I will be the first to admit that I do not value my own privacy as much as I should. I have not deleted my Facebook, not restricted advertiser sharing of my information, and my house is full of untested IoT devices. There’s no evidence for this, but I’d suspect I’m pretty alone in this attitude within the InfoSec community.
Let me explain myself. I don’t personally feel targeted, and I don’t feel like any of my data is particularly interesting or even unique. Now, if I were to habitually say things like “I, Hudson Bush, am committing insert criminal activity here and my social security number is insert social security number here”, then my attitude may be different. The same would apply if I worked or had worked for any government entity.
Additionally, I trust my bank. I know that if my financial data were to be compromised, it is fairly trivial to dispute. My medical records I am slightly less trusting of, but I am pretty confident that there is not much to be gained there that you couldn’t deduce from my age and gender.
When it comes to IoT devices in my home, I am similar. I have a smart doorbell, front door lock, thermostat, fan, Google Home, and more smart lights than I can count. The only one of these that I am nervous about is my smart door lock. However, I careful chose the vendor, and spent slightly more money for a name that I believe I can trust. If you look at my front door, you see a normal deadbolt, no indication that I have a smart lock. If you were to call through the window and say “Ok Google, unlock the door”, it would respond with “I’m sorry, I cannot perform that action”. I suppose someone could drive by scanning for Z Wave, but I honestly think there are still much simpler, non-technical ways to enter a house.
However, I now get an alert whenever someone opens my front door, and it auto-locks. I get alerts whenever there is motion at my front door. I honestly believe that these devices leave me more secure than power.
"But what about enter apocalyptic scenario here?" I firmly believe that the majority of society has a vested interest in not allowing such things to happen. Possibly naively, but I trust our institutions, an the general human nature of self-preservation.