Breaking Free from the Parasite: Why Most Won’t Escape Surveillance, Even When They Can

-- By ZoieGeronimi - 25 Oct 2024

Introduction

Over the past three years, I’ve exclusively used products within Apple’s ecosystem—computer, phone, earbuds. At Columbia, the utilization of these products has felt more like a necessity than a choice, as many course program instructions are written specifically for MacBooks. Using non-Apple devices often involves time-consuming setup processes, making Apple products not just encouraged but practically essential to course success.

However, this convenience came with a growing realization: every action I took, every conversation I had, seemed to feed into an ever-watchful network. Ads for Nikes and Hokas would pop up shortly after mentioning my running routine to friends. The devices I relied on daily weren’t just serving me—they were studying me. As students, most of our needs revolve around emails, documents, and basic web searches. So, why are we paying thousands of dollars for systems that also surveil us? At the start of this semester, I decided to switch to a setup that prioritizes privacy while giving me the creative freedom to work within the structure of an operating system.

The Process of Switching and Privacy Differences

Switching from a highly surveilled, addictive device to one built on free software is not the difficult, time consuming task many expect. Ironically, one of the simplest ways to achieve this is by using a Chromebook—stripping away the “Chrome” with a small ball of aluminum. From there, you can install an alternative operating system. Tools like Linux make the process straightforward, thus creating practically a new device. With the right open-source tools loaded onto your USB drive, it’s possible to create a machine that no longer tracks or monitors your activities, giving back control to the user.

The differences in privacy are stark. Once you’ve switched, you aren’t constantly being fed ads based on conversations or search histories. The system doesn’t treat your data as a product. Free software’s ethos is transparency: it doesn’t collect what it doesn’t need.

A Newfound Ability to Create and the Stunting of Technological Exploration

One of the most rewarding aspects of this switch was the creative freedom it unlocked. I could explore the terminal, manipulating code in ways that proprietary software simply doesn’t permit. This journey led me to experiment with tools like Whisper CPP.

Yet, this creative freedom highlights how current technology ecosystems stifle individual exploration. Apple and Google have created environments that cater to convenience, but they do so by limiting users’ access to the hardware of their devices. In these systems, users are passive consumers, not active creators. This lack of agency, while making technology “easy” for the average user, stunts the deeper engagement that open-source systems promote. But even with this knowledge, most will still not switch.

Why We Won’t Do It

Despite the advantages of using machines built on free software the switch remains rare. Why? Convenience. Apple and Google have made their ecosystems so effortless, so addictive, that it’s hard to imagine life outside of them, even when we’re aware of how much tracking they do. Even when faced with the undeniable evidence of how these systems monitor and exploit us, many users would rather continue using their iPhones and MacBooks than make the effort to switch to free software.

It’s not just about technical difficulty; the cultural and psychological barriers are just as formidable. We live in a world where surveillance has been so thoroughly normalized that many of us don’t question it. The mindset is often: If I have nothing to hide, why should I worry? But this is a dangerously privileged perspective. If you belong to a group that corporations, governments, or even educational institutions have reason to target, they’ll find something. We are slowly forgetting what real freedom feels like. The constant need to check into buildings, use personalized codes, and be tracked at every turn makes it harder to even imagine a world where true freedom exists.

Conclusion

I don’t condemn myself for still using some Apple devices—I called my mom on my iPhone this morning. Instead, I’ve taken steps to limit the surveillance I expose myself to: leaving my phone at home when unnecessary, or using a non-Apple computer when working on personal projects. Free software offers a path to break away from the corporate surveillance web, but it is a path few will take. The allure of convenience is simply too strong. While we may sometimes seek ways to break free, most will remain trapped in the web of surveillance technology—because it’s convenient, and that’s exactly how it’s designed to be. It’s crucial, however, not to respond defensively when confronted with the dangers of these devices. Yes, the truth can be unsettling, but in the face of alarming information, we must resist the urge to shut down or dismiss it. Instead, we should listen, learn, and evolve. Growth and understanding are never convenient, but they are essential—not just for individual freedom, but for the collective freedom of all.

This draft concentrates on what you've learned from your experience, and speculates on why others won't be so quick to do your learning. But this omits what might be a route to improvement of the draft: considering what the effect of teaching may be on learning. You show why, if the educational systems in which we grow up reinforce platform technology choices, those choices will become limits on even the curiosity of children. But this insight contains the opposite possibility: what if teaching is tilted ion the direction of helping young people achieve technological self-realization, as it aspires to aid self-realization in other intellectual and social spheres? Still, no doubt, most people will follow the line of least resistance. That happens in every school. But you understand first-hand from your own organizing that young people aspire to do more than merely inhabit the world: they want to have an effect on it. So perhaps a little of the description of what has been done can give way to imagined future activities in teaching and organizing.

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