The Quiet Deal We All Make With Big Tech
The Quiet Deal We All Make With Big Tech
A year ago, I wrote a song called Crumbs for a Crown.
🎙️🎶 https://suno.com/song/c2745302-5da0-4ac8-9b0c-a51abaa143d2
It was about an argument most of us have with ourselves every day.
Do I trade my data for convenience?
Or do I walk away from tools that feel essential to modern life?
That tension is the point.
The Internal Dialogue We Pretend Not to Have
Think of it as an internal debate.
- One voice wants speed, reach, and relevance.
- The other wants privacy, autonomy, and control.
You are both Smeagol and Gollum. Same person. Different priorities.
Big Tech thrives in that gap.
They frame the choice as small.
A click. A permission. A setting you can always change later.
Just crumbs.
Why “Crumbs for a Crown” Is a Lie
The story we tell ourselves goes like this:
- It’s only a little data.
- Everyone does it.
- The upside is worth it.
- Maybe I’ll get something big out of it someday.
That “crown” is vague by design.
Fame. Opportunity. Efficiency. Belonging. Whatever you want it to be.
The reality is simpler and harsher.
You are not just giving up crumbs. You are giving up digital exhaust, personal data at scale.
That includes:
- Behavioral patterns
- Social graphs
- Search intent
- Device fingerprints
- Inferred traits you never disclosed
This data does not expire. In fact, it compounds.
The Trade-Off Is Asymmetric
Here’s the part that matters.
You give up permanent data. You get temporary convenience.
Platforms keep the upside. You absorb the long-term risk.
That risk looks like:
- Price discrimination
- Subtle manipulation
- Reputation shaping
- Exposure you cannot see
- Profiles you cannot correct
Most harm is low-grade. Which makes it easier to ignore. Until it isn’t.
Privacy Is Not About Opting Out of Society
This is where the conversation often breaks.
People assume privacy means disappearing. Or rejecting modern tools outright.
That is a false binary. Privacy is about reducing unnecessary extraction, not isolation.
You do not need to be extreme to be intentional.
A better framing:
- What data is actually required?
- What is collected by default but not needed?
- Who benefits from that collection?
- Who bears the downside?
Once you ask those questions, the trade-offs stop feeling abstract.
Why This Matters Now
The systems collecting data today are more powerful than the ones that started this bargain.
AI did not create this problem, but magnifies it!
What you shared years ago is still usable. Usually in ways you never consented to.
So, the cost of past decisions is rising.
A More Honest Choice
“Crumbs for a Crown” is not a moral argument. It is a clarity argument.
You should be able to say:
- Yes, this tool is worth it.
- No, this one is not.
- And I understand the difference.
Right now, most people cannot. Because the deal, the real value equation, is intentionally obscured.
Privacy starts when you stop pretending the tradeoff is small. It isn’t.
And once you see that, you can choose more deliberately.
