> It comes off to me as the author not wanting to do the hard stuff of working towards their values

Unfair IMO. The author _did_ the hard work. And recognized that most other people, not similarly motivated, would not.

And, the author is right.

Most people do not give a rat's ass about the security of their data. They know their social media apps are tracking where they go and who they meet, and they'll say it's creepy if you ask them, but they don't actually care enough to lift a finger to do anything about it.