Privacy action is better than isolation from modern technology. Here’s why:

[u/CCPareNazies]

Minimizing your exposure and optimizing privacy settings is valuable, but it’s not enough. True, permanent, and workable change can only be achieved through communal action—not just individual privacy maximization.

While withdrawing from modern technology might seem like a solution, it ultimately limits your ability to engage with and influence the systems that shape our digital lives. Instead, focus on action that makes a tangible impact: • Vote for representatives who prioritize digital rights and privacy. • Contact your representatives and share your concerns about privacy-related policies. • Spread awareness thoughtfully, without resorting to alarmist or conspiratorial tones. • Vote with your wallet: Punish companies that don’t respect privacy by refusing to support them, and reward those that do by choosing their products and services. • Support privacy-focused organizations like the EFF, Privacy First, Access Now, and NOYB (None of Your Business) through donations, volunteering, or active involvement.

We’ve seen that organized action works: for example, the EU ban on biometric surveillance in public spaces, California’s privacy laws, and GDPR protections demonstrate how regulation can safeguard privacy when people demand change. These victories show what’s possible when we advocate together for systemic reform.

These steps are far more effective at creating meaningful, long-term change than isolating ourselves from the technology that connects us to our communities.

Let’s work together to protect privacy while staying engaged and empowered.

[u/Mlch431]

Effective privacy action is absolutely possible while reducing your (privacy-invading) hardware or software footprint and boycotting services that actively and openly spy on you.

You don't need to be neck deep in the mouth of a shark in order to read the writing on the wall - to see the danger, and also educate others succinctly about the threat.

Now am I suggesting that it's possible to meaningfully influence the world if you are a hermit who actively shuns everything conceivable and doesn't stay conscious about what other people are using to live a good life and connect with others? Probably not very effectively, you'd be fairly out of touch.

People tend to not want to sacrifice convenience and tools or services that make their lives better in some way. So the best action besides directly influencing your local community and other spaces you frequent, and of course your representatives; would be working on or influencing alternatives to services that replace existing (privacy-invading) structures without sacrificing power, function, or usability.

Companies have no incentive to play nice when advertising is such a big industry and data is so lucrative, when regulatory bodies in the US are broken beyond repair, and when lawmakers and those in power are overwhelmingly in support for illegal and unconstitutional surveillance domestically.

I consciously choose where I engage to influence others with my perspective (and of course to be influenced by others) and I suggest others do the same. I don't choose to be blind to advancements in technology and software. And I certainly I don't need to resist every individual company's steps towards (what I view to be as) tyranny - as their customer - to be effective at advocating for privacy and to provide functional alternatives to others.

[u/CCPareNazies → u/Mlch431]

I would never argue against taking simple, necessary steps to maximize privacy and protect oneself from companies, data breaches, and similar risks. Personally, though, my concern lies more with what governments do with data, while with private industry, it’s their incompetence that worries me the most.

Thankfully, many people share your perspective. For example, the German government is transitioning to open-source software and Linux, empowering its citizens to understand their digital tools and break free from reliance on foreign multinationals like Microsoft.