When Mudita got off the ground a few years ago, we were looked at as an outlier. Many people said we were moving backward and not forward when it comes to technology. Even today, very often we receive comments on social media questioning our mission to create privacy focused technology. Those comments often include statements that there is no market for what we are doing.
However, over time, I believe it has become clear that after, countless scandals involving BIG TECH and their penchant for violating our privacy, more and more people are drawn to towards privacy-focused startups, like us.
I’m curious, when it comes to privacy & security, what was the catalyst that caused you guys to make from BIG TECH to more mindful tech services. It could be email, cloud-based storage or making a major switch, like buying Mudita Pure.
When it comes to privacy and security the catalyst that made me aware of the extent of Big Tech’s reach was probably the Snowden leaks of 2013. Before then there were always rumors of mass surveillance programs but to me those discussions were usually found in fringe corners of the internet or from highly partisan news sources.
My largest take away from that revelation wasn’t that the government was evil or that we should all fear Big Brother. Instead the leaks displayed the ubiquity of censorship, surveillance, and control within the tech environment. If the government didn’t collect data on you then it outsourced that function to the companies that provided mainstream services to the public. If anything people should be more concerned about the sheer scale corporate surveillance that is being undertaken before laws have had a chance to catch up to it.
Over the next few years the public has become more aware of just how much data and revenue is being generated off of their participation in this information ecosystem.
Some people want to escape the ever tightening clutches of censorship and control while others simply want to benefit more from the billions of dollars being captured by Big Tech.
In my opinion, the success of the Pure doesn’t solely revolve around Mudita’s ability to launch new hardware. Mudita is joining a small but growing community of companies that provide consumers a third option between the walled gardens of Apple IOS and Alphabet’s Android.
This in and of itself is a small victory that I hope will make people aware that they are truly being starved of options by a tech industry which portrays itself as being a gateway to near infinite opportunities.