Lucas does more research
When we last left our favorite 25-year old IT specialist, Lucas, he wasn’t feeling too hopeful. He had learned about the status quo of corporate data collection and felt powerless to stop it. But, he didn’t give up. He decided to educate himself more thoroughly on how the big players in Silicon Valley viewed their users’ privacy. He was especially interested in their responses to recent privacy legislation such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDRP).
“I had read dozens of articles about the subject but never got any information straight from the big tech firms themselves. I thought that maybe with the adoption of the CCPA and GDRP, they might have changed their tunes. So, I did something drastic. Something I’m not sure anyone else in the world did. I read through their updated privacy policies.”
Now that’s dedication to the cause! What did Lucas find after slogging through multiple privacy policies?
“It was certainly an improvement. At least now, they had to tell you what info they collect and broadly how they use it. But, they are still hoarding your personal information. You have to opt-out of most of it, and how many people do you see doing that? I had to put on a pot of coffee to get through these privacy policies. And I hate coffee! Most people I know just clicked “Accept” on the popup and kept going about their regular routines.”
Lucas found that even with the new regulatory frameworks in place, companies still frequently had access to information such as your stored files, contact networks, GPS locations, other websites visited, and third-party advertising data.
“They’re still watching you. They’re still developing their models of you to sell to advertisers or manipulate behavior.”
So, what now?
It was apparent to Lucas that waiting on the well-known tech companies to hop aboard the privacy train wouldn’t cut it. But what options did he have?
“Unfortunately, there aren’t any mainstream alternatives to the big players when it comes to social media. If I want to stay in touch with friends and family without resorting to an old-fashioned phone call, it’s tough. I recommend going into your account and digging into the privacy settings. Opt-out of what you can and just know that you’re analyzed continuously. With other applications, luckily, you fare much better.”
This is where Lucas and AXEL finally cross paths!
“I love to store and share files in the cloud. It’s so convenient to have all my important content wherever I need it. But I wasn’t impressed with the popular cloud storage services out there due to privacy concerns. And that includes their security features too. Because even if your privacy policy is decent, if you’re storing all my documents on an insecure server, it doesn’t really matter. So I looked into what else was out there that might better fit my needs. That’s when AXEL popped up.”
A perfect match
In part three of this blog series about Lucas’ journey, we’ll delve into what attracted him to our company and AXEL Go. Check back soon for an exciting conclusion about how AXEL strives to make the internet a better place for everyone.