The recent closures of Google Reader and Catch have reminded me of the quote: “If you are not paying for it, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold.” Free services aren’t really free, we are just paying for them with our data instead of our money. If the “free” service can’t find a way to make money with our data, they turn into a pay service or disappear.
I was fortunate that both Google Reader and Catch allowed me to download my feeds and notes before they closed. I just had to spend the time to find replacements and transfer my data. Between these two closures and the revelations that world’s spy agencies are working really hard to monitor and record my data, I have decided that I would like to take back ownership of my data. Continue reading “Take back the data – Part 1”