Today is Data Privacy Day, an international holiday that raises awareness and promotes education for managing our personal information online. We celebrate this day every year, but its purpose has never felt as important for all Internet users as it does this year. In the 12 months since the last Data Privacy Day, the news has been filled with wave after wave of revelations on how governmental and commercial organizations have abused data privacy to conduct surveillance and track individuals’ activity across the Web.
The full extent of these abuses is still being revealed, but the collective impact is already clear: trust in the Web is suffering. We know that the Web can empower people across classes, cultures and languages, and create unparalleled opportunities for economic prosperity. But if people can’t trust what happens to their information and activity on the Web – whether on laptops, phones or other devices – they’ll be less inclined to engage with the Web at all, and go to great lengths to isolate their data. The resulting balkanization would irreparably harm the Internet, and have massive economic consequences.
All of that sounds pretty terrible, right? That’s why Mozilla is doing everything in our power to create a more trusted online environment, so the Web can continue to flourish. We do it by developing services like Lightbeam and features like Do Not Track. We do it by building transparent, open-source products like Firefox that our global community can verify is not being subverted for other means. We do it by encouraging online privacy education through Webmaker. And, we do it by working closely with legislators and encouraging political leaders to shift the legal and cultural environment towards openness.
To learn more about how Mozilla puts your privacy first, visit this site. Let’s work together to restore trust and build the Internet the world needs.