We define Tech We Trust as those technologies that are equitable and accessible, putting our autonomy, privacy and dignity first. We use ‘tech’ broadly to include hardware and software, networks and devices, storing and retrieving and computing and sending data, sensing and interacting with the physical world.
Trusting entails a belief that a person or thing worthy of trust ‘looks out’ for our best interests. Although we have learned to pick up and process signals from people regarding where best to place our trust, the same is not true for tech firms or the tech itself.
We believe everyone should be treated equally in terms of status, rights, and opportunities. As we define it, Tech We Trust is designed with due respect for equity, whereas Tech We Can’t Trust may well contribute to inequity.
See ➜ equity
Privacy encompasses more valued aspects of our lives than many people typically consider at first. One thing is certain however, those who design and sell technological products and services appear at best to have had too little regard for the privacy implications of their efforts, and at worst every intention to ride roughshod over them.
See ➜ privacy
Decentralization allows us to converse and cooperate with other people more directly, keeping our interactions, choices and movements private. We will still use familiar technologies such as our smartphones, but our data will no longer all go through the same few giants. Interestingly, it might be that the value of decentralization is only realised when many people express a preference for such services, in which case why would the first few make the jump?