, it shouldn’t prevent you from enjoying the many benefits that internet offers. Finding a balance between protecting privacy and engaging with the online world will definitely help you connect with others, make new friends, learn new things and live a fulfilling life.
After all we probably won’t live longer than 100 years. So why bother protecting your privacy in such an extreme way. Just use these services, make friends and live your life to the fullest.