this post was submitted on 09 Sep 2026
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Asklemmy

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Whenever i talk to people about privacy, specifically my friends when i tell them why i switched to Signal and stopped using WhatsApp, i'm always met with people saying that i'm just making no sense and "why would you care so much if you have nothing to hide? I don't care that meta sees that stuff" and some people are just so stubborn to understand that they might even settle on the "what would a billion dollar company want from me specifically?". It makes me mad how people refuse to even consider alternatives and open their mind a bit. What do you think?

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[โ€“] dropdrip@lemmy.ml 10 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Shift the conversation towards autonomy, dignity and self-respect.

The user's interaction with the-billion-dollar-company's software is unpaid labour, which is why they profit and the user suffers. They suffer from having their data stolen; they suffer the expenses fostered on to them; they pay for the computers that spy on them; they pay for the electricity to run the spyware; they pay for the data-subscriptions that facilitate the theft of their data. They cover all the expenses of a billion-dollar-company and are deprived of any profit. They do not even garner a wage.

If one wishes to move towards the point of "my data is worthless" point out the company's profits or even its speculative valuations. Clearly it's not worthless. The products that are derived from their exploitation lead to even greater profits for those companies. "A.I." is a looting of the collective commons. A privatization of humanity's interaction with computers.

Do they like being exploited? Do they like their batteries draining faster, because their mobile-computer is running software to spy on them? Do they like running out of data because their mobile-computer is forcefully downloading ads and spyware-updates? Do they like ads? Do they like being interrupted by the highest bidder? Do they like annoying notifications that are just ads? Do they like this shitty experience? Are they complete docile slaves? They are less than wage-slaves for they do not even garner a wage! Have some self-respect and dignity!