How to Protect Your Identity in a World Trying to Change You | Guy Kawasaki - EP 797

**John R. Miles** (0:00)
Coming up next on Passion Struck.

**Guy Kawasaki** (0:02)
I can't tell you that I can name any investment bankers or private equity people who I think have left the world a better place. So I think that's how you measure a person. Did they make the world a better place, as opposed to a richer place, as opposed to having their names on buildings, as opposed to the largest crypto account. I rank people by how much you made the world a better place.

**John R. Miles** (0:28)
Welcome to Passion Struck. I'm your host John Miles. This is the show where we explore the art of human flourishing and what it truly means to live like it matters.
Each week, I sit down with change makers, creators, scientists, and everyday heroes to decode the human experience, and uncover the tools that help us lead with meaning, heal what hurts, and pursue the fullest expression of who we're capable of becoming. Whether you're designing your future, developing as a leader, or seeking deeper alignment in your life, this show is your invitation to grow with purpose and act with intention. Because the secret to a life of deep purpose, connection, and impact is choosing to live like you matter.
Hey, it's your friend John. Welcome back to episode 797 of the Passion Struck podcast. Let me ask you something. Have you ever had the feeling that your attention isn't entirely your own anymore? You open your phone to answer one message, 20 minutes disappear. You search for one thing online.
Suddenly, you're being followed by ads everywhere you go.
Your preferences become predictions. Your habits become data. And before you even realize it, technology isn't simply responding to your behavior. It's quietly shaping it. Most of us accept that is the cost of living in a connected world. But what if the real cost is something much deeper? What if little by little, we're surrendering pieces of our autonomy, our attention, and even our sense of self without ever consciously deciding to? That's the conversation we're having today. As we continue our month-long series on flourishing, we've reached a theme that I believe doesn't get discussed nearly enough.
Contribution. Because before we can meaningfully contribute to the world, we have to ask a more fundamental question. How do we remain fully human in a world that's increasingly trying to measure, predict, and influence every decision we make? Today's guest is the perfect guide for that conversation. Guy Kawasaki is an entrepreneur, bestselling author, host of the Remarkable People podcast, former chief evangelist at Apple, and one of Silicon Valley's most respected voices. His latest book, Everybody Has Something to Hide, begins with privacy, but it quickly becomes a conversation about dignity, boundaries, identity, and what it means to protect the parts of ourselves that should never become someone else's product. By the end of this conversation, you'll understand why privacy has nothing to do with having something to hide, how technology is quietly reshaping the way we think about human worth, and why protecting your attention may be one of the most important acts of intentional living in the modern world. I also think you'll leave with a bigger question. What does it actually mean to leave the world better than you found it? Because by the end of our conversation, that's actually where Guy took us and its perspective I haven't stopped thinking about since we recorded. So let's dive in. Here's my conversation with Guy Kawasaki. Thank you for choosing Passion Struck and choosing me to be your host and guide on your journey to creating an intentional life that matters. Now, let that journey begin.
I am so excited today to have Guy Kawasaki join me on Passion Struck. Hi, Guy.

**Guy Kawasaki** (3:58)
Good morning or good afternoon.

**John R. Miles** (4:02)
So I have to say you are the second person who's joined me on the podcast who said after they finish, they were going to go surfing. The first was BJ Fogg.

**Guy Kawasaki** (4:13)
BJ Fogg is in Maui.

**John R. Miles** (4:16)
Yes. When I interviewed him, he was in Hawaii. That is for sure.

**Guy Kawasaki** (4:19)
Yeah. I don't know how he gets away telling people he's a Stanford professor. He's always surfing in Maui. But anyway.

**John R. Miles** (4:28)
Well, he's living the life.
Guy, your newest book is called Everybody Has Something to Hide. I think a lot of people initially misunderstand that phrase. Why doesn't privacy equal guilt?

**Guy Kawasaki** (4:46)
Well, to use a test, pretend that you're driving down a freeway and there's billboards. On one billboard, there are some of your text messages.
So if you're listening to this and you can say, every one of my text messages can be on that billboard because I have nothing to hide. You do not need to read my book. You also are probably the world's most boring person. So privacy is not just if you're a fentanyl dealer or you're plotting an insurrection or some crime or some bad thing. There are many cases where you just would not want your text messages on that billboard. I'll give you some examples. So first of all, if you have family members not living with you and they're sending you a text message that says, dad, what is our Netflix username and password? There's the opposite case where your kid's in college and they cannot navigate the university housing system, which is a very common occurrence. And finally, you just say to them, just give me your name and password and I will sign up for your dorm for you, because I am tired of trying to figure it out for you and explaining it to you. And then there's dad, I want to buy a surfboard, I need your Visa account, I need the number, I need the expiration date, I need the secret three digits. Now, if you're telling me that all of that, you're okay with having on a billboard, do not read my book. So that is truly you have nothing to hide. But I would make the case that in today's society, the bar for what you want to hide is much lower. For example, let's say that your boss is hitting on you and making sexual advances, and you're trying to seek advice from your family or your friends, or God knows your attorney, you wouldn't want that on that billboard. Let's say that you're working for a company, and you figured out they're dumping something in the ocean, so you're asking your friends, should I be a whistleblower or what should I do? You wouldn't want that. Let's say that your uncle or auntie or grandma or grandpa, and your niece or nephew or your grandson or granddaughter says, I miss my period or my girlfriend missed my period. What do we do, grandpa, grandma? I can't tell my parents that.