How secure is your computer?
How secure is your soul?
As somebody who works on privileged software, periodically a user will ask something like this:
How do I know I can trust your software? Do you have a privacy policy?
For the curious, we do have a privacy policy.
However, this blog post is not about our privacy policy. It is about why a request for a privacy policy, in the case of Plucky, might be a sign that one’s values might are inside-out and upside-down.
Consider these famous words:
What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
Think about it. Look at your phone, tablet, or laptop and really think about it.
But, really, what about my privacy?
Sigh.
This blog post is not an attempt to evade the question. Read our privacy policy if you want. Don’t use Plucky. Assume the worst of us. Fine. We don’t care.
This post exists not to convince you that Plucky is trustworthy. It exists to point out that many of the common and taken-for-granted assumptions about what is most important and what MUST ABSOLUTELY be present in a personal computing experience often excludes one of the most important pieces of information relevant to the notion of value. Namely: what is the effect of the computing system (and its security) on the soul?
Apple, Google, Amazon, Mozilla, and Microsoft will often (or always in the case of Apple), in the name of security, force you into a “user experience” that is detrimental to your soul when you use their platforms. They are allowed to prioritize security; they are not allowed to prioritize your soul.
But you, dear reader, you can choose otherwise. You can choose to prioritize your soul above your computer.
In other words, instead of asking, “What about my privacy?”, learn to ask, “What about my soul? How will your platform affect my soul? Where’s your product’s soul policy?”
If this idea strikes you as odd, you are the audience for this post.
Stop serving the device. Make the device serve you.