Privacy doesn't mean anything anymore, anonymity does

Summary

Every company says they "care about your privacy." It's in every privacy policy, every marketing page, every investor deck. But if I can reset your password via email, I know who you are. If I log your IP, I know where you are. If I require phone verification, I have leverage over you. That's not privacy. That's performance art. In 2025, "privacy" has become the most abused word in tech. It's slapped on products that require government IDs, services that log everything, and platforms that couldn't protect user data if they tried. Real anonymity isn't a marketing claim. It's an architectural decision that makes it impossible to compromise users, even if you wanted to. Even if someone put a gun to your head. Even if a three-letter agency showed up with a warrant. Let me show you the difference. The Privacy Theater Playbook Here's how the average "privacy-focused" service actually works: User Journey: 1. Enter email address 2. Verify email (now we have your email) 3. Create password (now we can reset it via email) 4. Add phone for "security" (now we have your phone) 5. Confirm identity for "fraud prevention" (now we have your ID) 6. Enable 2FA (more identity vectors) : "We care deeply about your privacy and only collect necessary information to provide our services..." Translation: We have everything. We log everything. We just promise to be careful with it. The problem isn't malice. Most services genuinely try to protect user data. But protection implies possession. And possession is the vulnerability. You can't leak what you don't have. You can't be forced to hand over what doesn't exist. The Mullvad Moment In 2023, Swedish police raided Mullvad VPN's offices with a search warrant. They wanted user data. Customer information. Connection logs. Anything. They left empty-handed. Not because Mullvad refused to cooperate. Not because they hid the data. But because there was no data to give. Mullvad's entire identity system is a randomly generated account number. No email....