What is privacy?
Privacy. It's a word we hear a lot, often linked to complicated tech jargon or concerns about government surveillance.
It doesn't have to be that way, and we aim to give a concrete definition.
Defining privacy
Privacy isn't about having something to hide. It's about control. It's about the right to decide what information about you is shared, with whom, and for what purpose. It's the freedom to be yourself, to explore ideas, and to express opinions without fear of judgment or repercussions.
Privacy is a fundamental human need. It enables free expression, and protects us against discrimination.
Without privacy, we risk a society where individuality is stifled, and power is concentrated in the hands of those who control the data.
Our views at Gaboule
Privacy laws are irrelevant and outdated
Current legal frameworks often fall drastically short of protecting users. Javascript and browsers have evolved dramatically, and legal frameworks are taking a lot longer to catch up.
While these laws were intended to safeguard data, they often become exercises in performative compliance rather than meaningful protection.
The European GDPR1 has made users focus on things like cookie banners on websites, but the ingenuity of tracking technologies has far outstripped those early efforts.
Legal timeframes for addressing these issues are consistently shorter than the speed at which companies can deploy new and sophisticated tracking techniques.
Some laws even have a tendency to harm the user's privacy
Well-intentioned laws can sometimes inadvertently create new avenues for privacy erosion.
For example, the French "war on drugs" law2, for example, wished to broaden surveillance powers under the guise of combating crime, potentially impacting innocent citizens and freedom of expression as a whole.
Another example is a law currently under consideration in Switzerland. If passed, new rules would require VPNs and messaging apps to identify and retain users' data.3 "This revision attempts to implement something that has been deemed illegal in the EU and the United States. The only country in Europe with a roughly equivalent law is Russia", said Andy Yen4, CEO of Proton.
We think that these proposed laws must be carefully scrutinized to ensure they don't create unintended consequences and shift the balance of power even further away from individuals.