The Curious 'Pivot To Privacy' Among The Tech Giants Of 2019

Recently, Mark Zuckerberg (he of the Cambridge Analytica scandal) published a new, “privacy-focused vision for social networking”.

- Benjamin Kerry & Gavin Lenaghan

FACEBOOK AND APPLE BOTH MAKING IT A PRIORITY

Change is afoot. After a year now infamous for a range of publically appalling data harvesting debacles, tech giants have taken a look at their practices and begun to change the way they approach data security and privacy. Or, to look at it another, more cynical way – tech giants have acknowledged our need for privacy, made more pertinent by how poorly they managed it in the past, and decided that this is how they can capitalize on it, from here on.

Zuckerberg now believes that “the future of communication will increasingly shift to private, encrypted services where people can be confident what they say to each other stays secure”.

In his blog, published on Facebook’s ‘Notes’ page on March 6, Zuckerberg acknowledges the damaged perception that people may have of Facebook, while articulating his understanding of what users desire from the service in the future. With overarching themes of security, privacy, and choice, Zuckerberg acknowledges that people are demanding change, and promises that Facebook is putting in place the steps to deliver it.

But Facebook is not alone in such a quest. Apple’s latest iPhone commercial focuses entirely on the many areas of everyday life where we already have a desire for privacy. “If privacy matters in your life, it should matter to the phone your life is on,” states Apple, ending the advert with the promise: “Privacy. That’s iPhone.” Whether or not this is true, and whether Facebook really is making a move towards greater personal data security and privacy, may not even necessarily be the biggest issue. The pressing question here, is why are the tech giants apparently becoming so active on the matter all of a sudden?

REGULATION IS ON THE WAY