As concerns about data privacy mount, American tech giants are facing a global backlash. In France, the government has announced plans to ditch Google as its default search engine, instead opting to use Qwant. How is the home-grown firm ensuring security and ‘digital sovereignty’?

After a group of media executives was outed for creating an abusive ‘boys’ club’ on Facebook, France has decided to crack down on internet laws. But this means pitting the right to privacy against the right to online safety – a choice that’s creating friction among French netizens.

From May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation will mean that if companies want to retain info from people in the UK and EU on their databases, they’ll need to persuade them to opt in. So, how can brands convince those who are protective of their privacy to tick the ‘sign me up’ box?

The GDPR rollout and Cambridge Analytica scandal have raised the public’s awareness of how their online data is used, abused, and profited from by brands. To help web users regain a sense of control over their personal info, Mozilla is helping them avoid trackers by default through Firefox.