I’m a Privacy Advocate but Still Use Windows 10 and Google Now
Privacy is important and we must fight for it . I have said this many times . But when Windows 10 launched, I greeted Cortana, despite some concerns from privacy activists . It sounds disingenuous, but it’s easy to resolve if you understand how privacy works as currency. This is how I continue to advocate for a safer, privacy-focused Internet and continue to use these great free tools.
The new privacy economy: your data in exchange for services
It’s no secret that advertising is the engine of the Internet today. Along with the ads and savings based on placing ads in front of your face (which this blog is included in), there is a massive data trade going on behind the scenes. The ability to collect information about you to make sure these ads are relevant and interesting to you – products that you might actually like or want to buy – is serious. Low interest rate blinking banner ads are a thing of the past, replaced with dynamic Amazon ads showing the products you were looking for or related to the items you purchased.
After all, personalized ads are better than random, intrusive and irrelevant ads, right? But this is not enough. Placing ads in front of you that you don’t mind seeing is only part of the battle. The rest assures you that the information you provide is a small fee for that advertisement and not for any actual service or product delivered .
See the difference? You are trading your privacy just for the right to see relevant ads . And yet people swallow this logic. They even use it as a defense when asked.
There is another side to this: when you completely block ads and blacklist everything, you say, “You are not getting anything from me, but I’m going to take everything from you.” It’s also problematic because it is fueling an arms race between companies seeking to intercept your data and privacy technologies designed to protect you. This is also the reason why your favorite content creators, YouTube users, web comic authors and yes, humble bloggers ask you to whitelist them in your ad blocker so they can get paid for their work.
Part of the problem is that we’ve been led to believe that our data has no value. We receive these services “free of charge”. You’ve heard this before: “Well, Facebook / Google / Apple / Microsoft / [insert company] is giving this away, so stop complaining.” This limited definition of the word “free” does not allow us to understand the actual exchange that we make when we use “free” services. The fact that your data appears to be useless (especially when aggregated with others) doesn’t mean it isn’t. If it were really useless, advertisers wouldn’t want it, and they wouldn’t be willing to pay developer salaries, bloggers, database administrators, data scientists, growth hackers, and PR specialists to get it. Keep this in mind the next time you sign up for something “free”, whether it’s an upgrade to Windows 10, the upcoming El Capitan update for OS X, or even something like an email newsletter.
Your privacy (and your data) is currency, so spend it wisely
In an ideal world, privacy would be an unsubscribe option. To put it simply: I want companies to act from a privacy standpoint by default and only invade it when necessary and after your consent. Of course, we do not live in a perfect world. Most services say, “Sign up now for amazing benefits,” and (often on purpose) hide the trade-offs you make when joining a club. This is harmless in some cases, such as the number of friends or followers you have when you install the new Twitter app. In other cases, it is more aggressive, such as real-time location tracking for playing on a smartphone, or accessing the entire inbox for an anti-spam tool .
But both of these “more aggressive” examples I just mentioned? These are awesome tools in their own right, and I actually use both of them. When Windows 10 came out, many (rightly) raised the question of the privacy implications of a desktop operating system that is always connected, includes a personal assistant that records your voice and gives itself permission to collect a ton of data and send it home to Microsoft. We discussed similar issues when OS X Yosemite came out . So did Google Now and Siri after they requested permanent access to our email, location and apps and sent our data back to their parent companies. We were – and worried – about how long these companies keep this data and what else it might be used for.
So how do I get along with myself and still have fun using Windows 10 on one computer, Yosemite on another, and say “Ok Google Now” every time I need to set a reminder? Well, that starts with realizing that “privacy” and “personal data” are essentially the currency in today’s internet economy. In all of these cases, I trade bits of information for services that I believe give me some bang for the buck on the value of the information I am discarding. In short, I “buy” Windows 10, “pay” for Google Now, and “subscribe to” Unroll.me. Instead of opening a wallet, I pay with information. It’s not a perfect compromise, but I go for it with open eyes.
Make smart and intelligent decisions about how you “spend”
Now that you understand that your privacy is currency, you should spend it where it matters to you. Spend it where you get the most benefit from the trade, and do it consciously after deciding whether the benefit you will get from the exchange is worth it.
In my case, I looked at privacy issues related to Windows 10, checked what I can and can’t disable, and read what I can opt out of and what you chose by simply installing an update. There are some features like location wide that I keep turning off. I am not allowing applications to use my “advertising ID” and I am not sending log data back to Microsoft. I use other privacy protection tools to control my other information . In short, I only trade the information I feel, trading specific features that I actually use, and nothing more.
I do the same with my Android and Google Now devices. I am logged in with accounts that I feel comfortable using on a given device (often test accounts, simply because I test many devices), but in my daily driver I feel comfortable providing more access to features that make life easier and help me be productive. On OS X, I don’t care about all the home calls that Yosemite makes, so I avoid the apps and services that do, and instead use feature-rich replacements (like Alfred instead of Spotlight).
This is all a conscious choice I had to make based on the desired balance between performance and privacy. Perhaps you prefer to use Linux and only use privacy-focused open source. You will have to find your own balance, but the important thing is that you don’t just go with the flow and let the apathy make these decisions for you. When this happens, we all lose: the companies that make our favorite products feel that no one cares about them and cut back on privacy controls. People who really need privacy (activists, whistleblowers, or just normal people who don’t want to give stalkers, trolls, or everyone else everywhere a window into their lives) find it harder to defend themselves, and privacy activists need to be more aggressive about reviving technology and government.
At this point, you are probably saying, “Well, of course I can do it! Every time I use Facebook, I make the decision to share some data in exchange for staying connected with my friends! “ Well, great! But not so fast.
Making this choice requires serious thought, not just agreeing with what you or your friends are already using. As soon as you give up this information, this currency, it will get out of your control and disappear forever. Given the fleeting speed at which most of us are downloading a shiny new app, we could all probably take a second to read the privacy policy or terms of use and make a smarter and more informed decision.
Even so, the Internet needs your help.
So what is left for us? Well, we have more control than we might think, and we can make informed decisions about where we spend our information “currency.” Unfortunately, none of this changes the fact that we should still advocate for privacy as the default, not the exception , in both business and government.
At the end of the day, privacy options and script blockers are great for protecting us , but they require a little bit of savvy that not everyone has. Sometimes the problem is not that the controls don’t exist, but that they are hidden, confusing, or poorly worded (see: Facebook). You don’t have to scrutinize the ten page privacy policy to find out if a photo site actually claims ownership of your photos. You don’t have to play with a dozen checkboxes to make sure your phone number isn’t public. You don’t need to learn to code to see if a Chrome extension is spying on you. And let’s be honest: a lot of people probably don’t care enough to read, don’t know enough to understand, or don’t see the value of their privacy to worry about.
This is why it is important to periodically reevaluate your options when you are overly dependent on any one company or service, or when you learn more about their approach to privacy. We should all be looking for options that improve the privacy and functionality of the tools we use. Sometimes a better and safer option is at our fingertips, but it is not accepted because everyone is using a well-known alternative. Likewise, you should put your data – and, if possible, your money – where your principles are. Support businesses and organizations that respect your privacy, and encourage businesses to listen to their users. Avoid and reach out to companies that don’t, and give up services that get greedy without giving you something of value in return.
Remember, none of this means you can’t use Gmail if you know that Google is scanning your inbox for marketing purposes and you’re happy with that. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be using Windows 10. In fact, we think it gives you the right balance of privacy controls for the features on offer, but you should choose. If we all make these informed and informed decisions, we can push the Internet towards the “privacy by default” ideal.