I think the average person just simply doesn't care about their privacy.
In some of the music communities I'm in the content creators are already telling their userbase to go follow them on threads. They're all talking about some kind of beef between Elon and Mark and the possibility of a boxing match... Mark was right to call the people he's leaching off of fucking idiots.
i'm like somewhat computer literate but ive basically just come to the conclusion that online privacy is sorta unobtainable so its a myth anyways. if someone much more clever than me wanted my online history they can probably find it through some tech trick ive never heard of. the main defense i have is that no one fucking cares about what ive done online because im not anyone with any political influence and i don't commit crimes, so theres just 0 incentive for anyone to steal my shit or care in the first place
I've been on the internet since the early 90s and try to keep my stuff anonymous. But as you say, I am sure someone could find out all about me if they wanted, despite using a VPN 90% of the time, using dummy emails to sign up for stuff, never posting photos etc.
If someone posts a photo to Facebook with me in it, with a comment "Me and John Doe having a great time", I have no control over it.