Updated: 16th Aug 2024 Reading: 4 minutes

Privacy Made Easy

What's this blog for?

  1. To prove that utility and comfort don't require privacy sacrifices.
  2. To shed some light on open-source and make it more accessible.
  3. To discuss and inform on technology, privacy, and internet freedom.
  4. To showcase my flexible writing and editing styles, and my expertise.

Categories:

  • DeGoogle: Privacy-respecting alternatives to Google (and Apple, and Microsoft) services.
  • How To: Easy to follow, detailed guides on how to complete certain tasks.
  • Deep Dive: Long form content exploring a given topic.

Why does privacy matter?

Remember when you had the freedom to live privately? That freedom is fading fast. For those born before the internet's relentless march, the choice was ours. But for Gen Z, the first digital natives, privacy is a distant hope. You're always in someone's selfie. Someone's security cam feed. Someone's Alexa recording. Amazon's Alexa mesh network of spyware is always listening and watching. Your Alexa doesn't need internet to report to nearby Alexas.

Privacy isn't about having something to hide. We've all done stupid things. That's how you learn and experiment. Kids today can't do that. And that's only with the internet and CCTV. Wait till AI and robotics get here. We're nowhere near prepared.

Privacy is our first line of defene against government and corporate overreach.

To protect journalists, whistleblowers, and protestors that keep our government accountable. To protect our limited attention and funds from greedy, manipulative corporations. To protect our most vulnerable from getting manipulated by targeted dark-pattern marketing. To make sure your insurance doesn't go up when you get sick and need more healthcare. To not get subpoenaed because Google located your phone near a crime scene. To not have a family member go to jail after hair found at crime scene matched your DNA test results. To protect your right to dance like an idiot in your own car without being recorded.

Open-source fixes all of that.

Privacy gives us the right to self-determination. The right to be forgotten. To exist on our own terms. To make mistakes and learn from them. To control our narrative.

In an always online world, privacy is our only hope.

Why does open-source matter?

The obvious:

  • It's free. For personal use and even commercial use.
  • It's customizable. You can modify it to suit your needs.
  • It already exists. You don't have to build it from scratch.

The not so obvious:

  • It encourages you to learn basic coding skills in order to interact with it.
  • Transparency and security. Anyone can see if it's doing anything nefarious.
  • The community. Anyone can improve it for free if they find it useful. This is especially important for security.

We've all noticed the enshitification of the internet of late. That's a direct result of it becoming increasingly corporate-controlled and driven by ad-revenue. That never could have happened on an open internet. And as technology becomes increasingly invasive, the role of open-source becomes evermore crucial.

Open-source proves everyday that you don't have to give up privacy for convenience.

The common sentiment that "sure big tech is spying on me, but they make my life easier" is lazy and misguided. Much like ad-based monetization (and capitalism🤭), it's not the best way and certainly not the only way.

Public fears surrounding modern technology are non-existent in open-source. AI isn't scary if its code is public and everyone can review it and fix it.

When community and security are the priority, rather than profit, we all benefit.

Open-source isn't about me and what's good for me. Open-source prioritizes doing the right thing above all else. There's no bureaucracy or middle management or shareholders in open-source. There's the common good.

Who am I?

Carl Sinclair is a 31 year old citizen of Earth, the Internet, and a few other places. Currently weaponizing his unquenchable thirst for knowledge and ADHD towards his quixotic desire for a free and open internet, and a free and open world.

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