-- LucaEngstrom - 04 Apr 2022

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This paper will not describe an issue related to privacy or mass surveillance. I consider my knowledge too small and my opinion of little interest. I will opt for a self-reflective paper as we are given this opportunity. We have touched upon many different subjects during the class but, to me, the breadcrumb of all of them is the dilemma between convenience and privacy. How much of our privacy, of ourselves, are we ready to give for the convenience offered by the myriad of service providers ? Even if not very knowledgeable on these topics, I consider myself aware that, in a capitalist world, what I give, aggregated with what everyone agrees to give, is of far greater value than what I get. The business models of these companies would otherwise not be viable and looking at their market capitalizations, they truly are profitable businesses. Based on the idea that (i) what is traded does not have an equal value and (ii) that I give a relative importance to my privacy, I refused something for quite a long time : using credit cards. One might consider that not using and carrying a smartphone everywhere you go is probably one of the only appropriate mean to protect your privacy. Not using credit cards was for me already an step towards protecting my privacy that entailed giving up on some convenience. I did not use any personal credit cards for five years at university. Before that, I did not really need any given that I was living in a rural area and that my personal expenses were quite low. The topic of this essay is to try to understand why I started using credit cards and how this class made me reconsider this aspect of my privacy, but also others. After reflecting on this issue for some time and with the perspective brought in class, the answer I found is as follows. I started using credit cards not for personal convenience but for convenience towards others. Indeed, I ordered my first credit card mainly so my friends and my parents could pay and send me money more easily. I was fine using cash and not having an account statement I could check on my phone. My everyday life was perfectly fine without it and I was just organized differently. Simply put, there was no added value for me to use a credit card but for one thing. I would not have to argue with my friends or my parents and it was more convenient for them. This is the tipping point. I had put everyone else’s convenience over my own privacy and ways of protecting it and decided to abandon my principles. I learned two things from this shift in position. First, if service providers do not have a strong and direct influence on you, they still have an indirect reach through your entourage. Once few people are convinced that convenience should prime over privacy, most people will fall like a domino. And it is a hard to break vicious circle. Cutting both the direct and indirect link with these companies would indeed imply a certain marginalization for people. However, it is against human nature to accept marginalization and everyone is not ready to accept, hopefully for now only. Second, I learned more about how and where I rank my values and principles. Indeed, I accepted to be marginalized for other ideas that I have. For example, I refused many times to share good moments with friends at restaurants because I am vegetarian and they did not have any vegetarian dish. I have also regularly been described as insolent at school because I refuse every aspect of authority which is not justified by reason. I have not infringed these rules I impose to myself but I have done so when it comes to privacy. The only reason I have for this is that I value some principles or ideas more than others. This hierarchy might be due to a lack of knowledge on my part and the technicity of privacy matters. It is indeed easier to read history and politics books on authoritarianism or on the meat industry than to develop the skills required to put in place solutions which allow you to protect your privacy without being marginalized in this society. I am the only one I can blame for not resisting and developing the skills and learning the tools to do so. Indeed, I did not start using credit card because of the convenience of the service that I am provided but for the convenience of not having to debate specifically on the opposition between convenience and privacy. In the end, no matter the route they took, these companies managed to take ownership of part of my privacy. This class and paper allowed me to reconsider this and convinced me to take further actions to protect my privacy. The answer I have still not figured out is how and when did people, as an entity, not see this danger coming and accept to give away every aspect of their privacy.