Ubiquitous Technical Surveillance
And How to Live With It Without Losing Your Mind
I’m Teague de La Plaine. This is Open Logbook—a public log of observations on humanity, shared systems, and the long future.
We live inside a surveillance environment.
Not a dystopian future one. A mundane, commercial, always-on one.
Every tap, swipe, search, purchase, movement, and message is logged somewhere. Not usually by governments at first, but by private companies whose business model depends on collecting, correlating, and selling behavioral data. Governments come later, often through legal compulsion or quiet partnership.
This isn’t paranoia. It’s infrastructure.
You don’t opt out of ubiquitous technical surveillance by being clever or angry. You opt out by being deliberate—by reducing what you emit, narrowing what you expose, and simplifying your digital life so there’s simply less to harvest.
What follows is not about disappearing. It’s about lowering your signature.
Think tradecraft, not tinfoil.
The Core Idea: Reduce Attack Surface
Most people try to “secure” everything while continuing to generate an endless stream of data. That’s backwards.
The real leverage comes from producing less data in the first place.
This is where tech degrowth enters the picture: fewer devices, fewer accounts, fewer services, fewer points of failure.
A simple phone beats a perfectly hardened smartphone every time.
Practical Countermeasures (Plain English Edition)
1. Remove Your Data From the Open Internet
Data brokers aggregate public and semi-public records into disturbingly accurate profiles. You can:
Use a removal service (or DIY it, if you have time and patience)
Repeat annually—this is not a one-and-done task
This alone dramatically reduces downstream fraud, doxxing, and targeting.
2. Freeze Your Credit (and Your Kids’ Credit)
Credit freezes are free and do not affect your score. Freeze:
Equifax
Experian
TransUnion
If you have children, freezing their credit is tedious—but worth it. Child identity theft often goes unnoticed for years.
3. Enable Fraud Alerts
A fraud alert adds friction. Friction is good. Set it once with any credit bureau; they’re required to notify the others. Make sure your phone number is correct.
4. Lock Down Your Mobile Number
SIM swapping is one of the easiest ways to hijack someone’s digital life. Call your carrier or log in and enable:
Account PIN
Port-out protection
Number lock
If your phone number controls your financial accounts, treat it like a master key.
5. Use Fewer Passwords—and Let Software Remember Them
Humans are terrible at passwords. Use:
A password manager
Unique passwords for every service
Two-factor authentication everywhere it’s offered
Security improves when memory is outsourced correctly.
6. Assume Free Email Means You’re the Product
If you’re not paying for email, your data is part of the transaction. Paid, privacy-respecting email providers reduce scanning, profiling, and long-term retention. Pair this with:
Encrypted messaging (Signal)
A browser that limits tracking by default
Regular deletion of search and location history
You don’t need invisibility. You need boundaries.
7. Stop Oversharing by Default
Email aliases and masked numbers exist for a reason. Use them for:
Newsletters
Online purchases
Account sign-ups
When one service leaks, it shouldn’t expose your entire identity.
8. Lock Down Taxes, Loans, and Government Accounts
Create:
An IRS Identity Protection PIN
An online Social Security account (before someone else does)
Download and store:
Tax filings
Student loan records
Payment histories
Paper still has advantages.
9. Opt Out of What You Can
You won’t stop all data sharing, but you can reduce the volume:
Opt out of prescreened credit offers
Register with the Do Not Call Registry
Decline optional data sharing in financial apps
Again: friction.
10. Use Fewer Devices—and Make Them Boring
Every “smart” device is a sensor. Consider:
A simple phone instead of a flagship smartphone
Single-purpose devices (camera, e-reader, GPS)
Fewer apps, fewer permissions, fewer notifications
Convenience is expensive. You pay with data.
11. Be Skeptical of Health and Location Apps
Some data categories are more sensitive than others. Location and health data often:
Lives on third-party servers
Is not protected by medical privacy laws
Can be subpoenaed or sold
If an app doesn’t need the data to function, don’t give it.
12. VPNs: Useful, Not Magical
A VPN can:
Obscure traffic from your ISP
Reduce tracking on public networks
It does not:
Make you anonymous
Protect you from bad account hygiene
Think of it as a seat-belt, not invisibility cloaking.
A Word on “Extreme Privacy”
For those who want to go further, there’s a deeper end of the pool.
Michael Bazzell’s book Extreme Privacy lays out a comprehensive, disciplined approach to minimizing digital exhaust.
It’s not for everyone.
But even adopting 10–20% of that mindset—fewer accounts, fewer digital dependencies, fewer always-connected devices—has outsized benefits.
The Quiet Rebellion
This isn’t about fear. It’s about agency. Ubiquitous surveillance thrives on:
Complexity
Convenience
Complacency
The counter is:
Simplicity
Intentional friction
Enough-ism
You don’t have to disappear. You just have to stop making it easy.
All One/Teague
