Just wanted to share my experience after watching lots of rob braxman and naomi content on youtube. Taking charge of my privacy and security. I have spend maybe $1000+++ so far on my transition from apple ecosystem to a pure linux one.
But the experience have been very jarring to me. I have even rented a USA number from textverifed. I was met with so much disdain and distrust from even people that have known me for years…Like I was running from the FIB or something…
It is make very clear to me that I have ‘taken the red pill’ (a reference to the movie the matrix) as the world is turn against me all of a sudden. From jobs, friends and family. Everyone I knew all these years were just drones from the matrix. So helplessly plugged into the system and so dumbed down from all the years of indoctrination. Bit by bit, these people are turn into nothing more than batteries for the matrix/capitalism. It is obvious that I was an enemy now to the system since I am not plugged into the matrix anymore. Now I understand why all my friends are so fake and everyone is so contrived, reserve and careful in society. It is all so CLEAR to me now. Black mirror anyone?
I’m currently living in a black mirror / matrix reality. So what should I do now then? Should I just re-plug myself back to the system and allow them to monitor and surveillance on my life. (aka going back to apple, linken, reconnect all my fake friends, etc). Or do I continue at this harsh truth (red pill) of our world?
I spend weeks migrating to a privacy based system. Now I need to undo it all. I probably have to sell my sailfishos xperia 10 iii phone too. I’d take the loss and the lesson learnt. It just sucks that this world is so fake now and the only way to participate is to be fake yourself. It makes me sick but there is no alternative isn’t it?
Well, if they are apple users, ask them to install a ringtone. Or send you one. Or, get them to send you an mp3, then install that as a ringtone. And watch them get a little bit of humble pie.
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I just wanna protect my privacy from being sold to data brokers and monetized. Now everyone is giving me the ‘flouride stare’ like I’m crazy.
Well, I get that sometimes. But, on the other hand, neighbors just asked me to install linux for them. They bought a new laptop and had never confronted this ‘sign up for this, ms account before boot’ stuff. They literally begged me. So, it’s work for me, but, here we go.
I also have had the pleasure of demonstrating paying squat and getting music (bandcamp) on an app I made in a day and then making a ring tone for a track I downloaded. I asked the iphone user to demonstrate that on his phone. He shut the … up.
EDIT: what I’m saying is, have a bit of patience, you are not alone and you will have other experiences.
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I can’t help, but this melodramatic undertone combined with the question “should I go back to Apple?”, targeted to the audience of this very forum, that gives me the impression of an AI novel in dreaming mode…
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Ah, I know some people who really talk like this in ‘meat space’. Which doesn’t mean it’s not AI generated. Just saying.
What you are experiencing is called privacy fatigue and it’s the most common thing happening to everyone jumping on the privacy train.
The biggest issue is taking advice from randos in Reddit and very badly assessing your OPSEC.
While most people want to limit their digital footprint so that their data don’t end up in data brokers, they end up taking extreme and extremely inconvenient measures like the FBI is hunting them down, making them feel cut off, helpless and overwhelmed with internet/phone/PC interactions that felt simple in the past.
You should understand that you won’t earn a medal for being the most digitally private person in your circle and you should understand that this is a marathon not a sprint.
It makes sense to slowly adjust your life towards a more private future, but it doesn’t have to be drastic or way above the initial goal. You will never be 100% anonymous and private, but you can limit your data exposure without losing more convince than you can handle in your life.
Ans btw this is not something exclusive to privacy.
The same thing applies to someone who thinks that forcing himself to go to the gym and eat things he hates from 1 day to the other will last forever.
Or someone who thinks that if he lowers 1mg nicotine every time he buys liquid for his vape will actually last forever and he will just never ask for nicotine or a cigarette again.
Same story, different occasion, but same results and same feelings. It’s just human nature and it’s called fallacy of sustainable momentum 
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Make sense. I started introducing social media now. I simply can’t live without social media.
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Just follow the white rabbit. Better things will come.
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I fully agree! I went off of social media pretty much in a blink of an eye but getting rid of Gmail was a whole different beast that took years.
Still not fully off Google, but slowly getting there. And my privacy journey started some 8 years ago.
So no worries if it takes a while! Doing something is better than doing nothing.
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You might feel a painful difference between your straight decision and a lot of slow developing workarounds and more or less necessary compromises.
Set the priority for social media and all services disrespecting your privacy to very, very low. If people want a quick answer from you they might consider using better services. Patience wins. People in general cannot wait.
I personally cannot avoid all stupid services and apps myself. My old XA2 hasLineage OS and acts as my Idiot Phone. Having a special devices for stupid things might be a useful conept for you.
Don’t give up. Time can be on your side.
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That’s because you tried to evangelise them. I absolutely avoid. When my colleagues ask, I say my phone is a “linux-based custom ROM”. It’s enough information. If they one day become interested in alternate OSes, they’ll ask more.
When they ask if I have Whatsapp, I say “I cannot because my phone is not Android, there’s an emulator but I never tried”.
My older relatives seem to accept that some people have Whatsapp, some people have Facetime, and others don’t have these things. If they one day ask about ways to communicate faster with me, I’ll give them them options.
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it feels like 1950 again where everyone is a smoker and you told them off by saying smoking is bad for you.
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In the 50’s, when everyone was a smoker, no one forced an individual to smoke, too. One always was free not to smoke despite all others do. But now it’s different. Situation changes in a way that an individual is more and more no more able to do basic things in life without Big Tech monopolists.
Administration, financial management, duties as citicen, to buy a bus or train ticket and all kinds if commerce forces one with pressure to use not only the internet itself but exactly the well known monopolists.
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[OT]
In the 50’s, when everyone was a smoker, no one forced an individual to smoke, too.
Wrong.
Only a few years ago it was possible to smoke in restaurants in Portugal.
Now, one could just not have a meal in a restaurant, but, if one has to get a job, choice is harder…
[/OT]