The Privacy Revolution that never came
The problem is not that software developers are sleeping, it&#x27;s that most users do not care much and are not willing to pay for privacy despite saying it&#x27;s important for them. This might change when people actually realize what companies can and will do with their personal data and how easy it is to categorize, predict and manipulate people with only a little of their behavior data. Until then, people will just enjoy their free search engines, social networks, phone operating systems and will be content paying with their private data.<p>Some things are changing for the better though: Many people finally become a bit more informed about privacy, also thanks to the effort of journalists uncovering some of the biggest data scandals.<p>In addition, at least for EU citizens the situation should massively improve on May 25, 2018, as then the new EU data protection directive will come into force, which will significantly increase the rights of people to control how, when and by whom their data can be used. And with a maximum fine corresponding to 4 % of the worldwide revenue, companies will finally have some good incentives to be more careful with the data of their users.