Privacy Pleasure Week 3: Secure Communication and File Sharing

TLDR: What You Need to Know

🎯 The Big Picture: Google dominates email and file sharing, harvesting your data with every attachment and message. Privacy Pleasure means using tools that work across platforms without feeding the surveillance machine.

🔧 What You Can Do Today: Choose one secure file sharing method and test it with one project.

🛠️ Tool to Try: ProtonMail (email), Tresorit (files), or Signal (messaging) as alternatives to Google's ecosystem.

🐍 Key Wisdom: Find smarter paths forward — build secure workflows that serve your creativity, not corporate data mining.

Read time: ~4 minutes

Welcome to Privacy Pleasure Week 3! 🔐

Hey there, creative friends!

We've built your password foundation and protected your browsing from ISP tracking. Now it's time to tackle secure communication and file sharing — protecting your creative work as it moves across the internet.

Why This Matters Now:

Every attachment you send through Gmail, every file you share via Google Drive, every document stored in the cloud is data Google harvests, analyzes, and monetizes. Your creative work becomes training data for their AI. Your client communications become advertising profiles.

The Privacy Pleasure Goal:

Choose tools that work across platforms and protect your data while maintaining your creative workflow. Start thinking about alternatives that don't require feeding your work to tech giants.

The Deep Why: The File Sharing Surveillance Machine

Your files and communications aren't just being delivered — they're being harvested.

Just like your ISP logs every website you visit (Week 2), Google and other cloud providers scan every file you upload, every email you send, every document you share. They're building detailed profiles of your work, your relationships, and your creative process.

The Class War Reality:

While you're trying to collaborate and share your creative work, billionaires are building systems to extract value from every file transfer, every email thread, every shared document. Your creative process becomes their product.

Privacy Pleasure isn't just about secure file sharing — it's about realizing when and if your creativity is being exploited by others.

What Google Actually Sees

Without Secure Alternatives (Privacy Pleasure Level: Zero):

• Every email you send and receive (scanned for ad targeting)

• Every file you upload to Google Drive (analyzed for content)

• Every document you share (metadata extracted)

• Every collaboration pattern (relationship mapping)

• Every search within your own files (behavior tracking)

With Secure Tools (Privacy Pleasure Level: High):

• End-to-end encrypted email (only you and recipient can read)

• Zero-knowledge file storage (provider can't access your files)

• Encrypted file transfers (contents hidden in transit)

• Private collaboration (no surveillance of your creative process)

• Complete control over your work

The Key Insight: Free Google services aren't really free — you're paying with your data, your privacy, and your creative work.

The "Secure Sharing" Framework

Step 1: Observe Your Current Patterns

• How do you currently share creative work with clients?

• Where do you store files you're collaborating on?

• Which email service do you use for sensitive communications?

• What would be hardest to replace?

Step 2: Choose Your Security Level

• Basic Protection: Encrypted email for sensitive messages

• Moderate Protection: Secure file sharing for client work

• Complete Protection: Zero-knowledge storage for everything

Step 3: Test Cross-Platform Tools

• Does the alternative work with your existing workflow?

• Can collaborators access files without creating accounts?

• Does it create Privacy Pleasure or friction?

The Goal: Find tools that work ACROSS platforms, not lock you into new ecosystems.

File Sharing Security (High Level)

The Problem with Google Drive/Dropbox/OneDrive:

These services scan your files to serve ads, train AI, and build user profiles. "Free" storage means they're extracting value from your creative work.

Secure Alternatives to Consider:

• Tresorit: End-to-end encrypted cloud storage (free tier available)

• ProtonDrive: Zero-knowledge file storage from the ProtonMail team

• Sync.com: Encrypted storage with generous free tier

• Direct transfers: Sometimes old-school USB drives or direct file transfers are best

What to Look For:

• End-to-end encryption: Provider can't read your files

• Zero-knowledge architecture: Your data is encrypted before leaving your device

• Cross-platform compatibility: Works on Mac, Windows, mobile without vendor lock-in

Email Security (High Level)

The Problem with Gmail:

Google scans every email for ad targeting. Your client communications, creative collaborations, and sensitive discussions all feed their advertising machine.

