In January, Facebook announced what it thought would be just another privacy policy update to its WhatsApp messenger app. Little did they know that less than a week later, mns of users would have abandoned the service in favor of Signal, a rival messaging app that touts privacy and security as one of its key features. In a world of ubiquitous internet surveillance, the backlash was surprising, and perhaps indicative of a growing scepticism towards the power of the world’s largest technology companies and their reach into our everyday lives.

Technology isn’t always a force for good. Whether we’re talking about the commodification of our personal data, the surveillance of our devices, or dangerous social media habits, our use of technology comes at a cost.

We’re not telling you to reach for the tinfoil hats: While we’re not particularly shy about complaining about the excesses of Big Tech, we’re not flying the flags for Luddism either. Sure, some of the ways in which the digital economy has intervened in our lives is downright creepy, but burning down the edifice — one of the greatest and most instrumental in human history, we might add — will never be the answer. Instead, keeping check on how we engage with the digital world, as consumers, professionals and businesses, will help us ensure that the internet remains a tool for personal advancement and not a vehicle for regression [/end soapbox].