Lesson 4: Proprietary vs. Open Source
Explores closed source and open source technology. Data security, private browsing, tracking.
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Explores closed source and open source technology. Data security, private browsing, tracking.
Last updated
Was this helpful?
Broadly speaking, there are two authorship types that most of the technologies we work with today are built on: closed source (also known as proprietary) and open-source.
Closed-Source/Proprietary Technology: Hardware, software, or systems for which the underlying source code is privately held information, known only by the owners of the technology software/hardware/system.
Open-Source Technology: Hardware, software, or systems for which the underlying source code is available to the public.
Most technology that we use today – most laptops (MacBook, ThinkPad, etc), smartphones (iPhone, Android, etc) – is created under the proprietary model, for the end goal of profit. When products or services are created for profit, the companies that develop those technologies employ many steps to ensure that they are able to maintain control over these technologies.
When it comes to creating software, one of the ways developers exercise control is by producing what is known as “closed source” software. This means that the core development “source” code is not released to the public. Instead, what is released a “compiled executable version” which is not easily copied or modified by the general public, because the “complied” version is only a part of the whole code. Examples of software that fits this definition are the suite products produced by Microsoft, Apple, Google, Adobe, Samsung and the majority of the services we use when we interface with technology today. When a corporation produces a product or service for profit, publishing “closed source” is one of the best ways to protect their digital assets from being exploited.
However, as discussed earlier, most of these proprietary systems come with gaping vulnerabilities from a privacy perspective that end users like you and I need to be aware of and concerned about. These vulnerabilities come in many forms, from explicitly stated backdoor access to your operating system (ie: access to your ‘private’ user data and metadata which you permitted when you accepted the software user agreements) to lesser known, unpublished “back-doors” or “master keys” that can be used to effectively “access all areas” of your mobile, personal or business devices
To understand just how broad this access is, think beyond instant messages, phone records, contacts, email and search history, and think of access to keyboard strokes, screen-captures, microphone and video access, user logs, etc, etc, etc. This is the reality of the world we live in today.
The primary difference between Open Source technology and Closed Source, Proprietary Technology is this:
With closed-source technology, public users cannot access knowledge about vulnerabilities or negative privacy implications related to the system. This information is only available to the developers and corporations that have developed the technology.
With open-source technology, any vulnerabilities or negative privacy implications are fully visible and transparent in the publicly published source code.
Furthermore,
with closed source software, there is a high degree of certainty that developers of those systems are harvesting your metadata. The reason for this? Corporations have a private interest in your metadata because of the profit potential that that data holds for them.
Open sourced technology projects, on the other hand, because they are not developed for corporate gain, have no incentive to gather your metadata and therefore rarely do. Even if open-sourced systems request your metadata when you use their technology, you will most likely have the option to 100% opt out.
Finally, good news! There are a number of hardware / software solutions that are presently in development that rely 100% on open source hardware and software components It is possible today to do almost all typical business tasks, most things that a home user would want to do, and even complex operations like 3-D animations and deep data analysis, using open-source packages that were not developed for profit and have no motive to spy on you. Although some of these solutions are complex to implement and beyond the scope of this training, it is encouraging to know they are out there and developing in their sophistication to match the scale of this problem.
Hardware
Operating Systems
Software
Additional Resources
Privacy Tools
Free and Open Source Software
(can be run on a Flash drive)
– MS Office replacement
– Password Manager
– Tech Crunch article
- Wall Street Journal article
