Mojeek: Now Ready for Your Calculations
Newsletter
Mojeek: Now Ready for Your Calculations
Dear Mojeek community,
In this newsletter we discuss our campaigning on competitive digital markets and users’ privacy rights, introduce you to the new Mojeek calculator, and have our regular tip for how to use Mojeek.
How the GDPR is Flouted and Dangerous Reforms
We wrote an article about the GDPR and the abuse that still occurs in digital advertising despite it. We summarise how the UK is seeking to diverge from the GDPR; on the one hand (ICO) seeking to curb these practices and on the other hand (DCMS) opening up the field for more abuse by proposing to drop “balancing tests” for some activities.
If you are reading this newsletter then you won’t be falling for 21st century propaganda about personal data. Nor will you have “bought the line that personal data, extracted and refined as AI makes you empowered and discerning, through “personalisation” and “targetting”, but we do think you will like this piece we wrote about personal and impersonal data.
Personal Data Industry: The New Tobacco?
“Data is the new oil”, said Clive Humby in 2006. Clearly it is not but the metaphor has some merits. It’s a new source of economic power. They both involve extraction, refinement and infrastructure. Both can be used to create many new, useful and sometimes toxic products. But whereas oil is finite and extracted from the earth, new data is always being generated and comes from many different sources. If we consider those sources we might helpfully classify them as of two types. Read more…
Big Tech Challengers Are Working Together
Recently we’ve been working, alongside other technology companies, as a part of three different coalitions, the Coalition for Competitive Digital Markets (#CompDM), Ban Surveillance Advertising (#Tracking Free Ads) and the Coalition for a Level Playing Field. In these we have been asking lawmakers, both in the European Union and further afield, to support choice for consumers by taking action against large companies which engage in anti-competitive practices.
At Mojeek we believe that consumers and businesses should have freedom to choose. With that freedom healthy and fair competition flourishes, and we all benefit. This is why we stand together with NextCloud and other challengers against the practices of Microsoft whose practices in search are highlighted here.
How Microsoft Sucks People In
The last big US antitrust case, started in 1998, saw Microsoft accused of using monopoly power to bully collaborators and squelch competitors. Now antitrust is back in fashion, and with most eyes on Facebook and Google, Microsoft are getting away with similar but more subtle ways of suppressing choice and competition. Read more…
How to Use the Mojeek Calculator
Recently we released the Mojeek calculator. This blog article outlines how you can use it to get quick answers to both basic and advanced queries. As with any new piece of functionality, it is possible that you spot something we haven’t; in which case, using the Feedback button at the bottom of the Results Page helps us to solve these issues and improve the Mojeek experience for everyone.
Mojeek Tip of the Month
By default Mojeek takes you to the webpage that you click on from the search results page via the same tab. If you’d prefer to keep the search results page open when visiting a link, you can turn on open in new tab via the Search Settings tab of your Mojeek Preferences, as explained in this post alongside other useful tips.
Check out our Blog for more content
No Tracking. Just Search…