The Slow Erosion of Freedom

Privacy is something I’ve been thinking about for a long time. Back in high school, I replaced Android on my phone with CalyxOS, a privacy-respecting operating system. My parents were confused: “You bought a Google Phone just to avoid Google?” It was a fair question, but it started me down a path of understanding why privacy is so critical.

My interest didn’t come out of nowhere. I’ve always been drawn to tech, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, the concept of privacy became very real. In France, we had the COVID pass. While I understood the health reasons, the idea of needing a digital QR code just to eat out or enter a building made me uneasy.

It reminded me that freedom isn’t always taken by force—sometimes it’s given away, bit by bit, in the name of convenience or safety. And once it’s gone, it’s hard to get back.

The “Nothing to Hide” Myth

A lot of people say, “I’ve got nothing to hide, so I don’t care about privacy.”

But privacy isn’t about hiding. It’s about having control. To quote Edward Snowden (who risked everything to show the world the true scale of digital surveillance):

“Arguing that you don’t care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say.”

You don’t need to be doing something illegal to want your private life to remain private.

The Illusion of Digital Ownership

“You’ll own nothing and you’ll be happy.”

This phrase, often attributed to the World Economic Forum, has become a rallying cry for those concerned about the direction of digital rights. It perfectly encapsulates the modern shift away from ownership and toward a subscription-based, rented existence.

We all know the famous saying: “If you pay nothing, you’re the product.” But what happens when you do pay, and you’re still treated like the product?

Think about going to the cinema. You pay for a ticket to watch a film, yet you are forced to sit through twenty minutes of advertisements. The cinema takes your money, and they take money from the advertisers to force you to watch. You lose your time, and the corporation profits from both sides.

This predatory model is bleeding into digital goods. Even when you pay for a premium membership, or outright buy a digital movie or video game, you often don’t actually own it. We’ve seen this recently when platforms like PlayStation or Canal+ simply deleted purchased films from users’ libraries because their licensing contracts with movie studios expired. You paid money to “own” something, but because it exists on their servers, they can take it away at any time. This represents massive theft on a corporate scale, yet the legal systems lag far behind, leaving consumers with no real recourse.

The Digital Surveillance Machine

Every day, your data is collected, often without your consent. Your location, your browsing habits, your voice, even your sleeping patterns. This data is sold to advertisers and stored in massive databases.

We’re not just users anymore; we’re data farms. Social media platforms are free because your attention is the product.

The more I learned, the more I realized that privacy isn’t just about hiding—it’s about power. It’s about having the right to make choices without being watched, tracked, or manipulated by algorithms designed to profit off your behavior.

Taking Steps

You don’t need to go off the grid or throw your phone in a lake to protect yourself. Small steps make a huge difference:

  • Use a privacy-focused browser (Firefox, Brave) and search engine (DuckDuckGo, Startpage).
  • Install uBlock Origin to block trackers.
  • Limit app permissions on your phone.
  • Use end-to-end encrypted messaging like Signal.

Privacy is about respect. Respect for yourself, and respect for others. It’s about creating a future where freedom, not profit, is the default.