In response to the issues of data privacy questions that have erupted in the aftermath of the Facebook-Cambridge Analytical scandal, a startup, FigLeaf, co-founded by CEO Slava Kolomeichuk and CRO Yuriy Dvoinos, is developing an app that will help users understand how their personal information has been affected.
The new app is slated for use across different platforms and will include features that allow users to control access to their private information.
“We want to empower users and give them the tools to have a choice to remain private online,” Dvoinos, who also serves as FigLeaf’s Chief Revenue Officer, told Download.com in the company’s first public interview about its plans, according to CBS News.
The 100 person team has been busy developing a viable solution to the privacy problem. According to the company website, “Privacy is a social necessity. This is what makes us different, interesting and hence, human. If we can provide people a choice to be private some of the time, we give them the opportunity to fully embrace their own creativity,” Slava said.
By scanning the dark web, the app is able to understand how much of the user’s personal data has been compromised. The app – still in BETA form and being tested – will reportedly provide users with the tools necessary to take back control of their data. Dvoinos told CBS News that even if a user chooses to remain completely private and not share any data, they should still be able to enjoy the internet.
“Right away, the customers can see how and what their exposure is like,” Pankaj Srivastava, FigLeaf’s COO and CMO told Download.com. “So when we think about the function for our privacy app, Figleaf, when we think about it and think one is first we need to understand how you are exposed. Next we need to secure that information.”