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Don’t fall for privacy theatre

This is not the first time Google has tried to assure its users it is concerned for their privacy. Last
year, Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote an op-ed in The New York Times arguing that “privacy
should not be a luxury good.” And much like the bad faith arguments presented in that op-ed,

Google’s new VPN is nothing more than an attempt to pacify users into a false sense of privacy.

Unfortunately, there is still a large learning curve when it comes to VPNs. Many people don’t
know how they work or how they protect privacy. Google appears to be counting on users ’
ignorance. Many people may use Google’s VPN thinking they are protecting their privacy, when
in reality, it gives Google the ability to collect even more data on them.

But there may be one positive thing about Google’s desperate entry into privacy tech: they know
the tide is turning. The demand for privacy is growing, and despite what Google wants, the future
will be more private. As internet users, we deserve the right to privacy because it is the foundation
for a healthy society and functioning democracy.

Make no mistake, despite what they might claim, Google’s VPN is an attack on internet
privacy. What we need is not an internet that puts Google first, but an internet that puts people
first, and puts people in control over their data. We can all take a step toward this better internet by
saying ‘No ’to Google VPN.

Raspberry Pi 400: A computer for the coronavirus age?

A whole computer contained in a keyboard - just connect it to a monitor and you are ready to go.

It sounds like an idea from the 1980s. Remember the ZX Spectrum, the Commodore Amiga or the
BBC Micro?

Well, the 2020 version is the Pi 400. It's the latest product from Raspberry Pi, the organisation
founded to get children coding.

And the £67 device - or £95 with a mouse and cables - may help answer the challenge of getting
cheap computing to youngsters affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

The idea, says the organisation's founder Eben Upton, is to mirror the simplicity of those 1980s
devices.

"It gets into your life as a utility device, as a thing that you buy to do your schoolwork or play
games on," he explains.
"But it's bundled with everything that you need and it kind of sidles its way into your life."

With sales of 36 million since its launch in 2012, Raspberry Pi is already the best-selling British
computer ever made.