PROPOSAL DESCRIPTION
Making invisible visible: how can we demonopolize online space?
Google paid 9,4 billion euros in fines for abusing its power and unfair monopoly practices in the past couple of years. Our project exposes the extent of Google's monopoly and its services in the online spaces. Many services owned by Google are invisible to the regular internet user and often disguised as harmless.
These practices allow for unstoppable data hoarding, which carries social, economic and environmental consequences. Many of the services are intentionally made invisible to further strengthen the ever-growing presence of Google in the online space. Hiding in plain sight and with the advantage of slow legislation, Google has effectively extended its reach, entrenching both the users and possible competition. In response, we created a tool called Googless that invites you on a journey to Google-free internet. While you browse the web, the tool obstructs, exposes, and explains all services implemented by Google. Since almost 75% of all websites in the world have implemented Google services, our tool makes web surfing almost impossible and, in the long run, probably annoying. Googless creates a utopian vision of the internet where extensive tracking by one overlord company is not possible. In line with our motto, "annoy into action!" we hope to bring politicians and legislators' attention to the inefficiency of current laws on unregulated tracking and abuse of power.
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