Framing this as "money vs privacy" is disingenuous. There are many other factors at play. It takes a lot of courage and social/emotional skill to be able to say "no" to a work request in a way that is assertive, respectful, and doesn't lead to becoming a pariah. Consistently doing this in the face of deadlines and incoming requests is a big investment of energy. Switching jobs whenever you find yourself in that position is also a big investment of energy. Not everyone has that energy to spare, for example if they have a young family, are going through bereavement, divorce or moving house, or have a health condition etc... .

if you are that talented enough where companies will continue to offer you $$ to program whatever they say, then yea you do have a lot of POWER and can say NO..

Your financial power is mostly irrelevant to the effort and skill of saying no.