Ask HN: Is there room for privacy-oriented tools (e-mail, productivity, etc..)? - jmstfv
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pcmaffey
Privacy is as much a feature as it is a business model (or reaction against
ad-based business models). The biggest question to consider is what will you
replace that business model with? And will people pay to use software they're
used to getting for free?

I'm not super confident the answer to #2 is yes. But that's the kind of market
research you should do before jumping in.

The other alternative is to follow in the path of Signal, make a free, open-
source alternative. Survive on grants and donations if you're lucky.

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mbrock
[https://dymaxion.org/essays/pleasestop.html](https://dymaxion.org/essays/pleasestop.html)

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Jtsummers
I submitted this here:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15534480](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15534480)

Thanks for introducing me to her essays.

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giancarlostoro
Yes especially well designed ones as far as UX goes. That means easy to use by
your friends mom and not sluggish based on network performance or application
performance. Definitely needed but it requires a bit of an investment on
development and implementation.

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miguelrochefort
What's up with the obsession with privacy on HN?

I'd rather see people work on ways to facilitate the transition to the
inevitable post-privacy world than see people waste time making crappy
"privacy-oriented" clones of existing tools.

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muzani
There appears to be a very big demand for a more private world, it seems. A
lot of people here do see what's under the hood and it's a natural reaction to
want to go back to the good old days when people respected privacy.

