all-in-one privacy solution":["Proton Unlimited is een all-in-one privacy-oplossing"],"Black Friday":["Black Friday"],"No ads. Privacy by default.":["Geen advertenties. Standaard privacy."],"People before profits":["Mensen vóór winst"],"Security through transparency":["Veiligheid door openheid"],"The best Proton Mail ${ BLACK_FRIDAY } deals":["De beste ${ BLACK_FRIDAY }-deals voor Proton Mail"],"The world’s only community- supported email service":["'s Werelds enige door de community ondersteunde e-mailservice"]},"specialoffer:limited":{"${ hours } hour":["${ hours } uur","${ hours } uur"],"${ hoursLeft }, ${ minutesLeft } and ${ secondsLeft } left":["Nog ${ hoursLeft }, ${ minutesLeft } en ${ secondsLeft } resterend"],"${ minutes } minute":["${ minutes } minuut","${ minutes } minuten"],"${ seconds } second":["${ seconds } seconde","${ seconds } seconden"],"Limited time offer":["Aanbieding beperkt geldig"]},"specialoffer:listitem":{"Create multiple addresses":["Maak meerdere e-mailadressen aan"],"Hide-my-email aliases":["Hide-my-email-aliassen"],"Quickly unsubscribe from newsletters":["Meld u eenvoudig af voor nieuwsbrieven"],"Use your own domain name":["Gebruik uw eigen domeinnaam"]},"specialoffer:logos":{"As featured in":["Zoals te lezen in"]},"specialoffer:metadescription":{"Get an encrypted email that protects your privacy":["Kies voor beveiligde e-mail die uw privacy beschermt"]},"specialoffer:metatitle":{"Proton Mail Black Friday Sale - Up to 40% off":["Proton Mail Black Friday Sale - Tot 40% korting"]},"specialoffer:newmetadescription":{"Get up to 40% off Proton Mail subscriptions this Black Friday. Find great deals on our secure end-to-end encrypted email plans.":["Profiteer tijdens Black Friday van wel 40% korting op Proton Mail-abonnementen. Bekijk geweldige aanbiedingen voor onze veilige, end-to-end versleutelde e-mailabonnementen."]},"specialoffer:newmetatitle":{"Proton Mail Black Friday sale | Up to 40% off secure email":["Proton Mail Black Friday Sale | Tot 40% korting op veilige e-mail"]},"specialoffer:note":{"* Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first year":["*U betaalt ${ TOTAL_SUM } voor het eerste jaar"],"*Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first 2 years":["*U betaalt ${ TOTAL_SUM } voor de eerste 2 jaar"],"30-day money-back guarantee":["30 dagen niet-goed-geld-terug-garantie"],"Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first 2 years":["U betaalt ${ TOTAL_SUM } voor de eerste 2 jaar"],"Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first year":["U betaalt ${ TOTAL_SUM } voor het eerste jaar"],"You save ${ SAVE_SUM }":["U bespaart ${ SAVE_SUM }"]},"specialoffer:off":{"${ PERCENT_OFF } off":["−${ PERCENT_OFF }"]},"specialoffer:testimonial":{"I love my ProtonMail":["Ik ben fan van ProtonMail"],"My favorite email service":["Mijn favoriete e-mailservice"],"Thanks Proton for keeping us all safe in the complicated internet universe.":["Proton houdt ons allemaal veilig in het complexe internetuniversum."],"You get what you pay for. In the case of big tech, if you pay nothing, you get used. I quit using Gmail and switched to @ProtonMail":["Je krijgt waarvoor je betaalt. In het geval van Big Tech betekent 'gratis' dat je wordt gebruikt. Ik ben gestopt met Gmail en overgestapt op @ProtonMail"]},"specialoffer:time":{"Days":["Dagen"],"Hours":["Uur"],"Min":["Min"]},"specialoffer:title":{"And much more":["En nog veel meer"],"Safe from trackers":["Beschermd tegen trackers"],"Stay organized":["Blijf georganiseerd"],"Black Friday email deals":["Black Friday-deals voor e-mail"],"Don’t just take our word for it":["U hoeft ons niet te geloven"],"Make your inbox yours":["Maak uw inbox van u"],"Our story":["Ons verhaal"],"Transfer your data from Google in one click":["Zet uw gegevens van Google over met één klik"]},"specialoffer:tooltip":{"Access blocked content and browse privately. Includes ${ TOTAL_VPN_SERVERS }+ servers in ${ TOTAL_VPN_COUNTRIES }+ countries, connect up to 10 devices, access worldwide streaming services, malware and ad-blocker, and more.":["Bekijk geblokkeerde inhoud en surf privé. Met ${ TOTAL_VPN_SERVERS }+ servers in meer dan ${ TOTAL_VPN_COUNTRIES } landen, verbinding met maximaal 10 apparaten, wereldwijd toegang tot streamingdiensten, malware- en advertentieblokkering, en