Hi—

There’s a screenshot lower down in this email from the settings behind this very newsletter—two toggles I’ve left off on purpose.

Respecting privacy is a choice, and going with the defaults isn’t an excuse for not considering something, carefully.

I recognize the need for discretion with our clients in general, but especially in a note about privacy—and NDAs are a thing. So I’ll be vague about the specifics but clear about their importance.

A client recently hired us to help research and respond to a CCPA complaint. The part that was frustrating for everyone involved is that tracking was on because it is the default toggle in a configuration somewhere.

We helped them think it through—what the business actually needs to know and what the law expects. But the lesson I took from this experience is that user privacy is a decision to make, not a default box to leave checked or unchecked.

That screenshot is mine. Postmark would happily tell me who opened this email and what you clicked. I could flip both toggles on tonight and you’d never know—which is exactly why it comes down to trust.

I left them off because opens were never going to tell me whether Getting Kinetic is working. Replies tell me that. Last week, I got three. Which leaves me at this question:

Turning things off is underrated. Every toggle we choose to turn off in life (or in digital product decisions) makes things simpler—it’s a choice you make about what to focus on.

Did this make you think? Hit reply.

— JD and the Simple Focus gang