How to validate the Privacy-First claims of MeWe?
One purpose of having the Exemplars of Humane Technology category is to monitor in which ways the exemplar adheres to humane tech, and discuss where things can be improved.
In this regard Nick Bell posted this to the Solid forum:
“MeWe has not earned trust yet - it’s easy to say you’re pro-privacy but confirmation requires endorsement either with time or critical analysis of source code.”
A good point. And some follow-ups:
"What exactly does MeWe need to do to satisfy your concern that it is pro-privacy? Should it submit to an independent audit? Should it publish its source code? Should open data models be the one ones acceptable for online businesses that promise to protect one’s data?" by Frank Bajak
“It is hard for any company to take a convincing position on privacy, or anything else. How can they be held to account? We’ve seen time and again how over time users offered one thing end up being caught with another. It’s a tricky problem for companies and users. Companies can gain trust in various ways, but it is right that we should not rely on words alone.” by Mark (the Webalyst)
Not giving any opinion, but it is worth investigating the privacy-first claims in more detail.