by Sohail Khan. Netflix knows what you like, but does it need to know your politics too? We often face a frustrating choice: share our data and be tracked, or protect our privacy and lose personalization. But what if there was a third option? This article begins by introducing the concept of the privacy-utility trade-off, then explores the methods behind strategic data distortion, a technique that lets you subtly tweak your data to block sensitive inferences (like political views) while still maintaining useful recommendations. Finally, it looks ahead and advocates for a future where users, not platforms, shape the rules, reclaiming control of their own privacy.
