I know data privacy is important and I know that big corporations like Meta became powerful enough to even manipulate elections using our data.
But, when I talk to people in general, most seem to not worry because they “have nothing to hide”, and most are only worried about their passwords, banking apps and not much else.
So, why should people worry about data privacy even if they have “nothing to hide”?
tbf, that’s just a reasonable position that a person can have. Your data is an asset, just like your bank account. If you wish to spend it for something in exchange, then do so.
My only concern would be if they were unaware of the potential risks. But most people are aware of the risks and choose to take them anyway. That is simply a choice they are free to make, ultimately.
When I encounter this, which is pretty rare, to be honest I just say “do you think it is right that all of us should have to live the exact same way you do? Or do you think people should be allowed to decide what level of privacy they want?” That pretty much at least gets a tacit nod. You just make an appeal to being able to choose how you live your life.
I was really interested coming into this thread, because although I am conscious about privacy I sometimes wonder why I bother.
Unfortunately none of the counterarguments in the comments are convincing at all.
Analogies with letting someone see you naked are stupid. We’re not talking about naked photos, were talking about stuff like your age range and what newspaper you read. I don’t care who knows that.
“Future authoritarian governments could use it against you” isn’t worth worrying about. The government will have access to official records and can question you in person. Your ethnicity, religion, politics and sexuality are all easily found out whether you post them online or not. The fact that some advertising start up knows them will make no difference.
“If someone knows enough about you they can tailor Facebook ads to control your mind” is just sci fi conspiracy theory paranoia. Besides which they could run the same ads without targeting and I’d be just as mind controlled even if my data was a secret.
Edit: I really don’t mind getting downvotes, but if anyone has time to make an actual counterargument that would be great
Ask them to unlock their phone and give it to you. Chances are, you’ll quickly find out they have things they’d like to hide.
I have nudes on my phone. I honestly don’t care if they leak one day, in fact, I have been to nudist beaches and I’m pretty sure there are online pictures of me naked already.
That’s completely different to showing naked pictures of me to colleagues, etc.
But if your photos leak, your colleagues could see them. Someone can blackmail you. Or do that using any other sensitive information.
I couldn’t care less if a few photos leaked. Nobody in my community would care, if they did I wouldn’t care about them, and blackmail risk it’s far overblown especially within the context of photos. You are far more likely to be exposed by an angry partner. Being afraid that Google had a rouge dick pic that might leak with thousands of others is absurd.
But then I wouldn’t be showing to them.
My problem is not they seeing me naked. My problem would be showing the photos directly to them. I mean when someone asks for my phone, im always like dont like at my photos, I have nudes, then some close friends have still go to my photos and then I dont care.
You should just fucking drop it. That’s what you should do.
I don’t care that ADs are targeted vs blasted. I don’t care that meta sells advertising data. Meta provides a service I like and I have no fear that it will be used against me in any meaningful way that will reduce my quality of life.
Just stop. At this point you are quickly approaching Jehova witness level of cringe.
Wow. You read the news and know people have been arrested on the basis of some data that was wrong or misleading? You know companies hire psychologists to make their apps more addicting to you? This isn’t something just in theory. Look it up! They’re actively manipulating you, right now. And they care for their own goals, not for your quality of life. You know you’re fine with all your sold data, credit scores etc as long as the score is good? There are people who lost their job without being at fault. Good for them they now can’t finance a replacement for their broken down car to get to job interviews.
Oh I know China is activity manipulating me to purchase race cars. I definitely wasn’t going to do that before 🙄
I would point them to the actual investigation (which won a pulitzers in its own right.). The video isnt bad, its just piggybacking on data thats otherwise more complete and out there.
https://projects.tampabay.com/projects/2020/investigations/police-pasco-sheriff-targeted/
They did stop the program. But still, the acceptance of this type of stuff is concerning and may increase in prevalence.
This is the type of mundane shit that can be used against you. And its not isolated. At the bottom of the second link another sheriff was getting grades/behavior data from the school district as a means to make a list of harrassment victims and it wasnt until the DoE started an investigation that they stopped. And its not like other state or federal government agencies are particularly benevolent.
