Did you know that no right to privacy is expressed in the U.S. Constitution? Instead, companies sell us the illusion of privacy. For instance, your private online information might be private to other people, but not to other companies, robots and hackers. Programs running on phones, computers, tablets, webcams, security cameras, home security systems and more are built to track us, collect and hold our information, learn more about us and further the development of these privacy-breaking technologies.

If you read through any app’s privacy policy, chances are you’d have second thoughts about installing it. Often, they ask for access to your device’s microphone and camera, photos, contacts, browsing history, GPS location, personal information and more. Next time you want to download that free app, take a look at what you’re really signing up for. The only way we found our own privacy was to rid our life of all unnecessary artificial intelligence, so we could strengthen our own intelligence and see without “smart” goggles blocking our view.

Social media platforms are human relationship databases that interrupted life somewhere along the way. Rather than interacting face-to-face, humans spend more time interacting virtually. Everyone seems to give away their personal information, their private experiences and their opinions to third party companies that make money by selling people’s personal information.

If we want our privacy back, we’re going to have to stop handing our information away so blindly. The two of us said goodbye to social media this year, we are no longer giving our information to any sites online and we are doing our best to maintain our privacy. We hope more people become aware of the privacy issues we face, so some boundaries can be put in place.