Rest assured, I do that too ;)

Last year I did so by writing the essay “What if I paid for all my free software?” It came across well. Now I’m thinking of ways to reach a broader audience in order to not only be preaching to the choir.

During an inconspicuous math class in my final year of highschool I suddenly had enough of going in front of the classroom to solve a math problem. I love math, was good at it, but doing it live doesn’t sit well with mathematical anxiety. When it was my turn the teacher asked “Marcus, want to go in front please?” Then it hit me that that’s a question. So I gathered my guts while my heart was racing and replied “Would you mind if I said I’d rather not?” The teacher laughed and said “Yeah that’s fine.” My classmates’ minds were blown. I didn’t need to go in front for the rest of the year with which he made me king. I loved him; we always appreciated each other’s humour.

Yes, but Recall is spyware by design posing as a benign feature. This kind of unethical behaviour I vehemently oppose.

But it doesn’t matter, because everyone else uses Gmail, so any time I communicate with someone, Google reads my emails, despite the fact that I never agreed to their oppressive ToS.

That’s avoidable by PGP encrypting your emails though. But I’m sure you know that, and I’m sure you meant that getting most people to use PGP is a pipe dream.

I couldn’t wait to post this obligatory fragment of Parks and Recreation - Ron vs. Online Privacy: https://youtu.be/8xn1rO1oQmk

It’s more about what Microsoft enforces—spyware—than what other people do.

I’m afraid this comment shows a severe underestimation of the gravity of the issue. Windows recall doesn’t stop at borders even if it were illegal there.

Once you send something the person at the other end is in control of what happens to it.

True, but this is the beauty of trust. I decide to communicate one way or another with someone depending on the level of trust. Them deciding to break that trust is a risk I chose to take. However, I do not choose to communicate with Microsoft, whatsoever. Windows Recall is the most blatant piece of spyware ever; beyond comprehension how this is so normalized.