---
# System prepended metadata

title: Privacy struggles

---

# Privacy struggles

Sometimes I get caught up in the definition of privacy. I tend to think about it rather intransigently/binary (yet, that is the [least BS way to define it](https://nakamotoinstitute.org/static/docs/cypherpunk-manifesto.txt)):

> *Having Privacy*  means that nobody knows anything about me that I don't explicitly reveal

and, since I want to have privacy, then:

> Everything that does not guarantee privacy to me is bad


Of course *it ain't actionable advice, bro!* so we have to find a new way to define that. And this is the real struggle: [any other mainstream definition](https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/privacy/what-is-data-privacy/) seems to me to be fake, distant, and not addressing the real points, which are:

1. not having privacy is a *weakness*
2. I don't wanna give ya my data 

In other words, I don't care if you *respect my privacy* or *collect my data fairly*, or *comply with all the regulation to provide the best services...* and other fillers like those that provide exactly *zero* new info.

Don't get me wrong: I get that some services (currently) have to know the content of my request to process it (think Google queries)[^1]. But other services really do not (think any website that stores tracking cookies, or wants you to log in for really nothing more, such as watching videos on YouTube).  In other words, why management department of \<insert popular videogame-name here\> needs to know if I am at home or in a bus when I'm playing it?

[^1]: Ironically, [those are the services that will probably stop threatening my privacy first](https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/287016/1-s2.0-S2214212622X00033/1-s2.0-S2214212622000655/main.pdf?X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjELH%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJFMEMCH0Ces20xwFUNVhirBitgV1veRFbUt7TR0Rm4xVE0vBICIDfbJEvB3Sfblgb2uuispyzbwWSCHqyY%2F20WdLm4RvlBKtUECIr%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEQBRoMMDU5MDAzNTQ2ODY1IgycVHtlRVW1%2BG%2FIXqAqqQSEkHB6ZsrhGwXVuIoksTfBkD%2B%2BTWOIz0Hb9LML5%2BQ5SyA%2F95iUU5GAyxKpgDxeUpMLZdkgAa5NsU8nd2TvxB32Idmr4N7v%2FUYyl%2B0G5hstN9uTYXhZomrAQ5XGWpM%2B%2B6BRK4kHMAce4UT6gxK18Ll0YDPR8w3J0gAHTnVarqYvmmdUnI%2FcfJvFeAA1UaBn6oE81DE%2FBqlLFy1MW7HNMT8XH%2FAUWek1RebNlNz%2F3MOfmkoDs19uGYj9x835Y7QJzKXNQp0If3D7YEKL1zotm0e%2BVMAzE%2BtbmGmlbl4NsIFqul%2F74W6pEmqgrNa6ojPOnxTxgwSzMUvfQTYQWxNDBo3XSo3NtCPvqDTX8QB6SU4OYAMxZ3oKsYaOdBoys37QaQp%2FJCUoiUw563sqd1AtbFAfQ3FN2N7ZcM1M4S1%2BuKdz5TulW4rSp2VI%2BN7rCvAj%2FYvxQZCGUAog5Dx8KS3CH6lW%2FGyTmBEGNbFbo1cZFHr%2BurceSSh9ecfQHiooaws2Y56dYX8KTOj%2BXDlxuFMHt9OX8pfL2EVqNGBl8CzsAmHVNZAaN1AANKg5F7oIfqhmAPb3JnB3RE1QlLqLT7ijvAsIdILShXFf51zt4J15NrZ%2FCNsVADeUU3CyK1BoLM0ECPqhtderwcRoDpRJraFm4Sd2ay6%2B3cBtG8begMSrJ1uSFPwT202mAKAhdYUJSRIVoGKdNBP7dQGNu0s3o4rJ9WMWTaUw9uxogr8cMOnjzpoGOqsBBfY013B%2Fdo0DqzOHCVvOeEm1zx6Bq1h31adJg856YSFWDkO%2BLvOZyULBRwLHvRwwg3sIVkdqqJMBs1l61FzkpwZ6Fm%2BzCFLPGWwkzJInX3FPVSVNm5PJmuf42gVSyWKgMBPlk%2FVz8Kq6m%2BZG0w0Jkz4XCv4FTjG8OO0%2Bf%2FgcHnAJ%2BEEi9npA1p0UkBPl0d7lkNtkKQfwIBmi86nZkCdDr7lhHfHctX2sancO&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20221022T093440Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAQ3PHCVTY36NPXWTI%2F20221022%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=4be2c97f461beb6fdd7a588acf9dec9c1dac303175d8099553989f75b6717d7d&hash=e8aa689f9aa597997b2be678ec25b028a3567b30ba803cd32937c01f813b34ff&host=68042c943591013ac2b2430a89b270f6af2c76d8dfd086a07176afe7c76c2c61&pii=S2214212622000655&tid=spdf-2b6b14da-b0a6-45cb-aaf6-371799b51ee1&sid=1220276e8b6693458f4b87f97ed0e83db3ebgxrqb&type=client&ua=51570b575c05510c5302&rr=75e13d0b1a495a3d). 



Jeff Hammerbacher is quoted for saying that the best minds of his generation were thinking about how to make people click ads. It may have been true ten years ago: Google's flagship product after all is a [CIA/NSA-funded](https://qz.com/1145669/googles-true-origin-partly-lies-in-cia-and-nsa-research-grants-for-mass-surveillance) ad-engine that accepts search queries[^2][^3]. On the other hand,  if the business model hasn't changed since, it may very well be that those people weren't that bright or there has been a turnover and things are declining, as they tend to do in those environments (see the [third Conquest's law](https://web.archive.org/web/20211011090915/https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/conquests-laws-john-derbyshire/)).

[^2]: Better people than me talked extensively about the [organization of information](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jem1unAG4_k)
[^3]: In the same way that any portable phone is a tracking device capable of making voice contacts with other phones

--- 

The whole rant above is to explain what the *real* battle is, and that it's fought by a bureaucracy. And if my opponent is a bureaucracy (either state- or company-sponsored or something in between), it is fairly evident that I alone can't win against it. Maybe with a group, but I'm not sure: plebs can't beat an oligarchy, a [strong leader is needed for that](https://graymirror.substack.com/p/policies-of-the-deep-right#:~:text=The%20only%20form,is%3A%20a%20monarchy.). Consequently, the best strategy may be to wait for that leader. That's because I generally like to win, and I pick my fights diligently, ensuring that the odds favours me. 

Am I a *worse* person because I don't care about unwinnable battles? Or if I decide *not* to engage in battles where my upside is a  [Pyrric victory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhic_victory)?
