The "what do we even pay you for?" is just like with projects:
"why isn't this finished yet?"
We have to add tests and make sure we've tried to cover our bases.
"that's not necessary, if it works now, just release it"
That's not-
"I don't care, I pay the bills"
Sure thing boss.
*a few weeks later*
"This thing doesn't work"
Yeah, it's what we wanted to test.
"Well why didn't you?"
😐
Yes you can, most people aren't. In real life, by far the most common response I've gotten when talking about privacy is 😴 . My colleagues in tech will hotly debate China's surveillance, but happy use face ID on their iPhone, upload their entire life to Google or iCloud (including recordings of therapy sessions), send their blood into do a heritage check, nearly exclusively use Amazon for shopping, have an Amazon Ring camera at their door, and so much more.
It's funny that every time someone points out the pot calling the kettle black the training kicks in to shout "whataboutism" and it must be "wumao". It's almost a meme. You don't think an article about Xi Ping's government warning about USAian surveillance would be mocked and ridiculed due to their Great Firewall? That wouldn't be "whataboutism" though, right? It would be a "critical opinion"?
So just like the majority of USAian apps out there? I think Temu fits right in. Why are people so concerned about what China is doing with their data, but not the very countries they live in or (more importantly) the dominant online surveillance presence: the USA?
Just use I2P and share anonymously. No need to do it physically, get identified by a recording on a client's phone, and have your door busted in by the popo. Anonymous overlay network is where it's at.