Privacy Tech & Digital Nomadism

Bullish On Privacy Tech In 2023

The structure of society will change over time. Especially the rules that allow governments, corporations, and communities to access your personal data. That brings privacy into focus as an important way to protect freedom of choice and lifestyle design against any future changes to privacy policies.

So why is privacy important?

Because they can't stop you from doing something if they don't know what you're doing in the first place. Said another way, privacy tech is an important tool for maintaining self-sovereignty. It protects the ability to make choices while minimizing outside influences on those choices.

The knowledge, tools, resources, and best practices in privacy are what keeps our choices private regardless of the changes that happen at the society level.

The good news is that there are a growing number of technology projects providing tools and resources to ensure constant privacy. And they’re worth paying attention to.

The best part is that there are now also a bunch of passionate people creating resources to help others learn about and adopt privacy technology.

Privacy Market Outlook In Web3

This report is a good high-level introduction to privacy tech in the crypto industry. In some areas, it's a bit technical but you can't really afford to let the technical nature of the industry keep you from participating. This is as good a place as any to get a high-level overview of the types of tech being built right now and you can then figure out the rabbit holes that are worth exploring from there.

ZK Whiteboard Sessions - Module One: What is a SNARK? by Dan Boneh - YouTube 

In particular, it’s worth paying attention to Zero-Knowledge Proofs with a focus on how they're integrating with the current crypto ecosystem and how they'll evolve over the next few years.

The bottom line: privacy best practices are an important set of tools that aspiring sovereign individuals should adopt to secure their lifestyles. The space is rapidly evolving and it’s worth your time to pay attention.

Topics On Digital Nomadism

Some of the core ideas within The Sovereign Individual are tightly aligned with philosophies of the modern Digital Nomad.

I define digital nomads broadly as people that leverage digital work to build lifestyles that emphasize exploring what the world has to offer. They have a level of freedom and control over lifestyle design that makes many digital nomads self-sovereign.

Regardless of where a digital nomad is from or where they live right now, they’re likely to believe that the world can and probably will look different as more people work remotely and choose to travel the world.

So, it’s interesting to look at this collection of topics on digital nomadism from a lens that global society is undergoing a digital evolution.

Citizenship is obsolete.. The most degrading thing me or my… | by Samuela Davidova | Medium - Is the idea of national citizenship in a world of constant digital connectivity and shrinking travel times a permanent model? Or will something else replace the idea of national citizenship? Should travel permits adapt to the realities of this constant digital and travel connectivity? Should someone born in one location be considered second class to someone born in another?

Fastest Growing Remote Work Hubs of 2023 (nomadlist.com) - What can individuals and governments learn from studying where the most popular digital nomad hubs form? What causes them to rise and fall? Is it ultimately boredom that drives nomad communities elsewhere or is it policy driven?

Digital Nomadism vs. the State: the struggle for tax jurisdiction in a digital world – Liberation Travel - To that end, how will taxation evolve in a world where people increasingly earn their incomes online and live location-independent lifestyles? Will taxes shift from an emphasis on taxable income toward consumption-based tax models? (I think they will)

How to Become a Digital Nomad (hbr.org) - And how will the process of becoming a digital nomad change over time as more people embrace location-independent lifestyles?

Whether you plan to live a nomadic lifestyle or not, this growing subset of people is likely to drive meaningful change to policies around the world. Ignore them and the lessons you can learn from them at your own peril.

Rapid Fire

• Cryptonatives: Pavol Luptak — PWN DAO (mirror.xyz) - A self-described privacy maximalist is interviewed about what it means to be a crypto native and how he uses cryptocurrency to achieve his goals. In particular, pay attention to the section on Liberation Travel. It’s a community of aspiring sovereign individuals trying to leverage location-independent lifestyles to maximize the benefits of travel and reduce the risks from staying in one place.

• Operation Choke Point 2.0 Is Underway, And Crypto Is In Its Crosshairs (piratewires.com) - The US government is aligning to attack the crypto industry. This is worth reading and paying attention to.

• How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline (substack.com) - Depending on your political persuasion this is likely to make you feel a certain way. I make no claims about whether it’s true or not, but I do think it’s an important read because imagine the ramifications if it’s true. It’s not like this administration has the best record on foreign policy and being 100% honest with the American people. And the number of conspiracy theories that were actually true in the post-covid world are alarmingly high. Better to be informed than ignore it as conspiracy.

• EVERY ANGEL IS TERRIFYING - YouTube - This video is a great example of modern propaganda thatI found it really interesting. It’s relevant because it was produced by Praxis which is a proto-network state that aligns well with segments of the sovereign individual ecosystem. My favorite line: "world war 3 isn't found on a battlefield, it's in the algorithms making you hate yourself"

• New York Developer Turns Empty Wall Street Offices Into Luxury Apartments - Bloomberg More downstream effects of remote work. We’re seeing signs that empty office space is getting converted to apartments and other types of spaces. Those changes are costly and “sticky”. This means that as they happen at scale, there will be less office space on a more permanent basis, reinforcing the trend of remote work.

• Mapped: 2023 Inflation Forecasts by Country - Energy remains a major driving force that will influence inflation in 2023. High energy costs ripple through society and make everything more expensive.

• Putin has ‘lost the energy war’, top trader claims as he ends bets on high gas price | Financial Times (ft.com) - This is just one perspective - but if true, it's really important to how economic policy will move forward across the globe.

Extras

Single women own more houses than single men.

What’s really going on here?