The search engine Google and the social network Facebook enjoy a virtual monopoly in their field. What do they have in common? They massively collect the personal data of their users for advertising purposes. But some "irreducible Gauls" want to build a more ethical web. Among them, Qwant, Lilo and even Whaller promise privacy services.
"Big Brother is watching you". Like George Orwell's famous 1984 novel, Google and Facebook seem to know everything about their users. Age, sex, center of interest, sexual orientation... So much personal data massively collected by the two American giants for advertising purposes. Against the grain, a handful of French companies want to combine innovation and respect for privacy.
“Our digital life should respect our individual freedoms. We must no longer try to do like the big Internet: we have to do it differently, ”insists Thomas Fauré, president and founder of the social network Whaller, a startup with 10 employees.
Launched in 2013, this “made in France” platform guarantees data protection. “We do not use any data for commercial purposes. In addition, we do not sell them to third parties ”, specifies this engineer by training. All without any advertising. However, Whaller, who says he is close to balance, generated a turnover of 500,000 euros in 2017 and aims to spend the million this year.
The social network offers two offers: free access, devoid of certain functions, and paid access between 20 euros to 1950 euros excluding tax per month. Because the company mainly targets organizations, public or private. The social network is thus used by HEC, Mc Donald's or Action contre launger. In total, the startup claims just under 200,000 users - for comparison, 2.13 billion internet users use Facebook worldwide.
Break the monopolies
Whaller's users are spread across 8,000 networks - its great feature. Indeed, the social network operates by closed spheres. Thus, it is possible to create a network for his family, his colleagues or even his association. The user can therefore share an evening photo with friends, without his colleagues being aware of it. "We allow to have a multiplicity of networks, which do not mix - as in our real life finally", underlines Thomas Fauré. In total opposition to the initial philosophy of the web, which argued for an open internet.
“The open Internet has been the best breeding ground for monopolies. Today, our web belongs to the American GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon) and to the Chinese BATX (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi) ", indignant Thomas Fauré. “It is necessary to break the monopolies and give back its place to innovation. To make quality, we must find security in the tools we use, because we have completely lost control of large platforms. With the underlying idea that the Internet user must have greater control over his private life.
Being aware of your power as a user is also Lilo's mantra. This search engine, which has a dozen employees between Paris and Nantes, was created in 2015. His observation: "Thanks to its queries on the Internet, each internet user generates on average 30 euros of income from search engines," claims Clément. Le Bras, co-founder and director of the startup. It is therefore he who should have the power! », And in particular have a right of inspection over the destination of the money generated.
Promote an ethical web
Lilo donates 50% of its turnover to social-environmental projects. With each search, the user wins a drop of water, saved in a virtual kitty. He then reverses them among the more than 130 projects available on the platform.
Since its creation, the startup has already collected almost 665,000 euros ... While managing to be profitable since 2016, just one year after its creation. How to explain such a model? “This especially raises the question of Google's margins!” Retorts Marc Haussaire, technical director and co-founder of Lilo. The flagship of Silicon Valley achieved global sales of $ 100.9 billion for net profit of $ 12.6 billion in 2017.
“We are not in a race for growth. Our aim is not to generate profit, but to have a positive impact, ”continues Marc Haussaire.
The promotion of an ethical web also requires respect for privacy. Thus, Lilo undertakes not to collect, use or resell the data of its users. IP addresses, allowing the identification of a computer, are anonymized. These arguments have already convinced nearly 680,000 users - with a rate of 4,000 new users per day.
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