Digital sovereignty
“Arguing that you don’t care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say.”
Edward Snowden – 2015
Knowledge and information is power
Today, an important part of humankind has an email account, uses social media or communicates via instant messages. Most of these services are apparently offered free of charge and in the hands of a handful of huge global technology companies often referred to as GAFAM (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft). Through the use of their services these companies handle an ever increasing amount of data and information through Big Data techniques. With this information they make huge profits. But not only this. They can also use this information to model human behaviour and consequently they can even manipulate thoughts, opinions and actions of the users of these services.
Digital sovereignty
The majority of us are not conscious about the amount of information and data we generate and give away – for free – when we use the services these corporations offer. But we have to bear in mind that when it’s for profit & for free, the price is us. Thanks to our data and information GAFAM becomes more and more powerful each day and we, as society, more exposed and vulnerable.
When it’s for-profit & for free, the price is you!
It is important for each of us to regain control of our data, those we generate with any action taken in the digital world. Until the ownership of personal data becomes a basic human right, we will have to fight to defend it from the interests of private corporations and power groups.
Quitting GAFAM: a personal experiment
This website analyses and explains why it is important to maintain or regain control over your data, preserve your data privacy and with this achieve your digital sovereignty. It offers you insights into the personal experiment of the author on the process of how to quit GAFAM and substitute all for-profit platforms and services with free software alternatives.
Repository of free software GAFAM alternatives
This website is under active development so, if you are interested in the topic, please stay tuned. If you prefer you can also subscribe to receive an e-mail notification when new articles are available.