One of my chief objectives here is sharing principles to help readers live more meaningful lives with less stuff, including technological entanglements. So, to that end I try to pass along the fruits of my research gleaned from reading dozens of books each year. And beside my recent “The Power of Atomic Habits” post another life-changing book I just read is Privacy Is Power: Why and How You Should Take Back Control of Your Data by Oxford professor Carissa Veliz.

I thought about titleing this post “Quit Sleepwalking Through Life,” as I feel that is how most of us function on a daily basis, especially when it comes to our usage of increasingly sophisticated technological tools. For example, it is admittedly easier to keep the default settings on our devices and operate on autopilot, but such laxity does not come without associated costs. As much as I am typically a fan of Apple given their relatively strong privacy stance, I still tweak my device settings to strengthen them.

And the author suggests many other such actions to safeguard one’s personal data, such as using privacy centric DuckDuckGo for search, downloading Brave for more secure browsing, and operating Apple devices in general, all of which I personally utilize. She also suggests shutting off Bluetooth and WiFi on devices while away from home to help prevent “audio beacon tracking,” which I didn’t even realize was a threat, along with several other such measures.  

On a personal note, while two factor authentication is becoming increasingly common as a security measure even then it is helpful to consider what I call the “law of unintended consequences.” As a case in point, Google began demanding (as opposed to suggesting) I submit my phone number upon signing in to my account, a measure I did not appreciate given that Google is above all an advertising company that siphons users’ data for profit, so I closed my account with them on principle.

Also, I have had retailers insist on getting my email in order to print a receipt, which I refused to divulge and threatened to cancel my purchase without one. The issue here is seemingly harmless transactions have consequences beyond the immediate as our private data is continually being sought and bought without our consent and it jeopardizes our safety and security online as well as offline. The bottom line is we must stand for our privacy rights and remind others of them.

Finally, I will close with this admonition from the author: “When you invite someone over to your place, warn them of any smart devices you have,” she suggests. “Think twice before buying a digital assistant like Alexa or Google Home. By inviting microphones into your home, you may be destroying the very fabric of intimacy with your loved ones. If you already have one, you can disconnect it….If you decide to keep one of these spies, make sure to research the settings thoroughly and choose the most private options.”