Written by John Pane, Chair of Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc.
If you’re reading this on January 26, it’s Australia Day. As a public holiday, odds are you’re at a BBQ, enjoying the company of friends and family, and the familiar mix of conversations and banter that BBQs usually bring. Perhaps you have a delicious lamb chop (or a vegetarian-friendly alternative) in one hand, and your favourite beverage in the other.
This year, why not turn some of that BBQ banter toward the privacy and digital rights issues that are affecting all of us more and more each day? Because our privacy matters too, right?
Because 28th January is World Data Privacy Day.
As we reflect on our shared history and our future as a community, there’s no better time to talk about one of the most fundamental human rights we have: the right to keep our private lives, well… private.
But let’s be honest with each other. If we asked you, “Do you value your privacy?”, you’d likely say, “Of course.” You probably have a passcode or password on your phone, along with countless apps. You’d be concerned if a stranger started reading your text messages over your shoulder.
Yet if we were shown what our collective digital footprints looked like over just the last 24 hours, we’d be horrified.
We click “Accept All” on cookies without a second thought. We don’t read privacy policies because they’re both too long and inscrutable (and this is by design, not accident). We trade our location data for a slightly more accurate weather app. We let “smart” speakers live in our kitchens, waiting for a wake word while hearing everything else. Algorithms keep us engaged by serving up what we like in an endless doomscrolling loop. We trust Big Tech far too much, and finally, we feel too overwhelmed to do anything about the Faustian bargain we seem to make whenever we go online.
One thing is certain: there’s a massive gap between what we say about how we value privacy, and how we actually live online. Academics call this the “Privacy Paradox.“
The Great Disconnect
Why do we do it? Why do we, living in a society that generally values a “fair go” and personal freedoms, so readily hand over the keys to our digital homes and online lives? It’s not because we’re lazy. It’s because the deck is stacked against us. The game is rigged, and the house always wins.
For the last two decades, Big Tech has conducted the most successful psychological experiment in history. They’ve mapped our deepest desires, our need for connection, our thirst for information, and our simple human curiosity, and built a digital world where the “entry fee” for those things is our data: our fears, hopes, loves, anxieties, and aspirations. The stuff of life that makes us… us.
Think about it. You want to see photos of your niece in Perth? Use this platform. You want to stay informed about local news? Use this search engine. You want to get home faster in traffic? Use this map.
None of these services are truly “free”. They’re paid for with the intimate details of our lives: who we talk to, where we go, what we’re worried about at 2:00am, what that strange rash is on your thigh, details of the medical trial you are participating in, or what you’re planning to buy next Tuesday. The list of private, and often very sensitive information, we unwittingly share with BigTech is endless.
A Dash of Neo-Luddism: Efficiency Isn’t Everything
Perhaps it’s time we borrowed a page from the neo-Luddite handbook. Now, don’t worry, we’re not suggesting you smash your smartphone with a wooden mallet (okay, sometimes I actually feel like doing that!). But there’s a logical, quiet wisdom in the neo-Luddite idea that just because a technology can exist, it doesn’t mean it should dominate our lives.
Neo-Luddism isn’t about being “anti-tech.” It’s about being “pro-human”. It asks us to question the cult of efficiency. Is a “smart” home really better if it turns your private domestic life into a revenue stream for a corporation? Is a hyper-connected social feed better if it erodes your ability to think deeply or maintain solitude?
By embracing a little of this philosophy, we start to see that “disconnecting” isn’t a failure to keep up, it’s an act of resistance. It’s choosing a paper map because it doesn’t track your movements, or a face-to-face chat because it can’t be scraped by an AI. There’s a particular kind of joy in being “illegible” to the machine.
We need more friction in our online lives, not less.
The Intersection of Need and Surveillance
We scroll through social media feeds because the algorithm knows exactly what will trigger a dopamine hit. We share personal milestones because the platform is designed to make “likes” feel like real-world validation. And all the while, the influence machine behind the screen is learning.
It isn’t just selling you shoes, it’s profiling your personality, your political leanings and your vulnerabilities. It’s collecting and curating a data set containing almost every little thing about you that you either share, or have taken from you invisibly, while online.
The power imbalance is staggering. On one side, you have a person just trying to live their online life free from surveillance and coercion. On the other, you have billion-dollar companies with more computing power than the world possessed thirty years ago, focused on one thing: collecting every bit of information about you that they can, keeping you engaged so they can extract even more of your data. Why? To market to you and sell you stuff.
The similarities between the process of making pâté and technology-fueled consumer culture are frightening.
When you’re up against that kind of power, “behaving contrary to your beliefs” isn’t a personal failure. It’s an inevitable outcome of a system designed to exploit your humanity.
So, What Can We Actually Do?
It’s easy to feel defeated. It’s easy to say, “The horse has bolted, our personal data is already out there, so why bother?”
But protecting your privacy isn’t a zero-sum game. It’s a practice that requires both awareness and discipline. It’s active resistance. And you can start with baby steps.
1. Tighten the Screws on Your Hardware
Go into your phone settings. Check “Location Services.” Switch as many apps as possible to “While Using” or “Never.” Turn off “Allow Apps to Request to Track.” It cuts off a massive pipeline of data.
2. Get Better Locks for Your “Front Door”
Try switching to privacy-focused browsers or search engines like Tor, DuckDuckGo, or Brave. They don’t track your history or build a profile of you. Also consider privacy-first email services like Tuta, Proton Mail, or FastMail.
3. Demand More and Better from Our Leaders
Individual action matters—but we also need systemic change. Write to your local MP. Tell them digital rights are human rights. Our personal lives need to be less transparent, but our governments and politicians must be more transparent.
4. Support digital rights groups like EFA
- Become a member.
- Shine a light on government and root out regulatory capture.
- Make a donation.
- Help build the resistance against Big Tech.
- Buy some merchandise.
- Volunteer and get involved.
The Bottom Line
Privacy isn’t about having something to hide. It’s about having the power to control how you present yourself to the world. It’s about the freedom to be yourself without being watched, measured, and monetised.
The disconnect we feel is real, but it doesn’t have to be permanent. We can value our privacy and still enjoy the benefits of the digital age, but only if we’re willing to push back against the “convenience” trap.
We can do that by adding friction to our online interactions where we can, and choosing our online services carefully.
This January 28th, let’s make a (belated New Year’s) resolution: let’s stop feeling helpless about the “privacy paradox”, and start taking back control of our personal data.
Happy World Data Privacy Day from all of us at EFA. Let’s get to work.
Image credit: vecteezy