Why ?
Simply put: I believe privacy is your right. No one you didn't authorize should be able to look at intimate details of your life. Whether you are researching out of curiosity, advocating for change, fighting corruption, or just looking at videos. Your browsing information and other private information is YOURS.
It should not be collected without authorization period! Below are some all too common scenarios where users information was intentionally or accidentally given to different organizations.
Additionally data = money... What do people research, what do people buy, what do people post on social media, what do they complain about, what do they believe... This is not just used for ads to make companies money. organizations use this data to punish people who question them, governments use it to track its citizens, and oppressive governments use it to target citizens who fight. This is extremely important to your privacy and safety.
-https://restoreprivacy.com/tesla-personal-data-of-75000-leaked-by-former-employees/
- https://restoreprivacy.com/colorado-department-of-higher-education-cdhe-data-breach/
- https://restoreprivacy.com/hackers-stole-millions-of-drivers-licenses-and-ids-from-u-s-states/
Things to consider:
Free software is not REALLY free
Many email and software providers offer free services because their revenue is generated through selling what they claim is "anonymized data". For example Google, Apple, Yahoo, Microsoft, and so on lets advertisers have information on your email content for purchases, politics, religions, and correlates that with cookies and trackers on your, operating system, and information through your web browser when you visit sites. This is then linked to social media, and even work information to assist in ad creation and data collection. Think about when you purchase or research and item and then you see advertisements for similar items...
Privacy respecting email, web browsers, and other programs do not do this...
Gmail was caught giving third parties full access to user emails and also tracking all of your purchases.
Advertisers have been allowed to scan Yahoo and AOL accounts to “identify and segment potential customers by picking up on contextual buying signals, and past purchases.”
Yahoo has been caught scanning emails in real-time for US surveillance agencies.
I have nothing to hide though
That’s great! Many of us don’t. The issue lies in having to opt out of most data collections used by providers vs having to navigate through hidden menu items to opt out of data collection and sharing. or what if you disagree about a decision made at work, or don’t agree with a new policy or legislative act... Many email, and other software providers willingly share your information...You should be able to speak freely about that without fear of loosing your job or access to public services.
I simply believe your data is yours by default and using someone’s services should not compromise your personal information to advertisers to make money or use against the user if they disagree.
What is FOSS?
I'll mention FOSS a lot... Free Open Source Software; The source code is open to audits. i.e. you can see if there is data harvesting, telemetry, tracking, and so on. Its is also community driven meaning improvements can be added and tested and released. This drives improvements for the users not profit. They almost always have a way for users to assist in testing or paying it forward by donating in various ways.
It also improves security and trust as the community usually developed it for a need and they want it to be reliable, safe, user friendly and being open source encourages transparency about how it actually works and if it collects any data from its users.
Why is FOSS important? Quick Article
Telemetry and you
Telemetry is essentially an automated communication between the device you’re using and the developers. Its constantly transmitting information. Many times, location, time, how often a program or website is visited and for how long. Even pattern information with your keystrokes. Much of this cannot be turned off with Apple and Microsoft operating systems and its even built in with many software suites (Microsoft Office, Adobe). This information is not truly needed and often disguised as (to enhance performance by collecting crash data). It sounds great but in reality it doesn't stop there. FOSS software, and operating systems disclose any telemetry (often none) and allows its code to be audited by ANYONE to verify its claims....
Extras
The world is changing fast and your private data is at risk whenever you go online. Numerous entities, both public and private, are working hard to track, monitor, and record your digital activities. There are many reasons for this:
Advertisers (including Google and Facebook) want to know everything about you, including your web browsing history, location data, contacts, and more. This makes it easier (and more profitable) to serve you targeted ads and influence your purchases.
In an age of pandemics and lock-downs, many governments around the world are working hard to track movement and bio-metric data of their citizens.
ISPs (internet service providers) are spying on their customers and feeding this data to various third parties, including advertisers and government agencies. In many countries, this is not only legal, but required. See for example in the United Kingdom (with the Investigatory Powers Act), United States (Senate Joint Resolution 34), and now also in Australia (mandatory data retention).
The internet is also becoming less free due to censorship efforts and content blocking. Whether it is China, Germany, the UK, or the United States, various groups are working hard to censor content online.
But don’t get discouraged. Alternative technologies are experiencing a renaissance as awareness about these issues grows and people seek out solutions. Indeed, for all of the problems listed above, we find excellent solutions to give you more privacy, security, and freedom in your digital life.