Hi fellow Hiveians,
Today I wanted to share an update on a community I've put together!
Privacy Community Introduction
I know it may sound like an oxymoron, privacy community on a publicly visible blockchain? Where we share information, much of it personal? Let's pursue this though..
Privacy is such an important part of our lives. We absolutely take it for granted in a lot of ways and there are many pitfalls because of this.
The VERY first and most common response to the notion of needing privacy from nefarious actors, governments and organizations is: "I've got nothing to hide, so I don't care about privacy" this is such a DANGEROUS mindset to have. If you think you've got nothing to hide, you're sorely mistaken. The majority of things we enjoy today would NEVER have been possible if there was no privacy and information was completely surveilled. It is also utmost important to know that people should NOT know everything about us and our daily activities except for our own brains and bodies. Full stop!
Are you sure that you've got NOTHING at all in your life, not one single bit that you could get in trouble for on a daily or weekly basis?
For example, you crossed the street outside of a crosswalk because it was too far down the road from where you wanted to be. Jaywalking, illegal! Currently it's a matter of resources to not go after people for that, let's be honest. If you don't think this is on the agenda, just look at China in cities like Beijing where they have millions of cameras everywhere and instantly fine people for jaywalking without a second thought. They can get more sophisticated and targeted by using our phones to also assist in these measures.
Another example, you have a few bits of trash in your car and one of them accidentally flies out the window when you open it. Are you going to stop the car on the highway, run out and grab it? Probably not but you can still get a ticket for littering even though it was an accident. If you had a device in your car broadcasting 24/7 your actions, images and other aspects of what's happening such as in the newest cars like Tesla, that is not a reality that would be far from possible if more control is seized over our freedoms.
Another example, say you see a corrupt police officer or other official. You didn't intend to see them perform something illegal but you are caught off guard and they see you. This individual can run a trace of who's phone was nearby and pinging off cell towers, wifi networks, bluetooth and other tech in the area. You get arrested for being at the wrong place at the wrong time, even though you are truly innocent.
These may seem like silly or extreme examples but the fact is that the more we erode the privacy that we have, the more these are going to be issues. They may not be issues for us but they will be issues for our kids and our grandkids in the future. These things are the ratchet effect, the more they are removed the proverbial machine keeps clicking forward. With a ratchet, it does NOT click backwards, only forward, meaning it is extremely difficult to get these things back.
The intention I have for this community is to share information, habits and things of that nature with others that may not be aware of it. I am not an expert in this by any means, but it is something I am interested in and passionate about so I am making sure to incorporate it into my life more and more, as well as tell people around me about it.
Over the last 1.5 years or so, I've been spending a lot of time getting myself introduced to the topic of taking back personal privacy in terms of not intending to allow myself to be an easy victim of tech monitoring. Yes we live in 2024 and these things are everywhere but the most important thing we can do is to take small steps to make it more difficult for us to be spied on and be a victim. The sad reality is there are lots of people who have far less scrutiny and they are an easier victim. The harder the victim, the less likely it will happen.
I've been exploring topics such as:
- Phone privacy
- Computer privacy
- VPN privacy
- Car privacy
- Internet privacy
- Health privacy
- Browser privacy
These are all topics that I will slowly be writing about over the coming weeks and months. Each time I will get more familiar with the various things I am looking into so it's both a personal journey, and a way to help educate the people that I interact with here on Hive on important elements of their online lives, and how we can make them better and more secure!
The interesting thing is there are a few other communities out there dedicated to privacy which is good! I wasn't sure if I was going to be the only one but thankfully it is a topic more people are interested in than I realized.
What about you, do you find yourself thinking about privacy in terms of technology? Why or why not? Let me know in the comments!
-CmplXty. Real human written content, never AI. All pictures are mine unless otherwise stated
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