2021 Startpage End of Year letter
Dear Privacy friends,
As the year comes to an end, we want to thank you for searching with Startpage in 2021, and protecting your privacy!
Covid again kept us close to home and our increased online activities created new privacy challenges. Suddenly we are willing to provide medical data and show QR codes.
It doesn’t mean privacy is any less important to people. It just means people need to exercise their personal judgement and instinct more about where they draw the line at how far society can intrude into our affairs. Privacy is a question of power – yours, vs. the government’s and the power of the Big Tech corporations.
Privacy awareness continues to rise, and consumers worldwide are demanding better protection of their personal information. It is safe to say that privacy has achieved a critical mass that will keep pushing the issue to the forefront of the legal and technical developments and keep sparking broader social debates.
Privacy legislation has had a hard time keeping pace with the technical developments and public’s demand for higher privacy standards.
When the European Union introduced the GDPR in 2018, it ushered in a new era of data and online privacy protection, setting an amazing example on collection and use of personal data.
Startpage is proud to be a European company that fully complies with the GDPR, which turned into the new golden standard among data protection regulations.
New EU legislation, the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act “aim to establish a level playing field for businesses, in order to foster innovation, growth and competitiveness”. They intend to reign in the power of Big Tech and tackle illegal content, while further securing human rights. They are likely to be passed into law next year. The proposed E-privacy legislation is still work in progress and will boost the GDPR on specific privacy related topics. In the US the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) was adopted last year, the first privacy law of a similar scale. You can ask companies to access, delete and stop selling your data but will have to jump through some hoops to exercising those rights. While some of the bigger businesses have extended these rights to all Americans, many others will wait till Congress passes a federal privacy law, which is unlikely to happen anytime soon unfortunately. In China, the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) was recently adopted. On the outside it seems based on the GDPR, but this PRC’s equivalent mainly serves to increase Chines State control over data gathering tech companies in the interests of their national security. Unfortunately, Chinese citizens will continue to be among the most surveilled and censored on the planet.
In total over 130 countries already have data protection laws and regulations now, but there still is a lot of work to be done as there are way too many differences and nuances. The world needs a global organization that can help set a global gold standard for data privacy soon.
In the meantime Big Tech platforms will continue to roll out all sorts of big new ‘privacy policies and solutions’ in 2022, all in the name of transparency and consumer privacy and choice.
Much of it will prove to be blowing smoke in mirrors, in reality done for the benefit of their customers, the advertisers, and all the data they collect within their platforms.
Where privacy legislation is important, offering high quality privacy respecting alternatives to everyday online tools may be even more important to make a privacy impact.
Startpage was the first to recognize the dangers of storing personal search data and blazed the trail for private search as early as in 2006. In June we celebrated 15 years of Startpage!
Transparency and trustworthyness have always been important to us. A clear and no-nonsense privacy policy and steady privacy course providing you the highest quality search results in optimal privacy have been our trademarks. Over those years, we have realized many privacy innovations and we couldn’t have done it without you, our loyal Startpage customers and fans.
Also in 2021 our dedicated teams of privacy professionals worldwide continued adding appealing features while further spreading the story of privacy. Here’s a roundup of some of the past year’s more exciting developments:
- Further speed increase, especially for low bandwidth connections.
- Anonymous View: Improved performance. (Visit search results in private by clicking on the blue mask in front of the results.)
- Private Weather: Receive weather forecast and additional weather information by searching for “location + weather.”
- Private Language Translator: Translate in text in private by typing “translate” into the search bar.
- Private Stock Search: Keep up with stocks in private by searching “full name of the company + stock.”
- Private Calculator: Make calculations in private by typing “calculator” into the search bar.
- Private Currency Converter: Trigger the currency converter feature by typing “USD to EUR” into the search bar.
- Private Time Converter: Compare time zones in private by searching “time x to time y.”
- Private Maps: Check out maps in private by typing “location + map.”
- Private Package Tracker (only DHL): Track any DHL package by typing “DHL + tracking number” into the search bar.
- Private Dictionary (only English): Look up any definition by typing “define x.”
- Many new partnerships, like with the privacy friendly Volla phone or Ivacy VPN etc.
For 2022 we will continue on our mission to help you protect your privacy. Privacy can be regained in many places and Startpage will expand beyond our current private search and browsing products.
I am excited to let you know we will be taking privacy protection to a whole new level with the launch of a new product in early 2022. Please stay tuned as it’s just one of the many things we expect to bring to you in the new year. By choosing Startpage you are making a vote. In favor of privacy centric services, and against data hunger from Big Tech companies. Please tell your friends about us!
Let me end with a recent quote from a Startpage user:
“Startpage search is second to none. I always find what I seek in seconds, whether a site, image, or video. And the assurance that my data isn’t being scraped, mined, or sold – well, it’s search the way it should be. Startpage does what it says on the tin. Fast, accurate, and private.”
This humbles us but re-enforces what mission we are on. Please keep sending in your thoughts, suggestions and idea’s, it helps us decide where to go next to best protect your privacy in the future.
Wishing you and your loved one Happy Holidays and a safe and healthy 2022!
In Privacy,
Robert E.G. Beens
CEO Startpage
Robert E.G. Beens is the Co-Founder and CEO of Startpage and , and a recognized privacy expert and advocate. At Startpage, Beens oversees operations, product development, technology, and finance. He is also a commercial airline pilot with Netherlands-based airline KLM. He earned his Master’s degree in Corporate, Social & Economic Dutch Law from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands.
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