This week brought a series of wins for online privacy advocates across local, state, national, and international headlines. Those victories are worth recognizing.
But my own approach starts from a different premise.
I assume that online privacy, as most people imagine it, is largely an illusion. Whatever protections exist are limited, temporary, and often outpaced by technology and incentives to access data. Rather than relying on the expectation of privacy, I operate on the assumption that anything about me could be seen by government, family, neighbors, clients, corporations, or bad actors.
That does not mean I dismiss privacy efforts. On the contrary, I invest heavily in protecting my data and the data entrusted to me. We deploy monitoring tools, security protocols, and safeguards beyond standard practice. I just don’t assume those measures will ultimately “win.”
Instead, I treat the digital environment as inherently exposed. That mindset leads me to take additional steps, including occasionally inserting false signals to detect how and where information propagates. It is often surprising how quickly those signals surface elsewhere.
For me, this approach is less about secrecy, more about awareness and response. It creates a stronger sense of control and integrity than relying on the expectation of privacy.
The point of sharing this post is to introduce the idea that anyone – any small business or individual – can boost their expectations and response to online privacy threats.