Professor Emeritus Oscar Gandy, a scholar who has published leading research on an impressive and wide range of topics, including amongst others, race and identity, media and news framing, new and digital technologies, reflects in this article on his body of work that analyzed the political economy of privacy and warned us for the dangers of not only state but also corporate surveillance. More than two decades later, in the wake of the Snowden revelations, his research has turned out to be eerily visionary. Professor Gandy shares his critical yet constructive views on the current state of surveillance, privacy and personal data protection, what we can and cannot do to protect ourselves, and what role policy makers and scholars can and should play to safeguards our rights.