# Privacy Is a Daily Act - Not Just a Tool // Pavel Zoneff (Tor Project) - Channel: [Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress](https://streameth.org/ethereum-cypherpunk-congress) - Date: 2026-04-09 - Duration: 05:54 - Topics: web3, privacy, now, crypto, cryptography, blockchain, data, security, human right, rights, tech, technology, internet, open source, free, freedom, ethereum, hackers, ethics, cypherpunk, dev, developer, dapp, decentralization, bitcoin, computer, surveillance, cyber, peer2peer, p2p, love, solidity, zk, zero knowledge, education, academy, w3pn, taaki, darkfi, cryptographer - Watch: https://streameth.org/watch/yt-T8OC5f0vgJM - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8OC5f0vgJM ## Description In this interview, Pavel Zoneff (Tor Project) explains how privacy helps reclaim control in a digital world shaped by surveillance and data exploitation. He highlights everyday actions, open-source tools like Tor and Signal, and the need for a more decentralized internet. Timecodes 00:00 – Introduction: Pavel Zoneff (Tor Project) 00:15 – Privacy as control in a data-driven, censoring internet 00:41 – Everyday actions: using privacy tools and signaling demand 01:21 – Privacy as a collective movement beyond technologists 02:11 – Using multiple tools and minimizing digital traces 03:22 – Rejecting cookies as “digital disobedience” 04:02 – Spreading adoption: talk about your tech stack 04:50 – Toward a decentralized, user-owned internet --- This conversation is part of Privacy Academy Interviews, a peer-to-peer knowledge project exploring the most important ideas in Web3, privacy, and digital freedom. Learn more: https://academy.web3privacy.info A W3PN Media House production. Directed by Federico Marchi https://x.com/BabyBitProd Interview by Peter Farbey https://x.com/0xfarbey Let privacy be with you! ## Transcript [bell] [music] >> Hi, my name is Pavel and I'm the comms director at the Tor Project. So, for me privacy is everything. So, number one I always think about a version of the internet where access and democratization was promised. And clearly what we're seeing now in the year 2026 is primarily used to control people and to censor information. And so, privacy is one of the ways in our digital lives how we can reclaim a little bit of control. And this is why I'm always advocating for people to start using as many privacy tools as possible signal to the market how important it is to actually use privacy tools. A, how you how easy they're to use and B, also encourage more developers to think with a privacy-first mindset. So, every little act that you can do in your day-to-day life whether it is opting for an alternative tech stack, whether it is Tor, whether it is Signal or any kind of other privacy-preserving tech, that's how you show up for privacy every single day. I really don't know what news I have for punkers. I'm just going to come out and say it. But to me what is really important in my work that I see every single day is people showing up for others and supporting their right to express themselves freely and especially in a moment in time where all of our lives are intertwined with technology. Seeing people stand up for the right to have privacy, to use secure and anonymous tool, to defend encryption, that to me is part of the movement. But it is not just technologists, it is bringing people together, artists, activists, journalists, everybody who is speaking truth to power or trying to create a better digital future. So, without knowing the definition, this is my definition. So, my favorite privacy tool is Signal and Tor is coming in at a close second. And that just has everything to do with the fact that most of my life is messaging with people constantly. But what I always say is you got to use more more tools. So, it's not just about one tool, it's not just about having one favorite tool. It is about using as many tools as you can. You want to leave no trace because what we're seeing is at the best outcome your data is being used to just sell you something at a higher price. The worst outcome is somebody's using your data to threaten your lives. So, my favorite privacy tool is philosophically one that is free, open source and community-led. So, the easiest privacy habit that I can recommend and that actually starts in your offline life. If there's something you don't want people to know, just don't talk about it. Now, in many ways that is not realistic especially when we talk about our online life. But really do as much as you can to protect yourself. Um, it starts with deleting your cookies, rejecting them from the first place, not reusing passwords, really using common sense, um, thinking about how many steps in your digital lives there's a potential for somebody to see what you're doing and just reducing how much information you share in those moments. Thankfully, Tor with Tor Browser does a lot of that for you. So, we delete cookies after every session, we hide your location, we hide your identity and so do a lot of other tools. So, to me I I always love just saying no and declining cookies. I know it is extremely annoying and sometimes especially when I'm in the EU, I open up a web page and then I have to opt out of so many things. But I have started to reframe my brain to think of this as an act of digital disobedience. Every time I take the effort, which granted is a huge effort to reject cookies, I feel that I'm signaling stop. You do not get my data. You do not get to know about me. You do not invade my personal space. So, the main way to attract more people is to talk about it. Talk about your tech stack. When you have already opted for alternatives, for free and open source alternatives go and tell other people about it. Tell your family, tell your friends and talk to them about how easy it is to use. I think what we're really struggling with in the internet freedom movement is how people think that these are unpopular tools or that these tools are difficult to use. They're not. Um, and this is the message that we need to repeat to people. Start using it, adopting it and rope in whoever you can. You know friends who are good at talking about things. You know friends who are always the popular ones in the room, who always have the latest tech, who always have the latest gadget. Talk to them. Get them to use those alternative tools because other people will start to copy it. If we're thinking about the ideal internet and and the best possible outcome for the internet, we need to think beyond just software alone. Like Tor is great, privacy-preserving tools and apps are also great. But we're still struggling with a fundamental design flaw that the majority of the internet infrastructure is only owned and operated by very few actors. And as we're seeing some of these actors align more closely with governments, governments that choose to restrict people's access to information and services, that is the part that needs to change. So, in an ideal future I imagine that we're operating internet from our own machines, from localized machines, that we all house a part of the infrastructure, that it is distributed and decentralized so that one person cannot decide or one company cannot make decisions about which voices get amplified and which voices get silenced. Privacy is your right to decide what you want to reveal about yourself and what you'd rather keep secret. >> [groaning]