What even is that? You might say that it's the desire to control what information other entities hold about you. What's problematic about that, is that information about you constantly spills everywhere, especially in this digital age. No matter how often you click "reject all cookies", "don't allow X to access Y" or "object to legitimate interest", you can't prevent them from gathering data about you, if they can somehow access your devices. Just like you can't prevent anyone from watching you sleep, if they happen to be able to access your bedroom.
I think many people prevent getting creeped out by this, by implicitly redefining privacy. After all, information itself doesn't hurt. You can't feel it if somebody thinks about you. You can't see those entries in those databases. As long as you don't know it's there, you can feel like your privacy remains intact. It's only when information is acted upon, that you realize a transfer of information that you might not approve of must have happened. After all, when that creepy dude takes photos of you through a bush, you don't feel anything. The bad feelings only start when he mails them to you in an unmarked envelope. Hence, privacy becomes the freedom from the effects of unwanted flow of information.
I've been playing a bunch of Inscryption lately on Steam. Really weird deck building card game, check it out if like that sort of thing, but that's not the point. The point is: I usually don't like card games. I basically never play them. Yet, when I opened the app store on my phone yesterday, it suggested three card games "based on your recent purchases". I checked my purchase history on the app store, I never bought any card games. This cannot be a coincidence, somehow the information about me playing Inscryption on Steam must have made it to the Apple app store. That was one of those creepy moments for me.
Why do I care about this? Isn't this normal? It's probably legal. I probably authorized something at some point. It's hopeless to try and do something about it. And it's such an innocent thing as well. Hey, you played a card game recently, wanna play more card games? Nevertheless, what if I don't want this? Is the only thing I can do to stop using these services? Rid myself of any devices except ones that run custom software compiled by me?
Maybe it is like that. Maybe it is like a nudist beach. Nobody ever forced you to be naked, but if you want to use the nudist beach you have to be. Maybe it's like a country where the only accommodation is hotels that feature staff that sneak into your room at night and watch you sleep. Everyone knows they're doing it, but they're very careful to only do it when you are sound asleep. If you don't want this, you better not visit that country. Even if that's where all your friends are, and it's the only place that doesn't suck.
But can you really say that you're not being forced, if you're only other option is to withdraw from your own culture, your own society or even your own social relationships? Isn't this blackmail? Are we really going to let them blackmail us into letting them watch us sleep?
Yes, apparently.
