I’ve tried to avoid being the target of all this data collection for years... it does take some effort and you never really know how successful it was.
However, I’m looking at getting a new truck and the amount of data that it can collect looks to be off the charts. It’s going to be fun to try to figure out how to decouple and remove oneself from all that crap.
Almost impossible.
You hit upon a key point. You can go through all these time-consuming gyrations to make yourself un-trackable but you never really know how successful you are, as surveillance and facial recognition technology (outside your cellphone device) is so pervasive.
Take our nations highways for example. Tollbooths have come down because it is so easy for cameras to take high resolution photos of your car's license plate and also the drivers of each car and send you a toll bill (or charge it to your EZ Pass account). Even if you did not carry a cellphone during your travels, law enforcement can easily piece together where you are going based on that technology alone. Ditto for every city street and public place. Using facial recognition, they can search for your face and see exactly what time you stepped into that Dunkin Donuts and whether you drove or walked there.
If fact, you have to wonder if taking evasive techniques to avoid being tracked like changing settings on your cellphone, taking back roads everywhere and paying cash only actually draws more attention to yourself.
Think about every "manhunt" over the past 20 years. Law enforcement always catches up to the guy. You can try to hide in a swamp or forest but sooner or later, you will slip up and reveal yourself. Unless an alligator or bear gets you first.
It's rapidly becoming an Orwellian world. There is no place to hide.