![]() ![]() Big business was often in bed with Moscow, but that is no longer the case. It has also signalled to energy majors like BP and Shell that it is time to divest from Russia, writing off billions from their balance sheets. The decision has sent the rouble into a free fall. Who would have thought, for instance, that a Social Democratic Chancellor of Germany would pull the plug on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline? Or that Italy, Hungary and Cyprus would go along with the decision to cut off Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system? Or that the European Union and the US would go as far as sanctioning the Russian Central Bank and freezing a good chunk of its foreign reserves held in the West? And it has also united Europe against it and even its “friends” have fallen in line. The attack against Ukraine has brought Russia closer to a pariah state status: a North Korea in Europe’s east, if you will. The summit the two presidents held back in June 2021 even ended on a relatively positive note. United States President Joe Biden too, though hardly a fan of Putin’s, thought cooperation was desirable and possible in areas such as strategic arms control and even cybersecurity. ![]() In 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron thought a strategic dialogue with Moscow was in order. Hostilities never really ceased since the peak in 2014-2015, and people regularly got killed, but so long as the Minsk accords were in place, the likes of Germany and France had a handy diplomatic fig leaf.Īnd not to forget, Western leaders were talking, however cautiously, about engagement with Russia. The conflict in the Donbas region of Ukraine had become “Europe’s forgotten war”. Yes, leaders opposed the landgrab rhetorically but thought it was a done deal. The West had more or less swallowed the annexation of Crimea. The opposition was muffled, with Alexey Navalny locked up and his organisation largely neutered. The startup company Hu-manity launched the #M圓1 app and claims to give users legal control over their personal data with an ownership title.Up until February 24, Vladimir Putin had it good. Knowing how the stakeholders operate and how they store stolen data is key to fighting back.įigLeaf isn't the first program hoping to affect change in the way of internet consumer privacy and data. "Whenever you go online, most of the websites implement 80 trackers."įigLeaf's product stands out amongst potential competitors in the privacy space in how the team gathers the intelligence, Dvoinos explained. "We protect the connection and remove all the trackers," Dvoinos said. "In an environment where you are completely surveilled, you would definitely change your behavior, and if you apply that analogy to the online world, this is exactly how the world is structured right now," Dvoinos said.įigLeaf's approach is to give users the best of both worlds: complete privacy and a regular online presence. The reason Dvoinos and Kolomeichuk started FigLeaf is summed up in the company's mission statement: When privacy is a choice, humanity is free. Based on that profile, companies make decisions about what you get to see online, what you don't see, and sometimes what you can purchase. According to Srivastava, when you browse a website, the site follows you to other websites and slowly creates a profile. Srivastava said that companies who take advantage of users and steal data benefit from users thinking that the issue of compromised private data doesn't affect them personally. These security violations can lead to account takeovers and other financial problems. You don't have another choice, and this is a very big problem."Įntities that track users and then experience data breaches can result in serious consequences for the end-user, according to Dvoinos. "If you think about it, the way the internet is structured, you have to give up your private data. "There is a very big reason privacy is in the headlines in most of the press throughout the world," Dvoinos said. It's similar to customizing your settings in any other app.ĭvoinos said the ability to fully protect personal data today isn't available, but he hopes FigLeaf can change that. The app lets you pick and choose which websites or companies can have access to your data by simply flipping a toggle. The user will perform any online transactions with the false account and in the event of a data leak, personal data is protected. Srivastava said that the company won't have access to the user's passwords.Īnother tool that FigLeaf will offer is a way to create a dummy-email account that connects to your real one. Srivastava said that companies in the business of stealing data count on users having the same passwords for multiple accounts.įigLeaf helps users construct more secure passwords, encrypts them, and can sync them across devices. ![]()
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