If you’re not aware, I travel around the state of Maine teaching folks about their right to privacy and how they can protect themselves from the prying eyes of ubiquitous online surveillance. It’s one of the most fulfilling things I do for work.
This surveillance mostly comes from advertisers but there are other interested parties as well.
Today I got the chance to share one of my favorite presentations, “But I Have Nothing to Hide: Common Sense Tips To preserve Your Online Privacy,” at the Orono Public Library.
But what’s in a name? Why is it called “But I have nothing to hide”?
The answer is: when I talk about privacy, this is most folk’s gut reaction. I hear “I have nothing to hide, so why should I care about privacy.”
The simple fact is privacy has nothing to do with keeping secrets and everything to do with keeping yourself and your loved ones safe from malicious intent.
At the end of the day, advertisers are malicious. They engage in stalking, as well as predatory and manipulative behavior to control your thoughts and deceive your heart.
So too, social media platforms have inserted themselves as middle-men into natural human interaction. It’s now to the point where most of the things you see in your feed is created by bots; finely honed machine minds that are meant to keep you addicted, outraged, and servile to their agenda.
Were you listening to me or were you scrolling your feed?
It sounds dire, but there are steps you can take to wrest control from the jaws of gang stalking algorithms and the online surveillance hivemind… and in doing so you can find a deeper clarity of self and a lasting toolkit for protecting your digital and communal autonomy.
If that sounds good to you, I offer classes (like the one I taught today at the Orono Public Library in Orono, Maine) that help you take control of your digital autonomy and teaches you the tools to fight back.
You can contact your local library and ask them to host my talk. I’m willing to travel to any state in New England (or possibly further). Drop them a link to my website (gardinerbryant.com) and let them know that you’re interested in attending!
Cheers and thanks for reading!