meer."],"Easily share your calendar with your family, friends or colleagues, and view external calendars.":["Deel uw agenda eenvoudig met uw familie, vrienden of collega's, en bekijk externe agenda's."],"Includes support for 1 custom email domain, 10 email addresses, 10 hide-my-email aliases, calendar sharing, and more.":["Ondersteuning voor 1 aangepast e-maildomein, 10 e-mailadressen, 10 hide-my-email-aliassen, gedeelde agenda's en meer."],"Includes support for 3 custom email domains, 15 email addresses, unlimited hide-my-email aliases, calendar sharing, and more.":["Ondersteuning voor 3 aangepaste e-maildomeinen, 15 e-mailadressen, onbeperkt hide-my-email-aliassen, gedeelde agenda's en meer."],"Manage up to 25 calendars, mobile apps, secured with end-to-end encryption, 1-click calendar 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for?":["Niet gevonden wat u zocht?"],"General contact":["Algemene contactgegevens"],"Get help":["Krijg hulp"],"Legal contact":["Contactgegevens voor juridische zaken"],"Media contact":["Contactgegevens voor media"],"Partnerships contact":["Contactgegevens voor partnerschappen"],"Reading":["Lezen"]},"Support Form Platform option":{"VPN for Android TV":["VPN voor Android TV"],"VPN for Apple TV":["VPN voor Apple TV"],"VPN for Chromebook":["VPN voor Chromebook"]},"Support troubleshooting":{"App version":["App-versie"],"Browser":["Browser"],"Check if this helps":["Kijk of dit helpt"],"Choose a product":["Kies een product"],"Did this solve your issue?":["Heeft dit uw probleem opgelost?"],"Faster assistance is just a few clicks away":["Snellere hulp is met een paar klikken geregeld"],"How can we help?":["Hoe kunnen we helpen?"],"No, contact support":["Nee, contact opnemen met ondersteuning"],"Please fill out one field after another":["Vul de velden achter elkaar in"],"Please make your 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The worst privacy washing of 2023 and trends to expect in 2024 | Proton
The biggest new threat to privacy in 2023 wasn’t any surveillance program. It was the false advertising Big Tech companies use to trick people into thinking their products are private.
Like oil companies claiming fossil fuels are “green”, Google, Apple, Microsoft, and others increasingly try to convince people their surveillance-based advertising models are “private” when they’re not. This sneaky marketing practice is known as privacy washing(nieuw venster).
We expect this trend to increase in the coming years, and it’s important for everyone to understand the reality that surveillance capitalism is incompatible with privacy.
Three factors are pushing privacy washing to new extremes:
The increasing consumer demand for online privacy
Stronger privacy regulations around the world
Pressure on ad revenue because of ad blockers and other privacy-protecting technologies
These are headaches for Big Tech, and they’re not going away. Their only response so far is to offer the illusion of privacy while continuing to profit off your personal information.
Because being alert to these strategies is one of the best ways to protect yourself from new forms of data collection and manipulation, we devoted multiple articles last year to exposing privacy washing. Let’s look at some of the biggest privacy-washing stories of 2023. Then we’ll consider some new trends we might see in 2024.
Privacy washing year in review
2023 was the year of privacy washing. We worked to expose some of the most egregious examples.
Google branded a tracking tool as ‘enhanced ad privacy’
Google Chrome is the most popular browser in the world, and the company uses it to monitor what you do online. Last year, Chrome rolled out a feature(nieuw venster) that claimed to offer more privacy. Instead, the feature just gives Google exclusive rights to collect your data. By branding this as a privacy feature, the company is trying to redefine privacy as “no one can track your data — except us”.
Then Google brought the same ‘feature’ to Android
Just like the Chrome ‘ad privacy’ feature, the Android version(nieuw venster) blocks other apps from collecting your data while giving Google a surveillance monopoly. And once again, Google used dark patterns to force people to accept the change, turning the feature on by default with only a notification and a “Got it” button.
