Just another data point

After four years of backbreaking labour, it was finally time to put my trusty old phone out of its misery. I have long been familiar with the Netherlands-born Fairphone’s tagline of ‘environmentally and socially sustainable electronics’, so I decided to experiment with making the switch. Never could I have expected how disappointing it would be.

Of course, the physical phone itself is everything you could wish for: sleek, while retaining a more ‘do-it-yourself’ look. The company offers two options: a typical Android operating system, as well as a ‘de-Googled’ Android, which is supposed to help you better protect your privacy by using built-in alternatives for most Google apps (for a price). One thing they forgot to mention is that that is where we have built our entire lives.

My calendar? Google. My mail? Gmail. My cards? Wallet. My list of NS Dagjes Uit (day out) city trips? Maps. To lose these apps from my phone directly worsens the experience of using it. And this would probably be true for almost everyone. Unless you have specifically taken painstaking steps to avoid it, you too have given in to the convenience of the Google (or Apple) ecosystem. Everyone does! The ubiquity of these platforms and the iron grip of their oligopoly on the market means that few independent options can even get off the ground.

By the way, Brightspace doesn’t fit on your screen

It makes sense. Big Tech aggregators have the most users, so they rake in the real money by selling data, which allows them to reinvest in a seamless user experience. Rinse and repeat. Should you choose an open-source alternative out of principle, you must accept the likelihood of dumping hours into workarounds and fixes. By the way, Brightspace doesn’t fit on your screen and Pulse just doesn’t open. Let’s hope that exam-related announcement wasn’t important!

Every time we enter the digital world we make some version of the same trade-off: the convenience of aggregators or the principled stand against monopoly and commercialised intrusion. Does it feel good to search my backpack for the physical payment card in the queue at the Coffee-star? Not particularly. But at least Google doesn’t own a copy of all my purchases so it can sell me more stuff. It might not seem like we’re going in the right direction right now, but one day we may live in a world where we don’t have to sacrifice our lived experience to avoid someone snooping into our every move.

Until then, it seems like I return to the theme of making my own life more difficult. Sometimes, as with limiting social media, I can say that my quality of life is actually improving. At other times, as with switching to a more privacy-focused digital device, I feel like a modern idiot. Even so, I guess that the idea is to try and live the way I want to – free from the interference of those who would turn my life into just another data point to be sold. And that’s what I wish for you too.