> Aside from electing responsible people to government in order to pass regulations, what can a regular person do to change the profit incentives at scale of the companies who are building the mass surveillance systems? It seems a dire and impossible situation.
There's no need to be so fatalistic. The EU is about to enact GDPR; a huge privacy preserving peice of legislation. It seems like the large technology companies are going to give the same protections globally (verification is too much fuss). This is a huge win, and US citizens get it for 'free'.
Here are some ideas for more productive things than despairing on Hacker News:
- Vote with your neurons. Stop using services that you find objectionable, even if you enjoy them.
- Stay abreast of issues via organizations like the EFF, EPIC and the FSF in the US; ORG, Privacy International and FSFE in the UK, etc. Send them your cold hard cash.
- Speak to your representatives, and give them your angle. If they're being paid by the organizations you're worried about, tell them politely what you think of this.
- Socially, as charmingly as possible, let people know what you think about surveillance if it comes up. It's a fun one if framed correctly, as it doesn't divide down left/right lines, and no-one likes to sound authoritarian. Offer help and expertise to people who are wishing to make privacy preserving changes (e.g. move off gmail, set up a pseudonym, configure a VPN, etc.)
There's no need to be so fatalistic. The EU is about to enact GDPR; a huge privacy preserving peice of legislation. It seems like the large technology companies are going to give the same protections globally (verification is too much fuss). This is a huge win, and US citizens get it for 'free'.
Here are some ideas for more productive things than despairing on Hacker News:
- Vote with your neurons. Stop using services that you find objectionable, even if you enjoy them.
- Stay abreast of issues via organizations like the EFF, EPIC and the FSF in the US; ORG, Privacy International and FSFE in the UK, etc. Send them your cold hard cash.
- Speak to your representatives, and give them your angle. If they're being paid by the organizations you're worried about, tell them politely what you think of this.
- Socially, as charmingly as possible, let people know what you think about surveillance if it comes up. It's a fun one if framed correctly, as it doesn't divide down left/right lines, and no-one likes to sound authoritarian. Offer help and expertise to people who are wishing to make privacy preserving changes (e.g. move off gmail, set up a pseudonym, configure a VPN, etc.)