Apple’s iCloud isn’t as private as you think
Apple has a stronger reputation for privacy than Google, but that doesn’t mean Apple can’t see your personal information. Contrary to what you might think, Apple can see your photos, emails, calendar events, contacts, voice notes, messages, and many other categories of data by default. So much for “privacy, that’s iPhone(nieuw venster)”.
Facebook’s new Threads app is a privacy nightmare
Meta introduced a new Twitter-like app called Threads last summer, but anyone who signed up became subject to a surprisingly broad data collection regime(nieuw venster). Threads wasn’t even initially available in the European Union over concerns about regulatory compliance.
Google Chrome’s “fake” Incognito Mode led to a $5 billion lawsuit
In what is essentially a lawsuit contesting one of the original versions of privacy washing, plaintiffs say Google’s marketing of Chrome’s “Incognito Mode” amounts to wiretapping and a breach of contract, among other allegations. While assuring you can “browse privately”, the company in fact continued to monitor people’s browsing, the lawsuit claims(nieuw venster).
Google’s lobbyists reveal the company’s true values
In its marketing to you, Google says it values your privacy. But when talking to policymakers, Google’s lobbyists are pushing in the opposite direction, successfully arguing that more privacy would be an economic disaster. We found multiple examples of Google’s anti-privacy lobbying(nieuw venster).
IP Protection protects nobody
Taking another page from Orwell, Google marketed its new IP Protection feature as enhancing your privacy. Instead, once again, it just blocks other companies from tracking you while Google continues to spy on everything you do online. IP Protection offers zero privacy benefits, especially compared with a no-logs VPN(nieuw venster).
Privacy washing trends to watch in 2024
We’re already starting to see hints that we’ll be inundated with privacy washing again in 2024. Google and the other Big Tech players will continue introducing “privacy features”. But other companies will also try to muddy the waters to obscure their own exploitation of personal data, including automakers, internet service providers, and insurance companies.
Here are some of our predictions for this year.
New forms of data capture
The demand for data is only increasing because companies are building machine learning tools that require it. As companies move more of your communications behind encryption, they will race to develop new ways to track you, such as mining your conversations with AI chatbots or scanning your documents and photos(nieuw venster).
State-level privacy laws in the US will let Big Tech off the hook
Big Tech companies have invested tens of millions of dollars trying to push weak privacy laws through statehouses in the US. For them, this is preferable to a strong federal law comparable to the EU’s GDPR. We explained how surveillance tech companies are pushing to pre-empt democratic policymaking in our article about Google lobbying(nieuw venster), and the strategy seems to be working.
Your car will start privacy washing, too
Vehicles are trackers with wheels(nieuw venster). They have cameras, microphones, GPS, and other sensors — and there is very little privacy oversight. Many car manufacturers collect far more data than they could possibly need. For example, Kia’s privacy policy(nieuw venster) states the company collects information about your “sex life or sexual orientation”. As more people become aware of the ways their cars are spying on them, auto manufacturers will join Big Tech in the privacy washing game. Car insurance companies may also increase their use of privacy washing to hedge against privacy concerns. For example, Liberty Mutual(nieuw venster) tracks and shares your “predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes” with third parties.
‘Privacy control’ overload
Companies will roll out more and more privacy settings and push these options to you on all your apps and devices, asking you how you would like your data to be used. European regulators are already concerned(nieuw venster) about the way tech companies use dark patterns to bypass valid consent, and Google’s privacy settings are so confusing even employees couldn’t understand them(nieuw venster). By bombarding you with an avalanche of confusing “privacy choices”, tech companies are hoping you’ll simply agree to surveillance rather than invest time figuring it out.
People want real privacy
Privacy washing is a shameful form of false advertising that takes advantage of people. But the fact that companies are doing it is an indication that attitudes regarding privacy are changing. People are sick of sharing their private lives with corporations just to use the internet — one reason there is a growing movement of people learning how to deGoogle their lives (stop using Google services).
At Proton, we crossed a major milestone back in April when our community grew to over 100 million accounts. This is another indication that people are ready to give up the surveillance-based business model that has dominated the internet for almost 20 years.
Our revenue comes from community support, not advertising. And our apps, including Proton Mail, Proton Calendar, and Proton Drive, collect as little data as possible. Only you can see your emails, events, photos, notes, and other data. (The privacy disclosures in iOS speak for themselves.)
Stay tuned in 2024 for more articles exposing the worst privacy washing offenders. And consider switching to privacy-first tech to join our fight for a better internet.