Sometimes I think, I have learned a lot about this issue and I’m well aware of the fact the whole world is going towards a state of surveillance that no one can escape, I have done everything I could to ensure my personal privacy, but what about others?
the majority of the world population does not even care about this matter, and they might even see it as a normality, the people might even know that they are being watched/listened to/surveilled, and they don’t do anything to prevent it neither individually or collectively.
I also believe that protecting the individual privacy automatically contributes to the collective privacy and vice-versa, but seeing how the world is heading towards extreme surveillance that is practically impossible to resist (eg… face recognition, chat control law), I ask, what is the point of all of this? how can i live peacfully knowing that i can be suspected of anything just because i made a joke here or said something there?
and I’m not talking 100% privacy or anonymity, i’m just talking peace of mind and well-being.
You’ve never been able to say things publicly (or, since the internet, publish something that the entire world can read) and expect to be shielded from the consequences. There is always a risk that comes with speaking freely, especially if powerful people perceive your words as a challenge to their power.
The erosion of privacy protections is a reason to despair, but it is also a reason to speak more.
I wasn’t talking about saying things publicly, i was pointing towards the fact that even private conversations would be surveilled, hence, any joke or discussion made would be question to suspicion without intended targeting.
You asked how can you live peacefully knowing that your words might be used against you. I don’t believe you can, and I also don’t believe you ever truly could. But I also don’t believe that is a reason to self-censor.