The title says it all. Part of what i do now is to convince people to care about their privacy. I know I cannot force people to do anything. And I have a charisma level of -1, if this was an rpg. Like its nonnexistent.
I feel lonely in general because it feels like people make me feel like I’m delusional for caring about protecting my privacy. Maybe there is a support group for that🤣🤣🤣
But anything I can specifically say that works best in planting a seed in people’s mind?
One thing I love about Germany is that people have this understanding where privacy is fundamental and not something to argue about. Because they know being able to easily identify people leads to disaster. It’s just about a political swing away.
Niceee🙌🙌🙌
“You don’t care about privacy? Why not give me your bank login, then”
More seriously, You don’t have to convince people of anything. Sooner than later some huge leak will happen or anythign more intimate that will still impact them, say, like the story of this dad sending a pic of some intimate part of their sick kid’s to their doctor and being flagged by Google AI and being arrested for sharing child porn. And then they will realize why it mattered to protect our privacy.
That truu, I’ve recently started my privacy journey, so im slowly switching to alternative to trying to show them to people. Its like a new found interest.
That article crazyy thoooo😭😭😭 thats wilddd.
That truu, I’ve recently started my privacy journey,
That’s a great decision, imho.
I made the same choice a few years ago. Every little step counts. I will never be an expert or feel that safe using digital tech but I quit using many tools and services I realized I can’t trust at all, which is already something. And it all started by one small first step.
so im slowly switching to alternative to trying to show them to people.
Showing them is a good idea, preaching them to do what you’re doing is probably not that great an idea. Think about it, when was the last time you sincerely changed your mind because someone was forcing you to listen to them or was harassing you. What most probably happened is that you told more or less politely to funk themselves ;)
That article
… is terrifying, imho and it is certainly not the kind of society I want to live in.
There is also a much older story about Amazon deleting the novel 1984 from the kindle of customers having legally purchased it (they were refunded but still that doesn’t change what happened). This kind of events is what started my journey toward a more privacy and ownership-respecting usage of digital tools. That’s also what helped me switch back to analog wherever it was doable (Amazon can’t delete a printed book from my bookshelves).
Truuu, it feels good to make your data is safe🙌
I do come off as preachy🤣 its the thing i do when i learn too much information. I also have no charisma🤣 It depemds how much i want to change. I have substance use issues and it took me 4 months to take that one seriously. But yeah, it takes a while to realize people were right 🤣🤣🤣
Thats wild they can just delete a book. Thats scary😭😭😭 thats why subscrption services are scary for things that should just be broight like books and software😭
I gave up on convincing people about privacy and all that. They don’t care and say the old crap “I have nothing to hide” but seem utterly perplexed when you tell them Facebook scandals (and then still keep using it).
People have chosen easy of use and laziness over privacy.
Thats truu esp with them using data from facebook to kidnapp people. That alone was like a hold up.
But i feel like using provacy respecting options is easy nowadays. But people get stuck in their ways.
You can lead a horse to water but you can not make it drink.
That do be truu. Can just educate and wait for them to figure out!
Do people need to care?
Do what you need to to secure your privacy, and let people know how much of a travesty it is that their privacy and rights are being stripped away, but at the end of the day they’re their own people and so if they choose not to care that’s their decision, and it’s not up to you to choose how they’re allowed to think or live their lives, even if it appears obviously wrong and short-sighted to you or I
Thats truu. Yeah if people dont want to do it, they wont🤣 unforrunately.
Yeah im gonna work on myself. I really want a fairphone, but thats gonna take time😭😭 but meanwhile i try to use only foss and privacy respecting apps🙌 i gotta try my best
I am privacy conscious and care about privacy even though I don’t care too much about my own personal privacy just for privacy’s sake.
Privacy advocacy runs deeper than just protecting your own data. Convincing someone to care about “their privacy” is more straightforward when they face a real threat. For example, a journalist in Mexico writing about a politician linked to organized crime has every reason to avoid being easily tracked. That person is not going to post their location on Facebook.
But most people aren’t under direct threat. If you read my texts, you’ll find casual conversations with family and dinner plans. I’m not afraid of someone showing up at my door, so I’m fine sharing my address to get a package delivered. Getting ads is a minor annoyance.
Still, I care about privacy. Not necessarily mine, but privacy as a principle. I care about what surveillance capitalism does to society. Even if my personal threat model is easy, I want tools and systems to exist for people with harder ones. Privacy is part of the kind of world I think we should live in, and its erosion usually points to larger structural problems.
