I’m going to do my best to word this question carefully. I’m not privacy expert and maybe no more than an idiot. I do want to protect myself online.

Which led me to privacy focused cloud based premium solutions. The idea is you can pay for a service so they don’t need to serve ads and scan your data for profit. Services like Kagi , Proton among others offer services for a fee. These services let you pay with a credit card .

My question is , are these services really that private if they have your payment information ? Does it really make sense to pay to not be tracked but still have your information on file and linked to you ?

Is this more of an argument of privacy vs anonymity? Am I looking at this wrong ?

I understand the ultimate privacy is self hosted but for some things like search that limits options. I understand there is crypto for some of these options. But bitcoin isn’t cheap.

Curious to get others thoughts on this ? Please be respectful i am trying to learn…

  • FoundFootFootage78@lemmy.mlEnglish
    41·
    1 day ago

    Currently Google takes all your data, bundles it up, and sells it to the US government (and basically anyone else willing to pay). The goal of these paid privacy services is not necessarily to prevent the government from getting your information, but rather to make sure the government at least needs to ask for it first.

    There are few services that offer both anonymity and privacy, they do exist but nobody really needs that level of privacy unless they’re journalists, whistleblowers, activists, or criminals.

    There’s also security reasons, having your messages out in the open unencrypted is a security risk.

    • ATS1312@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      1·
      8 hours ago

      nobody really needs that level of privacy unless they’re journalists, whistleblowers, activists, or criminals.

      Aside from services with limited, capped capacity, we all benefit from those services having a broader userbase. Quit gatekeeping the good shit that needs to be shared.

      • FoundFootFootage78@lemmy.mlEnglish
        1·
        6 hours ago

        Few people “need” that level of privacy. When you are both private and anonymous that makes the services very inconvenient and uncomfortable to use.

        It’s not gatekeeping to say “you don’t need a home security alarm, just a good lock on your door is fine for most people”.

        • ATS1312@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          1·
          3 hours ago

          Alright, how about for those of us noncriminals you listed 3 categories for?

          Inconvenience is fine, so long as its doable.