Your post touched on an issue I’ve been trying to deal with on my own, without showing it to anyone, because my family thinks the same way yours does. It’s really hard to convince people of a reality they don’t want to see, so I just don’t show them. I take my own protective measures, and when I’m put in situations like the ones you mentioned, I try to rely on cold, hard data — but it’s often not enough.

Recently, I had a close family member’s birthday at a restaurant, and I was caught off guard when they asked for my ID just to open a tab and allow entry. Unfortunately, I couldn’t just walk away because of the family connection, but I found it ridiculous that I needed to give up my identification just to access the place. I don’t know if this is common in other countries, and honestly, I didn’t even know it was common here, but apparently it’s a policy to prevent scams.

I believe I’m not doing too badly in terms of exposure, but I’m already so embedded in the system because of my past mistakes with privacy that I haven’t even stopped to assess whether a cleanup is still possible.