Secure Alternatives to Consider:

• ProtonMail: End-to-end encrypted email (free tier available)

• Tutanota: Privacy-focused email with strong encryption

• Fastmail: Not encrypted by default, but doesn't scan for ads (paid service)

• Your own domain: Email independence from big tech providers

What Matters Most:

• End-to-end encryption for sensitive messages: Only recipient can read

• No ad scanning: Provider doesn't harvest your communications

• Cross-platform access: Works everywhere without platform lock-in

• Easy migration: Can move to new provider if needed

Tools That Work Across Platforms

The Privacy Pleasure Advantage:

Choose tools that don't lock you into ecosystems. Look for:

• Platform-agnostic file sharing: Works regardless of what device recipient uses

• Email that travels: Not tied to Apple, Google, or Microsoft

• Messaging that works everywhere: Cross-platform by design

• Storage you can migrate: Easy export if you need to move

This Is Platform Independence in Practice:

Secure communication tools that work across ecosystems give you real independence. You're not trapped in Google's world or Apple's walled garden.

Tool Spotlight: Secure Communication Essentials

ProtonMail (Free tier available)

• End-to-end encrypted email

• Based in Switzerland (strong privacy laws)

• Works with any email provider

• ProtonDrive included for file storage

Signal (Free)

• End-to-end encrypted messaging

• Voice and video calls

• Group chats for creative collaboration

• Works on all major platforms

Tresorit (Free tier available)

• End-to-end encrypted file sharing

• Zero-knowledge cloud storage

• Easy sharing with non-users

• Strong security for client work

Connect With Me on Alternative Platforms

I'm building my presence outside Meta and Google's ecosystems. Find me here:

• Bluesky - Decentralized social without algorithm manipulation

• Contra - Creator community without data harvesting

Personal Update: My Complete Meta Exit

This past January, I deleted Instagram, Threads, and Facebook completely. Not just the apps — I deleted my accounts entirely. I'm officially done with Meta.

The Reality I Faced:

Meta abuses users mentally. The miscommunication and friction built into Facebook has genuinely ruined lives — including damage to relationships I care about. Reading Careless People — Sarah Wynn-Williams' memoir as a former Facebook director of public policy — showed me these aren't bugs, they're features. The harm is intentional. I was done feeding that machine.

(If you want to understand what Meta really is from someone who worked there, the audiobook is available on Spotify Premium — it's worth your time.)

What Happened After I Left:

• I didn't miss the endless marketing scroll

• I saved so much money from impulse shopping I didn't even realize I was doing

• I stay connected to people I love through direct channels — text, email, Signal

• I don't feed my attention to Meta's data mining machine anymore

What I Learned:

You don't need Meta to maintain real relationships. The people who matter will connect with you directly. Everything else was just noise designed to extract your time and money.

The Same Logic Applies to File Sharing:

Just like I left Meta's social platforms, I'm gradually moving away from Google's file sharing and email ecosystem. The surveillance is the same, the data extraction is the same. Secure alternatives exist — you just have to start looking for them.

What's Coming: Complete Privacy Pleasure System

Next week, we'll integrate everything — passwords, browsing protection, secure communication, and file sharing — into one comprehensive system that gives you complete digital independence.

Remember: Your creative work deserves protection from surveillance capitalism.

With excitement for your growing independence,

Amanda

Pythoness Programmer

P.S. Which file sharing or email service would be hardest for you to give up? Why?

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Further Reading

If you're ready to explore the philosophy and practice of Privacy Pleasure more deeply, here are a few meaningful starting points:

• Sarah Wynn-Williams – Careless People: Insider memoir from a former Facebook director of public policy exposing Meta's intentional harm and surveillance practices. Essential reading for understanding why platform independence matters.

• Jenny Odell – How to Do Nothing: A luminous reflection on attention, resistance, and the art of reclaiming your time and focus from digital demands, and my top recommended non-fiction book.

• Bloomberg – The Data Center Industry: Investigative reporting on the dark industry behind cloud storage—massive energy consumption, concentrated billionaire ownership, and the infrastructure powering surveillance capitalism.

• Electronic Frontier Foundation – "Surveillance Self-Defense": Comprehensive guides for protecting your communications and files from surveillance.

• Privacy Guides – Encrypted Communication: Community-vetted analysis of secure email, messaging, and file sharing tools.