With 2023 over, and some time between now and the last update, it’s perhaps a good moment to reflect on what happened in 2023 and where the project is right now.

Achievements

Last year saw the closing of our grant from , who have been excellent partners for the past two years! I don’t think I can overstate how important this grant has been for our work.

In particular, a longer-running grant meant the focus could be more on actual research – trying things out and writing up the results – and less on implementation. Though of course, as always, we strive to do both.

In this case, it turned out that the research was necessary. While of course you start any grant work …

A few days ago, I made a social media post about Google vs. the Open Web. It received some responses, so I’ll reproduce it below with some additional comments.

Google is trying to kill the Open Web.

Using the proposed “Web Environment Integrity” means websites can select on which devices (browsers) they wish to be displayed, and can refuse service to other devices. It binds client side software to a website, creating a silo’d app.

Web Environment Integrity on GitHub

This penalizes platforms on which the preferred client side software is not available.

This is an issue for accessibility and inclusion, in particular when the reason the software is not available is tied …

The other day, I was asked by a friend what it is I’m doing with this project. He’s very much into following technological trends, but not a deeply technical person himself. That drove home yet again how hard it is to provide an “elevator pitch” summary of our work.

When I speak about a “human centric” Internet, what I mean is a digital place where human rights are protected, and human needs are met. Now most people will agree that this is a worthy goal, but almost certainly will still ask “so what do you mean by that?”

And that’s the problem.

Because what this means depends strongly on your own experiences. If I say “a place where …

A few days ago, I found myself attending a pitch by the Consumer Reports Digital Lab for their . At first glance, it’s a great idea! Give organizations a standardized interface for exercising your data rights, which means you can use a simple app to request what data is collected about you, have it deleted, etc. What’s not to love?

Turns out, there are some immediate concerns, and some longer-term, more vague issues that need addressing.

Background

A few years ago, the State of California passed their , which is now being implemented into law. It’s modelled somewhat similarly to the European Union’s , though there are also some differences between them.

Under these …