I think that the conclusion here is, “there’s basically no privacy left in the modern world,” speaks to the tech literacy crisis more than it does to the expanse and fortitude of surveillance infrastructure. Like, yes, there is an incredible lack of state regulation to limit the scope of data collection, but that doesn’t mean that this is unavoidable.
There are measures you can take to secure your home network against data collection and telemetry such as buying a managed, wired router and using wireless access points, as well as hosting a DNS so that you can better regulate the data that enters and exits your network. Your phone is definitely more difficult to prevent collection from by merit of the restrictive design of most operating systems and the fact that they literally transmit your location to function, but Android devices can take measures like installing GrapheneOS, which helps to severely limit the ability of apps to transmit that data without your knowledge. Even beyond that, phones themselves are not super expensive and performance has plateaued for about half a decade now (used devices are relatively cheap), so, you do not need to use a single device for everything and can disperse your usage data in a way that also works to obscure your identity. As you said, the information you provide to social media can be controlled by users, and their penetration into other services you use and its access to your user data in browsers can be limited similarly.
There certainly is still privacy in 2026, but the state benefits from making it as difficult as possible to restrict, and so there is now a skillset to ensure a level of privacy that was not required before. Our system feeds on precarity, so this is not even close to a new phenomenon. Think about the need to develop driving skills, finance literacy, workplace etiquette, consumer caution, knowledge on your rights, the fact that you do need a cellular device to participate in this system without punishment or that much of what I mentioned above requires some sort of income to execute effectively. All of these are consequences in the same way that the need to develop privacy skills are.
There are measures you can take, but the reality is that if you want to participate in the broader society you’re going to have to start making compromises somewhere. You’re going to have to use chat apps other people use, payment methods that are accepted in the stores, and so on. Some people are conscious of these things, but most people just don’t care. And if you are one of the people who worry about this stuff, you’re still stuck in a world where most people you interact with don’t. I don’t even think it’s so much a problem with tech literacy as just plain apathy. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that putting your whole life online is not a good idea, but people do it anyways.
And you’re completely right that there is systematic pressure for people to just give up and accept that they have no privacy. Having skills and money to opt out of surveillance becomes a privilege.
I think that the conclusion here is, “there’s basically no privacy left in the modern world,” speaks to the tech literacy crisis more than it does to the expanse and fortitude of surveillance infrastructure. Like, yes, there is an incredible lack of state regulation to limit the scope of data collection, but that doesn’t mean that this is unavoidable.
There are measures you can take to secure your home network against data collection and telemetry such as buying a managed, wired router and using wireless access points, as well as hosting a DNS so that you can better regulate the data that enters and exits your network. Your phone is definitely more difficult to prevent collection from by merit of the restrictive design of most operating systems and the fact that they literally transmit your location to function, but Android devices can take measures like installing GrapheneOS, which helps to severely limit the ability of apps to transmit that data without your knowledge. Even beyond that, phones themselves are not super expensive and performance has plateaued for about half a decade now (used devices are relatively cheap), so, you do not need to use a single device for everything and can disperse your usage data in a way that also works to obscure your identity. As you said, the information you provide to social media can be controlled by users, and their penetration into other services you use and its access to your user data in browsers can be limited similarly.
There certainly is still privacy in 2026, but the state benefits from making it as difficult as possible to restrict, and so there is now a skillset to ensure a level of privacy that was not required before. Our system feeds on precarity, so this is not even close to a new phenomenon. Think about the need to develop driving skills, finance literacy, workplace etiquette, consumer caution, knowledge on your rights, the fact that you do need a cellular device to participate in this system without punishment or that much of what I mentioned above requires some sort of income to execute effectively. All of these are consequences in the same way that the need to develop privacy skills are.
There are measures you can take, but the reality is that if you want to participate in the broader society you’re going to have to start making compromises somewhere. You’re going to have to use chat apps other people use, payment methods that are accepted in the stores, and so on. Some people are conscious of these things, but most people just don’t care. And if you are one of the people who worry about this stuff, you’re still stuck in a world where most people you interact with don’t. I don’t even think it’s so much a problem with tech literacy as just plain apathy. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that putting your whole life online is not a good idea, but people do it anyways.
And you’re completely right that there is systematic pressure for people to just give up and accept that they have no privacy. Having skills and money to opt out of surveillance becomes a privilege.