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<h1>Why do I <a href="https://wiki.r-selfhosted.com/getting-started/what-is-self-hosting/">self-host</a>?</h1>
<h2>Digital freedom/independence</h2>
<p>
To put it simply, if you use another service to store your data, <em>you do not own it</em>.
You are <em>trusting</em> corp. X to store it, secure it, and make it accessible to you.
Beyond the obvious privacy pitfalls with this <em>trust</em>, there are many other things that
could go wrong with your data being stored this way:
<ul>
<li>Corp. X could vanish/close/"declare bankruptcy" (as with many crypto corps. lately), and you lose your data.
</li>
<li>Corp. X could make a policy change and lock you out from accessing your account.</li>
<li>Or you could "forget" to pay the bills a few times and get locked out.</li>
<li>Corp. X could get hacked, and your data gets stolen. This is the latest trend!</li>
</ul>
</p>
<p>
Personally, I don't feel comfortable depending on the existence of corp. X <em>for data that is important to
me</em>.
I have a lifetime's worth of files, photos, media, passwords etc. and I 💤 much better at night knowing
I am avoiding most if not all of the risks above.
</p>
<h2 id="privacy">Privacy at the population level</h2>
<p>Normies often ask me some variation of:
<ul>
<li>
<em>"Why do I care if corp. X has my data? I have nothing to hide!"</em>
</li>
<li>
<em>"Since I'm aware of targeted advertising, it won't work on me,
so why should I care if corp. X has my data?"</em>
</li>
</ul>
</p>
<dl>
<dt>
To such questions, I respond with the following question:
</dt>
<br>
<dd>
<strong>Do you want to contribute to a dystopian (<a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orwellian">Orwellian</a>) future?</strong>
</dd>
</dl>
<p>
If your answer is <em>yes</em>, then no need to read further, the following will not change your mind.
</p>
<dl>
<dt>
If your answer is <em>no</em>, but you aren't convinced that/how these are related,
then the <em>argument goes something like this...</em>
</dt>
<br>
<dd>
We live in a world of mass data-collection/surveillance. <br>
This enables corp. X to use techniques such as ML (Machine Learning) to build/train models (or "AI" -
Artificial Intelligence)
that aim to predict human behaviour. <br>
That by itself is not a problem here. <br>
The problems arise when corp. X use these techniques for profit
without regard for the harm they cause at a <em>population level</em>. <br>
I have unfortunately lived through enough of these cases to be able to cite a few recent examples:
</dd>
<br>
<dd>
Instagram (etc.) designs its apps/products based on user behaviour data
to keep its user-base on its platform for as long as possible [0].
You might think you are "too smart" to fall for these tricks, and you might be right,
but what about the millions of adolescents using these platforms who aren't as wise as you?
The data they collect, and techniques they develop from <em>your usage</em> enables platforms
to target not just your, but <em>all</em> users on the platform, including the most vulnerable.
<br>
Unfortunately, many of these kids will end up suffering from mental-health,
body-image, self-esteem issues, and for some it <strong>will be fatal</strong>.
I do not think this is morally acceptable, and is primary reason I refuse
to participate in social-media platforms.
</dd>
<br>
<dd>
You could say "well that's due to bad parenting", but the point remains that
more and more of the digital world is having <em>real world</em> negative consequences regardless of
your individual participation level. For example:
</dd>
<br>
<dd>
By now, it is well known that Facebook's (etc.) targeted advertising
played a significant a role in the 2016 US Elections [1].
Many of the policies implemented during this time has real world consequences to millions
of people, and will continue for many generations.
<em>This affects us all.</em>
Even if we don't have/use Facebook, we (most of us) cannot <em>opt-out</em> of policy changes.
</dd>
</dl>
<p>
To summarize, it might not be a problem if individuals disregard their
privacy at the individual level, but in aggregate, a <em>population-wide</em> disregard
has dystopian consequences.
</p>
<dl>
<dt>
So the question you have to ask yourself is...
</dt>
<br>
<dd>
<strong>What can I do?</strong>
</dd>
</dl>
<p>
Start by <strong>valuing your privacy</strong>.
Next, you can follow some of the tips below to <em>say no!</em>
<ul>
<li>
<strong>Limit your exposure to these services.</strong> If a friend stops talking to you because
of this, then congratulations, you've just gotten rid of a fake friend. You're welcome.
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://wiki.r-selfhosted.com/getting-started/what-is-self-hosting/">Self-host</a>
as much as you can.
You can see how I <a href="https://gitlab.com/kdam0/vps">implement</a> this and replicate it yourself,
though it is a bit involved for normies.
</li>
<li>
If neither of the above work for you, then you'll need to do some research to
find an alternative source that you can trust isn't doing the same thing.
Use <a href="https://github.com/awesome-selfhosted/awesome-selfhosted">this</a>
as a starting point and try to search (Ctrl+f) for your service. For eg. Twitter, and
Instagram both have popular options available.
</li>
<li>
Check out my list of tools and programs I use. Not for normies.
</li>
<li>
Support govts policies that respect user-privacy.
</li>
</ul>
</p>
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