If your main threat model are AI-enabled scams (as opposed to e.g. companies being extremely good at advertising to you), then I think this should influence which privacy measures you take. For example:
A personal favourite: TrackMeNot. This doesn’t prevent Google from spying on you, it just drowns Google in a flood of fake requests.
Google knowing my search requests is perhaps one of the more worrying things from a customized ads perspective, but one of the least worrying from a scam perspective (I think basically the only way this could become an issue is if there was a data leak that revealed people’s search histories?)
“Remove all public information on social media.” seems like by far the most important point on your list from a scam perspective. I’d add something like “avoid giving data to smaller websites/apps/...” (like the GPS example you mention earlier). On the other hand, most of the typical privacy measures people talk about are geared at preventing big companies from getting your data, but that’s only a secondary concern for AI-enabled scams. So I’m not convinced that things like switching away from gmail or WhatsApp, etc., make sense on those grounds.
(AI could also be used to make an argument for privacy from big companies, e.g. based on worries about recommender systems becoming too good at maximizing engagement, but that seems quite distinct.)
If your main threat model are AI-enabled scams (as opposed to e.g. companies being extremely good at advertising to you), then I think this should influence which privacy measures you take. For example:
Google knowing my search requests is perhaps one of the more worrying things from a customized ads perspective, but one of the least worrying from a scam perspective (I think basically the only way this could become an issue is if there was a data leak that revealed people’s search histories?)
“Remove all public information on social media.” seems like by far the most important point on your list from a scam perspective. I’d add something like “avoid giving data to smaller websites/apps/...” (like the GPS example you mention earlier). On the other hand, most of the typical privacy measures people talk about are geared at preventing big companies from getting your data, but that’s only a secondary concern for AI-enabled scams. So I’m not convinced that things like switching away from gmail or WhatsApp, etc., make sense on those grounds.
(AI could also be used to make an argument for privacy from big companies, e.g. based on worries about recommender systems becoming too good at maximizing engagement, but that seems quite distinct.)
I see your point, and you’re right. Data leaks from big companies or governments are not impossible though, they happen regularly!