Privacy Jerk

This toot by @viv@toot.site triggered this post.

I used to be a relentless mouthpiece for Ubuntu. Talking about how everything just works. That one can make do with free as in beer and freedom software for almost all our work. If it’s free there must be some ulterior motive behind it, friends would quip. Windows was technically “free” for them as it came preinstalled or they were on a pirated version. Nothing was worth switching away from Microsoft Windows. The “value” one associates with a paid product! When I talk about how FB is evil, Instagram is exhausting, how every corporation is in the business of selling our data, the common response is so what? Google already knows everything! The mentality of treating privacy like a glasshouse is hard to let go. Over the years I have come to realize my folly. I have been called a know it all and rude. I probably deserved it because nobody likes to hear that they are wrong about the things they do or like. You cannot change somebody’s mind by talking about or even showing how there exists a better way (maybe I just suck at explaining 😂️). When my wife wouldn’t stop complaining about how FB is slow and half of the things (specifically ads! 🙄️) don’t load, I disabled pi-hole for her devices rather than whitelist potential trackers for all other devices. My peace of mind or her nagging - The choice was apparent 😅️. More often than not people just want their problem fixed without changing the underlying behavior. So now unless anybody has a very specific question about privacy or are really exploring their options, I keep my mouth shut. Easier for everybody.

Day 38 - Join Me in #100DaysToOffload