Preface

±3 min read, updated on 6/1/25

Picture this: 2024 was the last year when we were reliant on American technology. The last year when the snaps of our summer vacations and Christmas dinners were shared on Big Tech, frame by frame. The last year when we granted Meta and Google unlimited licenses to use those pictures as they saw fit, while we pretended we had no idea that our photos were swallowed up into plagiarism machines, face recognition data bases and other surveillance infrastructure.

The last year when all our email was sent via Google, and the last year when our government could not meet up without Microsoft. 2024 turned out to be the peak year for the Ring door bell, for X, the peak year for WhatsApp, before all those brands went downhill. Had we known, we could have truly enjoyed the nostalgia.

Impossible? In 1954 Roger Bannister, a British neurologist and athlete, ran the first sub-4 minute mile. A feat that scientists had always believed physiologically impossible. Over the next three years Bannister’s achievement was followed by no less than sixteen others. Imagination is powerful. And so are good examples. Sometimes you just have to do something to know that you are capable of doing it. Dream big and let yourself be amazed about what is actually possible.

Our dependence on Big Tech is not solved with a simple switcheroo, of course. Simply replacing the million smart Amazon doorbells in our streets by homegrown models does not mean the race is won. Just like shifting our reliance to Signal for confidential communications is not a solution either. But do steps like that augment the power of the general public and the autonomy of our society? Most definitely. To win a race you don’t need top-of-the-line running shoes – but you do have to lace up and run like there’s no tomorrow.

Let’s not use our dependence on Big Tech and the politics of spectacle in the United States as an excuse to ignore other issues closer to home. An upsurge in discrimination by the Dutch authorities, accompanied by more surveillance powers for those same authorities, to name a few. All against the background of a lack of political accountability and legislative bills that undermine a state under the rule of law.

Again, picture this: 2025 will be the year of change.

For 25 years Bits of Freedom has been committing itself to a just society. One of our main instruments is influencing legislation. We will continue to do so, but it is not enough. To put it bluntly: this government poses a risk to our state under the rule of law, and many government organizations and corporations care little about the law. Our resistance should grow, change, intensify. Reasons for Bits of Freedom to reinvent itself in this 25th milestone year. Our team is going through a process of growth and transformation, to enable us to campaign in new ways. This annual report gives you an overview of the goals we look forward to most. Plus, of course, our highlights and the chief developments in the past year. 2024: the olden days.

Bits of Freedom April 2024