Baby Steps

Most people don’t care about privacy. They use whatever comes by default on their phones: Chrome, Google Search, whatever’s handed to them. I used to think I could convince them to switch. After years of trying, I’ve learned you can’t.

The problem is that privacy is invisible. When you lose it, nothing happens immediately. You still get to search, message, and post. The harm only shows up much later, and by then it’s hard to trace back to the moment you gave it up. That makes privacy a hard sell.

Some people are naturally cautious. They like the idea of controlling what information they share. Others aren’t. You can explain the dangers of big tech all you want, but if someone doesn’t feel the itch themselves, it won’t land.

So I stopped preaching. Instead, I started nudging. A browser here. A password manager there. Little changes that don’t feel like much, but do make a difference.

It surprised me how many people had never heard of a password manager. Some tried to keep everything in their heads. Some relied on Chrome without even knowing it had a built-in one. When I showed them Proton Pass, every single one said the same thing: this makes life easier.

A new browser and a password manager don’t sound like much. They’re not a revolution. But they’re a start. That’s how most meaningful change begins: not with a leap, but with baby steps.