Whether it's Facebook or Google or the other companies, that basic principle that users should be able to see and control information about them that they themselves have revealed to the companies is not baked into how the companies work. But it's bigger than privacy. Privacy is about what you're willing to reveal about yourself.
All over the world copyright holders are trying to limit consumers' rights. We cannot have that.
When I launched the development of the GNU system, I explicitly said the purpose of developing this system is so we can use our computers and have freedom, thus if you use some other free system instead but you have freedom, then it's a success. It's not popularity for our code but it's success for our goal.
The Internet eco-system should be such that users should not pay for Internet connection, content, or anything that is basic.
The idea of free software is that users of computing deserve freedom. They deserve in particular to have control over their computing. And proprietary software does not allow users to have control of their computing.
For me the core principles of privacy online are transparency, choice and control.
In China, the problem is that with the system of censorship that's now in place, the user doesn't know to what extent, why, and under what authority there's been censorship. There's no way of appealing. There's no due process.
Android is a major step towards an ethical, user-controlled, free-software portable phone, but there is a long way to go.
There are really two core principles at play here. There's giving people a voice so that people can express their opinions. Then, there's keeping the community safe, which I think is really important. We're not gonna let people plan violence or attack each other or do bad things.
Since the beginning of the internet era, it has been pretty widely accepted that when you join an online service, whatever data you put into it belongs to you.
There's the idea that people should be able to control how the information that they're giving to websites is used and monetized in a more clear and powerful way. That's something that probably will need government action.
Privacy is not an option, and it shouldn't be the price we accept for just getting on the Internet.
On first blush this looks to be about money, but it is about power. Is power going to go to the information monopolies, or will it go to developers and users?.
A user who essentially costs YouTube money has very little say. The way to have a say is to concretely support the creators and channels you watch directly by giving them money.
As a Facebook user, do I have control of the data Facebook keeps about me? Concretely: can I examine and modify that data using tools of my choosing which are built for my needs?
What is clear is that users own their data and should have control of how their data is used.
When we talk with policymakers about Facebook, it's about how users have control over information.
People's access to social media should not permanently be restricted.
People may be prepared to buy services from Apple and Amazon if they feel these companies do a good job, but we need to ensure that we can speak up when our content is used by other people for their profit. An activist amateur culture will constantly challenge and say, 'This is mine, you're not doing that with it.'
Reddit was created for people to speak freely and authentically and also for us to protect and value privacy. We're sort of the anti-Facebook in that regard.
For WhatsApp to become a privacy-oriented service, it has to risk losing entire markets and clashing with authorities in their home country.
We need a basic protection for people having access to their data and knowing where their data is.
With Tory privatisations in the past we've seen how service users can end up losing out and getting a raw deal.
People don't want to have their rights online violated. They want the freedom of the Internet.
The user in China wants the same thing that any Internet user wants - privacy in conversations, maximum access to information, and the ability to speak their minds online.
