Did you catch Geoffrey A. Fowler’s latest story on privacy earlier this week? In “It’s the middle of the night. Do you know who your iPhone is talking to?” the Washington Post technology columnist discovers that his phone “has been alarmingly busy.”
Even though the screen is off and I’m snoring, apps are beaming out lots of information about me to companies I’ve never heard of. […] According to privacy firm Disconnect, which helped test my iPhone, those unwanted trackers would have spewed out 1.5 gigabytes of data over the span of a month.
In his investigation, Fowler finds that privacy policies don’t necessarily provide protection.
The problem is, the more places personal data flies, the harder it becomes to hold companies accountable for bad behavior — including inevitable breaches.
Vivaldi founder Jon von Tetzchner has been vocal on the topic of privacy for many years. He started working with the Web in 1992, just a few years after Tim Berners-Lee made Web standards available to the public.
I have always believed that access to the Internet and to the information available there is good for society. I have dedicated my life to helping people get onto the Internet and make the most out of it on their terms. Now, sadly we have real problems to contend with.
Over to you
We know that Vivaldi’s community is not indifferent to the topic of privacy, and it’s also a topic close to our hearts (after all Vivaldi doesn’t track or store any of your data.).
So… Hello there, Vivaldi folk! What are your thoughts on online privacy?
- Are you bothered by reports of security breaches, dodgy practices and plain creepy levels of tracking going on such as the one described in the Washington Post?
- What do you think about the fact that almost everything we do online is being collected and processed by algorithms?
- Do you ever try to limit the trackers?
- What’s your take on AI and seeing Mona Lisa talk?
- How do you feel about companies monetizing your data?
- What other privacy issues keep you awake at night?
- And the beacons? What do you make of the tech that’s being used to follow us in the physical world?
- Do we need a solution to any of this?
Over the summer months, we’re opening the Vivaldi blog to guest bloggers from our community and beyond.
Here’s what we’ll do:
- We’ll publish the best blogs on vivaldi.com/blog.
- We’ll illustrate the best blogs professionally.
- We’ll share on social media and generally make sure that your message gets heard.
- We’ll send a generous Vivaldi goodie bag to the bloggers we feature!
Send us your thoughts and we’ll give you the stage!
Here’s what to do
It’s easy to take the stage.
- Write a blog sharing your thoughts on privacy – we’ll consider any angle. The ideal length will be around 500 words. Try not to go over 1000 words.🤞
- Publish the blog on your personal blog on vivaldi.net and ping us. 👍
- Or send us the text of the blog via the Vivaldi forum or social media. 👍
That’s it!
We’re excited! This is a big topic and the world needs to hear from you!
