In the ongoing circus of online absurdities, the latest act sees supposedly rational beings falling for the oldest trick in the digital book. Like sheep led to the slaughter of common sense, they eagerly copy and paste disclaimers, hoping to outsmart the mighty Meta, formerly Facebook. It’s akin to believing that wearing a tinfoil hat can thwart alien mind control. Even a fifth-grader could decipher the folly of this futile gesture.

Meanwhile, as these self-proclaimed guardians of privacy engage in their futile ritual, their personal data dances merrily in the hands of banks, merchants, and governmental entities, pirouetting through the digital ether with grace and impunity. Perhaps it’s high time these digital Don Quixotes tilt at windmills of real consequence, like reading the fine print before clicking “I agree” and awakening to the reality that privacy in the digital age is but a fleeting illusion, lost in a sea of terms and conditions.