Konrad Kollnig
Update (February 2023): I’ve implemente the vision behind this document in the context of app stores and mobile apps: https://www.platformcontrol.org/
Big Tech amass personal data at an unprecedented scale. This has unsettling consequences for individual privacy.
At the same time, Big Tech have a quasi-monopoly over digital services. They attract the majority of web traffic. This potentially restricts digital innovation.
Last month, in January 2020, the Norwegian Consumer Council, an NGO, published a report on collection and sharing of personal data in popular apps. The reassuring title: “Out of Control: How Consumers Are Exploited by the Online Advertising Industry”.
On 186 pages, the researchers analysed the data practices of 10 popular Android apps. Amongst those apps: a children’s app, a period tracker, and various dating apps.
What they found was a blatant disregard for governing data protection legislation, notably the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Die Untere Ruhrtalbahn ist eine ehemalige Eisenbahnstrecke, die den Bahnhof der Stadt Kettwig (seit 1975 Stadtteil von Essen) mit dem Bahnhof Mülheim-Styrum verband. Die Bahnstrecke wurde 1876 in Betrieb genommen und umfasste eine Länge von 14,7km (1435 mm Normalspur) bis zur Stilllegung in den 1970er Jahren.
This has been one of the darkest weeks of my time in the UK. I was there in 2016, around the time of the referendum, studying in Edinburgh under the EU exchange programme Erasmus.
I met Connor, with roots all over the UK, and my epitome for European friendship. Will others be able to have similar, rewarding experiences, and study within a Europe without borders? There seemed to be still hope.
Have you ever worried about sharing an honest opinion with friend on WhatsApp, or WhatsApp gaining access to the ‘encrypted’ communications? Have you worried about being listened to by the Facebook app, which it probably does not—they are just damn good at predicting your behaviour? Or, ever drafted a Facebook post, which you ended up discarding, which Facebook may retain regardless? Have you worried about sending photos via Snapchat, or Snapchat staff having access to photos?