{"id":112121,"date":"2021-04-20T18:46:39","date_gmt":"2021-04-20T18:46:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heymuse.com\/?p=35915"},"modified":"2021-04-20T18:46:39","modified_gmt":"2021-04-20T18:46:39","slug":"use-privacy-oriented-messaging-apps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/2021\/04\/20\/use-privacy-oriented-messaging-apps\/","title":{"rendered":"Use Privacy-Oriented Messaging Apps"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Michele Ursi<\/a>\/Shutterstock.com<\/p>\n

The need to be informed about digital privacy<\/a> online is becoming something that has trickled down to the public domain. The era we live in right now, in the 2020s, is no longer just simply \u2018The Information Age\u2019. There are several interpretations as to what to call this era right now; the post-truth age, the post-privacy<\/em> age, the post-religious age etc. We live in an era of landmark, historical changes where technological devices and the internet have become such a big staple in our culture that we have reached a level of complete symbiosis and reliance on these concepts. On the other side of the coin, there has never been a more sensitive time for humanity, a time where everything from \u2018political correctness\u2019 to online privacy activism, distrust towards the government to rising issues with things like racism and teenage depression are taking place.<\/p>\n

Society is in trouble, yes, but so is our most important communications tool – the internet – and our relationship with it. More specifically, our relationship with the internet has been completely shattered due to the fact that we now know not to trust it. Why has this happened? It is enough just to mention what Edward Snowden has revealed about government surveillance and data gathering on citizens, which was not so long ago at all. On top of that, just think about the fact that dominant tech companies like Facebook and Google (to name a few) have faced several court cases. The internet is something we used to take for granted, but we know that \u2018big tech\u2019 and governments are the culprit for the turbulent state of internet privacy, and cybersecurity<\/a>. The last decade has marked a total break in our trust towards the internet, and the awareness of the privacy of our data has never been at a higher level. The result of all of this has opened the doors for a completely new privacy-conscious and cybersecurity-conscious industry where the end goal is protecting the internet user. This industry has produced privacy-oriented browsers, search engines and messaging apps that promise to protect the user from the bad guys.<\/p>\n

What is Digital Privacy And Why is it Important Today?<\/h3>\n

Digital privacy refers to the laws, organizations, directives, knowledge base and tools that apply to our rights concerning our digital data. The concept of digital privacy is not a new one at all, the foundation for modern day \u2018data\u2019 privacy laws has existed since the 1970s. As the internet gained influence over the world, these data laws would start to shift to an awareness of rights and laws surrounding our data on the internet. In 1983, the negative public opinion surrounding the invasive nature of a national census survey led to the Right of Informational Self-Determination law, for example. In 1995, with the internet already in force, an EU Directive on Data Protection was launched which promised some minimum standards surrounding data protection and the movement of data. The 2000s saw some new international privacy agreements such as the Safe Harbor Agreement, the Personal Data Privacy and Security Act and more recently the notoriously strict EU GDPR and California CCPA laws. Since then, several organizations and nonprofits that deal with privacy, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation<\/a>, have been launched as well. Why so much commotion over our privacy and all these laws? Well, since about 2015 the amount of data breaches, surveillance scandals and lack of transparency on the internet has completely changed public opinion on the internet and has forced many new bills and laws into action to try to reduce potentially dangerous consequences.<\/p>\n

Tips to Stay Private While Using Messaging Apps<\/h2>\n

Now, in an era of free speech, digital privacy is a critical topic when it comes to devices and the internet. Established tech giants that dominate the market share are losing ground, because they have failed to sustain the people\u2019s trust. For this reason, people are migrating away from mainstream software and products towards \u2018alternative\u2019 privacy-conscious choices that have become an entire industry at the moment. Google and Facebook own a huge share of the internet messaging services, social media and business apps. The problem is that these two companies have monopolized almost every big platform and popular app out there.<\/p>\n

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit digital privacy advocate, defines a list of criteria that, if applied, would define a correct privacy approach for a messaging app;<\/p>\n