Ravelry
I recently became interested in knitting. After all it appears in so many stories (not just webcomics like The Knit Princess. After I got into it, I was given the link to Ravelry. Ravelry is a social network whose purpose is to cater to people who enjoy knitting and/or crochet.
Finally, a social network that respects the privacy of its members. After the privacy scandals of Facebook and Google (two companies who break European data protection laws and treat members' data as their own personal resource).
It's hard to be 100% certain but the way that Ravelry is set up does fills me with confidence that they privacy seriously:
The privacy policy comes across as strong. I was still wary as I remember[1] reading about a Massachusetts court case a few years back where the judge said, in essence, that it doesn't matter what the privacy policy says, once you hand over your data it becomes the property of the organisation concerned.[2] It didn't help that Ravelry is based in Massachusetts.
I quickly did a search for articles about Ravelry. There wasn't much but I did get the impression from one comment that they may take privacy seriously.
I decided to take the risk and gave them my e-mail address. When I got to the account management page I was pleasantly surprised. Everything is set up to respect users' privacy. Unlike FB, Google, et al, you don't even need to give Ravelry your name. There's a box for first name but that's completely optional (as is any other piece of personal data). There are warnings in the house rules that members should respect other members' privacy.
From what I've seen, the other users come across as friendly. I now feel more enthused about my new hobby.
In short Ravelry is set up the way social networks should be set up.
[1] I admit my memory may be wrong on this.
[2] As opposed to the European approach, which is that your data remains yours so it's up to organisations to respect that.
Finally, a social network that respects the privacy of its members. After the privacy scandals of Facebook and Google (two companies who break European data protection laws and treat members' data as their own personal resource).
It's hard to be 100% certain but the way that Ravelry is set up does fills me with confidence that they privacy seriously:
The privacy policy comes across as strong. I was still wary as I remember[1] reading about a Massachusetts court case a few years back where the judge said, in essence, that it doesn't matter what the privacy policy says, once you hand over your data it becomes the property of the organisation concerned.[2] It didn't help that Ravelry is based in Massachusetts.
I quickly did a search for articles about Ravelry. There wasn't much but I did get the impression from one comment that they may take privacy seriously.
I decided to take the risk and gave them my e-mail address. When I got to the account management page I was pleasantly surprised. Everything is set up to respect users' privacy. Unlike FB, Google, et al, you don't even need to give Ravelry your name. There's a box for first name but that's completely optional (as is any other piece of personal data). There are warnings in the house rules that members should respect other members' privacy.
From what I've seen, the other users come across as friendly. I now feel more enthused about my new hobby.
In short Ravelry is set up the way social networks should be set up.
[1] I admit my memory may be wrong on this.
[2] As opposed to the European approach, which is that your data remains yours so it's up to organisations to respect that.