The Friday Chat
A few years ago, we published a blog post urging readers to ditch WhatsApp. Back then, the controversy centered on changes to WhatsApp’s terms of service that gave Facebook access to user data. A lot has happened since – and at the same time, disturbingly little. Time for a fresh look: Where do the major messaging apps stand on privacy in 2026? And which alternatives have actually proven their worth?
The Friday Chat
Do you remember the internet of the ’90s? The blinking GIF animations, guestbooks, hit counters and websites that looked like digital yard sale flyers? What was cutting-edge back then feels like a relic from another era today.
But the old web hasn’t vanished – it’s been archived. Projects like the Wayback Machine from the Internet Archive, the Digital Public Library of America and countless other digitization initiatives preserve what would otherwise be lost forever. They make digital time travel possible – and it’s equal parts fascinating, educational and entertaining.
VPNs are touted as a digital silver bullet: browse anonymously, work securely at a café, stream Netflix from abroad. Provider advertising makes it sound like you’re defenseless online without a VPN.
But is that really true?