So back to the question. It’s easier to convince someone to care about privacy if they feel directly threatened. But if they don’t, you need something else to make them give up convenience in the name of privacy. That something is ideology. You’re asking how to shift someone’s ideological framework. That’s hard, and not something you can do for them. You can recommend good material, share your reasoning, explain what led you to care. But they have to engage with the ideas themselves. Like with exercise, you can’t build someone’s muscles for them. You can’t implant the ideology, but you can create the conditions for it to take root.
I typically point to the real world and that seems to work:
- Your garden has a fence
- Your windows have curtains so that you close when you switch on the lights inside
- Your bathroom window uses frosted glass so that you cannot be seen showering from outside
- You sometimes whisper so that not everyone can hear what you say
None of them are super safe, but you still follow these precautions. All we ask is to be as careful on the internet.
I wish my bathroom had frosted glass🤣🤣🤣🤣
But yes, we do have to protect ourselves on the internet. Thsnks so much❤️❤️
Those things are really intuitive, and anyone should be able to understand them. The digital world is completely different and alien, which makes it difficult to think about. People don’t understand it, so they can’t be expected to have a rational opinion about it.
But anything I can specifically say that works best in planting a seed in people’s mind?
‘It fails to include a libre software license text file. We do not control it, anti-libre software. Don’t fall for their scam.’
You need to make them ask you. People are bored of privacy. They will not ask you about privacy. Also, people care less about getting and more about losing. Listen for complains and always link back to software freedom.
Never say privacy. Never say anything technical, a derailment strategy used against us. Never say ‘open source’. This misses the point of libre software. Say simple words, scam and abuse.
Here’s more: https://lemmy.world/post/21620691
Factss!! And they are selling your information to bad actors.
Software freedom is important🙌🙌 definitely should keep it simple
Thanks so much❤️
Stalk their social media accounts to prove a point.
🤣🤣🤣
If you’re in the US, you could point to the news. Even garden variety libs should be a little nervous about the increasing police state
Factsss! Thank you so much❤️
Start by your own privacy.
I boarded that train about twenty years ago. I tried the evangelizing route. I failed miserably. Which led me to care for myself first and foremost.
I started by abandoning Windows. Not of my own volition; I bought a computer that had no OS. Enter Linux. None of my family, friends or acquaintances understood. It was all about the convinience. When my machines started outperforming while outliving theirs, it caused a ripple.
Then came the usual slew of questions: where can I get a free anti-virus, office, media reader, whatever? That was when I introduced FOSS. After the initial resistance, things just settled into place. LibreOffice works. VLC works. PeaZip works. Thunderbird works. Etc.
When smartphones became a thing, I started moving as fast as I could towards FOSS. This made things a bit more laughable as “free” android applications are ubiquous. But they fill your phone with junk and ads. While my apps provided me ease of use, safety, security and privacy.
But when push came to shove, I just refused to join. First I left FBMessenger. I never boarded Whatsapp. I never entered Instagram or any major social networks. I discovered Signal and remained there.
It’s my way or no way.
Makes sense! I did linux mint this weekend on an old laptop. So i feel more confident in switching over on my real laptop.
I think we are at the point where we can use foss options and linux for all our needs and they arent hard to use. 🙌🙌 i agree
Yeppp one day im just gonna drop everyone my signal and move completly over there.🤣
Thanks so much❤️
pull up embarasing posts from years ago to prove a point
Truuu🤣🤣
We share the goal of making the world more private. I’m not trying to be cheeky or mean. I’m genuinely curious. Would you be against reading to learn how to talk more compellingly?
Id love to learn more information! Send it over! Thank you so much❤️
People never want to be convinced of anything that says they should do something differently than how they currently do it. Best you can do is lead by example. Talk about benefits of your way of doing things if they ask, or if it is very relevant to the conversation. Otherwise, don’t broach those topics. To take it a step further, if people start complaining to you about problems, before you offer solutions, ask them if they are just venting, or if they are looking for advice or suggestions. Now that you have your instructions on how to change what you are doing, please follow them to the letter, without deviation ;P
Well said, I was thinking maybe the entire reason OPs charisma is -1 is because they’re out there trying to convince people to do something instead of just doing their own thing.
Oh its always been bad. I work in healthcare amd i cant convince patients to do things but if someone else says it they will do it. Its a skill and charmisa issue. I know its bad🤣🤣🤣 i dont think i can improve my stats, its a locked stat🤣
Truuu, i got gotta focus on my journey.🤣
Gotta check if they are ready, makes sense.
Thanks for the advice❤️
I just compare it to having a stalker. Imagine being in your bedroom and having someone looking at you from outside the window. Now, would you be ok with it if the person was invisible?
Yikess truuu😭😭 gottta remember to put my phone on airplane mode at night🤣