“In 2026, online privacy is a luxury, not a right,” says Thomas Bunting, an analyst at the UK innovation think tank Nesta. He highlights concerns about how devices like smart fridges could one day share dietary information with health insurers.
Thomas, 25, believes he never truly had online privacy. “We’ve been taught how to deal with it,” he explains, meaning learning privacy controls and accepting data sharing in exchange for social media and other services.
He recalls being 15 when his teacher asked who valued privacy. “Not one person raised their hand,” he says. Today, even when young people quit social media, privacy rarely motivates them. Concerns are usually about screen time or addiction.
Veteran privacy advocates worry about this mindset. Prof Alan Woodward from Surrey University warns, “Privacy shapes who controls your life. If you don’t care about it, you risk losing freedom of thought, experimentation, and personal development.”
Woodward notes that constant tracking leads to self-censorship. He recalls an influencer who avoids dancing at clubs to prevent potential footage from being shared online. “Fear of being monitored harms free speech, which weakens democracy,” he says.
Tech history shows a long pattern of invading privacy, yet also creating tools to protect it. Private browsers, encrypted messaging apps, password managers, tracker blockers, and VPNs are widely available.
Still, privacy breaches remain massive. Statista reported that in 2024, over 1.35 billion people experienced compromised data—about one in eight worldwide.
Despite more privacy tools than ever, actual privacy has decreased. Around 160 countries have privacy laws, yet the average internet user faces constant cookie pop-ups. Elon Musk once tweeted frustration about having to repeatedly accept them.
This illustrates the “privacy paradox”: while 89% of people claim to care about their data, only 38% actively protect it, according to Cisco’s 2024 Consumer Privacy Survey. Many users ignore fine print, often allowing websites to share data with hundreds or thousands of partner vendors.
Critics argue that unreadable terms and irritating cookie prompts fail to protect users effectively. Even with advanced privacy settings, many people remain exposed online.
