[mikekchar]

The thing about a dystopia is that you can't control everybody or else you will incite a revolution. There is actually a balance that you need to maintain. Privilege is one of the main ways of maintaining slavery. For example, if you are 1 person and you want to control 10 slaves, it is not really possible -- they will gang up on you. However, if you make one of the 10 slaves the "head slave", then they have an incentive to maintain the status quo. If you then make it clear to the other slaves that they can be upgraded to "head slave" as you expand your slave empire, then they will also have incentive to maintain the status quo. Your goal as a slave keeper is simply to make the reward/liability comparison work out ever so slightly on the reward side. You want people thinking, "Well, if I work hard, then I might be made head slave. And my slavery is not so bad. If I try to run away or rebel, then I might be beaten -- and I don't even know if I can survive if I run away".

No matter what dystopian world you live in, you will always be given the illusions that life is better as it is than it would be if you were free. They aren't going to throw you to the wolves completely. Instead, they will always present you with a dilemma: "As long as you only do X, you'll be fine, so there is no need to fight against it". In terms of privacy, there always has to be the question, "Why do you need so much privacy anyway?" If you answer that question, then you will break your balance (see recent Facebook "scandals" -- nothing changed except the general understanding of why people wanted privacy).

The advice to avoid problems is a pragmatic one. "If you do X, you'll be fine" is funny because people will say that and then forget to do X. "Well, I'm sure I'll be fine anyway". If you are careful to do X, then you can avoid many of the downsides. You can use that time to break free from your slavery. Umm... Or not... (usually people choose the "or not" option).