"But I have nothing to hide..."

What do you prefer with regard to your online activity? Do you mind if your browsing history, your payment data, your personal and financial information is all over the web, accessible to anyone?

Does it worry you that, in the wrong hands, this could be used against you?
Big companies like Google, Uber, Apple, Amazon, Facebook etcetera are already using your data by ‘spying on you’ to build custom profiles, these are sold or used to sell you products and services. Multinationals, Big Tech and Social Media Giants are making big money behind your back. Your interaction with services like Alexa, Siri, Cashless payments, Google locations etcetera are not only here for your benefit or to serve you. On the contrary.

‘But I have nothing to hide’… is a commonly used argument.

There is a lot more to that if you’d ask me. A lot is in the works globally without many even knowing or realizing it. The past decade we noticed that cash payments are being banned. Banks are closing. ATM’s are less available than before. Due to the global measurements in regard to the pandemic, whatever your viewpoint is in that regard, we now witness an increase in the implementation of QR codes used for access of events, restaurants, work etcetera. Social Credit systems like they have in China are in the works. Cities are becoming ‘smarter’ with a wide scale of crowd control devices, video surveillance & cloud enhanced Robotic Systems with algorithms used for identifying, preventing and de-escalating. At first glance you’d say that’s probably a good development. After all, it’s for our safety…

Think of how you would consider your life in which your freedom and socioeconomic status is determined by the way you live your life, your behaviour. How you talk, who you hang out with, your browsing history, what your vaccination status is etcetera. Soon we will get a personal C02 budget as well and many are highly likely going to use Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) in the near future. Now imagine that those in control suddenly decide that the way you live your life is no longer suitable as to how they want to see it. As a result your Social Credit score is adjusted to below average all of a sudden, meaning no more access to prioritized transportation since this is only accessible to the higher ranked. Same applies for access to restaurants, the internet, luxury accommodations etcetera. This is serious stuff. Not saying that this dystopian scenario will happen globally, but it could and in my opinion there is a high probability. In some countries this already is the norm. To me this is suffocating.

Data privacy is a human right. We should embrace decentralized privacy encouraging incentives to at least maintain the balance. The crypto-space luckily is evolving at a rapid pace. Think about Private store of assets, Private Data Storage, Private Web Browsers, Private P2P transfers, Private payments or Private app transactions from DeFi projects to NFTs. True liberty simply can’t function without Privacy.

Data Parasites are everywhere, garlic and holy water aren’t going to protect you. We’re battling algorithms here. Who to trust? Who benefits? How do you protect yourself from privacy violations?

Which Web3 projects help us to reclaim what is ours?

You can find some of those in our Tool Box.

Let’s #TakeItBack!