Wake up, world: Freeing the Internet at South by Southwest

When future generations look back at 2016, what will they think? Will we remember this year as a moment in an age of unprecedented connectivity where humanity took great strides in creativity, freedom and individual expression?

Or, more likely, will we look back and wonder why the vast majority of us were sleep-walking, carelessly accepting the erosion of our liberties and privacy?

Unless we make a stand today, I fear it’ll be the latter.

I grew up in East Germany under the constant watch of the Stasi. My experiences during that time of my life means I know exactly what it’s like to live under the oppression of a surveillance state. Although many people in the Western world, at least, feel such times are behind us, the sad truth is that we’ve never been closer to that same point since fall of the Berlin Wall.

In fact it’s probably going to be much worse.

But no longer are nation-states singularly powerful in their pursuit of more powerful surveillance. Some of the biggest names on the Internet are happily cashing-in through the mass collation and selling of our private data. While doing so, these companies perpetuate the myth that, through digital connectivity, we’ve never had it so good. In fact, they even claim to have the public’s back in the battle against government surveillance, most recently during the debate over possible “back doors” to encryption technology.

In light of this fierce debate, on Monday, March 14th at 3 p.m. CT at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, Open-Xchange will be presenting the findings of the 2016 Consumer Openness Index, the second in an annual survey examining the web habits of Internet users in the U.S., Germany and UK.

We’ll be joined by a panel of privacy experts at the Passcode booth as we unearth the real truths of today’s online world at our Free the Internet Forum.

This year’s Consumer Openness Index turns the privacy debate on its head through the most thorough investigation and analysis to date.

A continuation of our initial report, launched at SXSW last year, we delve even deeper to see how Internet usage is evolving and ask users to explain their online behavior.

We’ll address key questions including:

• Are the “back doors” in encrypted networks proposed by governments ever justified?
• What impact will the outcome of the U.S. presidential election have on the Internet freedoms of Americans?
• In Europe, what’s the next step towards an open future following the invalidation of Safe Harbor?

Sure to be a highlight of this year’s schedule at SXSW, make sure to put the date in your calendar today. Likewise, if you’re at the convention and interested in setting up a meeting with us at the show please reach out to ox@harvard.co.uk.

In the meantime, if you want to get ahead of the debate, it’s worth checking out a copy of the 2015 Consumer Openness Index to understand just how far businesses and governments have already crossed the line over what we consider “acceptable” use (and abuse) of your data online.

Join us in Austin to see if you agree.

Rafael Laguna is chief executive officer of Open-Xchange. Follow him on Twitter @rafbuff.