Marleen Stikker sees our phone as the epicenter of today's geopolitical battle, but also as the most important tool for resistance. In times of threat of war, an autonomous phone, which does not have to satisfy the interests of powerful tech companies, is an essential part of everyone's emergency kit.
The international tension between big tech and political power is growing: Elon Musk is doing a victory dance as shadow president of the U.S., which in turn is pressuring Europe not to encroach on their comrade's digital domain with legislation. Meanwhile, the tech giants are also influencing European national elections with their support for radical right-wing parties rebelling against common agreements on the World Wide Web.
Founder and director of research institute Waag Futurelab, Marleen Stikker, worries about the future of our online autonomy if developments continue like this. The average Dutch person may think they have nothing to hide from these big companies, but the potential consequences of all the data your phone collects about you are incalculable.
What if, for example, information about women's last menstruation becomes important to see if they have had an abortion, and the latter suddenly becomes punishable? To combat the monopoly on our digital existence, Stikker is working with Waag Futurelab on Mobifree: a completely open-source, green software that doesn't rob your data.
Mobifree can not only provide the still missing alternative but also be the beginning of a new market for ethical technology based on public values rather than the revenue model of dominant Internet companies.
