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Keep in Mind The Whole Landscape

Privacy isn't just about the tools, the laws, or the practices of any individual or organization. It's about all of that. To move our society in a place where everyone benefits from privacy by default, we must consider technologies, laws, and culture holistically.

Here's how to get better at considering the whole landscape:

The technology

Technology plays a crucial role in how we protect our digital information. Most people are already familiar with the tools and services we can use to better protect our privacy, and the ways technology can endanger our privacy rights. Technologies like encryption, for example, are essential in our connected world.

But if we only consider the technological aspect, it will not be enough to defend our privacy rights. When we only think and talk about technical solutions, we are missing the bigger picture, and with it, the bigger solutions as well.

The legislative

While technologies can protect our data in several ways, it becomes almost irrelevant when regulations make these technologies illegal.

Of course, some people will always be willing to use protective technologies even once they're deemed illegal by their governments, but most will not. When our protections are outlawed, we all lose.

Sadly, this is an overlooked area for many privacy activists. This often contributes to making our community react too little and too late when privacy-invasive laws are proposed.

If we want to fight for privacy rights, we must take a much stronger and louder approach against intrusive regulation proposals, as soon as we are made aware of them. Because unfortunately, bad legislations do have the power to limit access to the technologies and methodologies we need to stay safe.

Here are a few examples:

  • Bad Internet Bills have been proposed in 2025 to undermine the privacy of all Americans, and everyone around the world using American technology.

  • Chat Control proposals have been an ongoing issue since 2021.

  • Age Verification regulations and proposals are growing around the world at a terrifying rate.

  • Data Brokers are incessantly exploiting our data due to weak regulations.

  • Funding cuts from new regulations have frequently impacted negatively the organizations and privacy tools we rely on.

  • Attacks on encryption have been carried out by multiple governments around the world, for decades.

The culture

While considering the tools we use and the laws that should protect us, we shouldn't neglect the impact that our culture has on privacy rights.

Unfortunately, society seems to be going in the wrong direction about this lately. As privacy activists, we have a lot of work to do to improve our culture surrounding data privacy.

In the past few decades, technology has changed the way we interact with each other in unprecedented ways. The laws have not caught up with these changes yet, and our culture hasn't really either.

Only a couple of decades ago, it was incredibly rare to be unknowingly filmed by a stranger while wandering in public spaces. If that happened, it was likely a television channel covering some event, a closed-circuit security camera, or a criminal offense. Unless the recording was broadcasted by national television, it was unlikely this footage of ourselves would become available for the whole world to see.

Today, pretty much everyone on the planet has the power to film strangers and share the footage with the whole world in an instant. But sadly, very few people take the responsibility that comes with this power seriously enough. We must change that.

We must work together to develop and promote a culture of consent around data collection, both for organizations and individuals.

Here are a few practices to improve our culture surrounding data privacy that you can adopt yourself, and help promote in your advocacy work:

  • Never publish photos or information about children online.

  • Don't post pictures of others online without their explicit consent.

  • If posting photos that include others cannot be avoided, blur the faces of non-consenting people before publication.

  • Blur any visible vehicle license plates before publishing photos.

  • Avoid taking screenshots of other people's posts without their consent (as this prevents them from exercising their right to delete).

  • Never share the location or contact information of someone without their explicit consent.

  • Block external applications from accessing the contact information of others (e.g. don't allow the Facebook app to access your contacts).

  • Be mindful of how one's computer or phone stores and records other people's information. Never use an application that scans content with potential information about others, such as AI note-takers, AI assistants, or applications like Microsoft's Recall.

  • Never share the files of others with a third-party person or application without their prior permission.

  • Unplug smart devices equipped with a microphone or camera at home before any guests enter. If this isn't possible for some reason, then inform your guests about these devices before they enter your home, and before the device collects any information about them.

  • Never use devices like Meta's Ray-Ban glasses, i.e. devices equipped with a microphone and/or camera that might record others without their consent.

More resources

[PWAs]： 漸進式網路應用程式 [WKD]： 網路金鑰目錄 (Web Key Directory)

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