Would you ever want to be famous? Conversation on Privacy & Security in an Increasingly Invasive Environment

[TheWanderingScholar]

@wanderingscholar- You can deactivate your FB profile but still keep and use messenger. You won't show up in any searches on the actual site.

That might be best option. It seems Messenger has a desktop application so I can use that. I just need to upgrade to Windows 10. Ugh.

[Miss Lonelyhearts]

Internal threat meters differ, but mine is rather hyperactive and I still think that concerns over kidnapping and extortion are moving into the weeds of irrational anxiety. As your risk rises, so does the ease with which you can manage it. As a starting point, an off duty police officer can be contracted for approximately $50 per hour in the US to accompany you on any legal activities. Scale up accordingly. Also consider that as you get more famous, profitable crime against you becomes more difficult, since law enforcement is especially responsive to high profile crimes. For the truly top-top A-list types, stalkers do seem to pop up regularly, but this is frequently some kind of romantically deluded/obsessed fan, and everyday men and women are not immune to this either.

Has there been a rash of celebrity kidnappings or extortions that I’m overlooking? I don’t deny that it happens, but significantly above the population rate? Communities with high concentrations of wealth tend to be far safer than average. The combination of money and anonymity is appealing, but becoming well known is increasingly adjacent to any type of outsized success in your field. Pursuing this kind of success is often a highly conflictual process for members of this forum. Might you be using the pitfalls of celebrity to justify a preemptive opt-out?

[TopHatFox]

Hm, nope. Even if resources help to deal with privacy or security issues, it still sounds like a PITA that I’d need to hire a cop and have them with me wherever I go, let alone staying away from people that like to write articles on what sandwich I ate that day and what that means about me, or live in an expensive, secluded neighborhood.

It does feel pretty awesome to know that we don’t need millions or renown. It’s almost as nice as “learning” that you don’t need to have kids or buy a McMansion. That means that the time to freedom is very short indeed. Even 200k is enough for a minimalist bachelor to live on for a long time.

[TheWanderingScholar]

Honestly if you go full homesteading, you can cost of living pretty low in the countryside after some initial investments.

[onewayfamily]

I guess Louis CK is not in your circle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO9PwbtlOIU

Classic

[fiby41]

Earlier once a person got assigned security it used to stay. But since the new deputy commissioner of police, a security audit is conducted a year after a member of parliament loses their post to assess the risks/threats.

X = one personal security officer
Y = 2 PSOs
Z, Z+= security detail up to 22 PSOs

You can also pay for your security personnel if you don't qualify where the intelligence is provided.

[onewayfamily]

@whitebelt, I think I'll run through those two links you put up and maybe get some of his more moderate books before considering the advanced stuff.

Yeah, I've been trying to figure out how to just get a blank search box whenever I open up the Youtube homepage (my only "social media" platform), but I can't seem to find a way to do that on Safari. I'd have to use Chrome or Brave extensions, but they don't seem to have very good filters for other distractions.

I've found this extension highly valuable for several features - most notably removing my ability to see the YouTube homepage (if I try to navigate to the homepage in any way it imperceptibly quickly redirects me to my subscriptions page) and for removing the entire sidebar (including related videos) from anything I'm watching.

[TopHatFox]

@onewayfanily, is there one for Safari?

[onewayfamily]

@onewayfanily, is there one for Safari?

Sorry no idea - never had a mac.

[Vaikeasti]

I've been thinking about this too lately.
I do not want to be famous. Even the amount of publicity I got as a janitor that lived in the working area was sometimes too much. People would come talk to me in the store or stop me in the street to chitchat and I'd have no idea who they were. (Sometimes they'd tell me rumors of the other janitors...)

Lately I wanted to make a difference and make the world a better place so I'm currently in a few board of directors like positions.
The amount of privacy sacrificed and the need for even more sacrifices if I would pursue this route further is just too much for me. I was not aiming for fame but I am having the same negative aspects and none of the bling. (e-mails, personal information online and contact info shared in multiple registers/mailing lists..)

(Also my understanding of why all politicians and the like, seem to be so simple minded about things has strengthened. It's a coping mechanism or a trait. Only those with very strong views of the world are willing to sell their soul and privacy to a political career. There is no room for doubt in the top of that food chain.)

People sell their privacy for so cheap these days, talent shows and other competitions, social media posts and games and such. Personal information made public for two minutes of air time. It's crazy.

How do you cope with the demands of society to compromise your privacy?
I see some extreme methods on this thread but what about the rest of forum users? Are you all extremely secure or secluded from the society or just ignore the privacy issues thinking that you're not interesting enough to be a target of anything malicious? Any guidelines you live by?

So far I've been wary of new things, social media is mostly this forum and whatsapp, I'm delivering all legal documents by mail and so on. But I use google services and am thinking of joining LinkedIn for job opportunities.. Also school forces people to download all sorts of apps and share information in many ways. As does work and day care and basically any place..

Just my ramblings on the subject. I wish this discussion to continue.