I have been trying to take my digital privacy more seriously as of late, but I find myself falling into a cycle of all-or-nothing. I will do a little bit to improve my privacy and then will suddenly feel like I need to go full-on down the rabbit hole. This leads to burnout, and then I’ll convince myself that it’s all futile and I should just use what’s most convenient.
How do you all find a balance that works for you? Or do you just change things constantly?
Set a realistic threat level that meets your balance of privacy/convienience and stick to it. I know it is easier said than done, but once you start to get used to it, then you can think about making slight adjustments to better your privacy here and there. If you try to go full privacy right off the bat, you are going to get frustrated.
Start with changing 1-2 things at a time and go from there. Perhaps just change your browser/settings and your email. Adjust from there after a few months
Creating a threat model is probably a good idea. Having something to reference when making decisions would really help with the way my brain works. Thanks for the suggestions!
Love the point about it being a “balance”. A lot of us are cautious about privacy because we’re technophiles who understand how our data is being harvested and exploited, but are still passionate about new & useful tech, and want to take advantage of it. Part of my philosophy is giving in to specific tech ecosystems that I like, and just accepting the privacy downsides. I use an Android phone, which is on me at all times, so to me it isn’t an issue to use Google Home devices since they aren’t getting much (if anything) from those that they couldn’t easily grab from my phone already.