The Internet and the illusion of free services

The Internet has undoubtedly changed our lives, and to list its merits and benefits would take tens of thousands of words, but it has also offered us the illusion of being able to use certain services without paying anything. These range from news to social networks, from video platforms such as YouTube to digital assistants such as Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri, all the way to maps that guide us anywhere in the world and e-mail services. All we have to do is sign up and we will be able to access them “for free”; but it matters little whether they are giants like Google, Microsoft, Facebook or some smaller company, in any case we pay the cost of these services with our data. Sometimes with a simple tracking of our preferences, sometimes with the collection of more personal data: everything has a value in the virtual world. Already, because the Internet is also the world’s largest marketplace and its most valuable asset, is precisely the user data that is profiled. What do we like? What are our interests? What do we purchase? What posts have we put a Like on? All this information, even if it does not show our first and last name, is valuable for sending us targeted advertising and can be resold because it is a key commodity for thousands of companies. A limit to the collection of information that can be exploited for advertising purposes and the violation of privacy has been clearly defined by the European GDPR regulation, but the biggest flaw in this system is us. When we sign up for a free online service, we hardly read the many pages of the terms of the contract all the way through, and all too often we consent to data processing.

Basic services or not?

Of course, most of these services are surplus and we may well decide not to use them, but e-mail is an essential tool. GMail, Microsoft Outlook, Yahoo and many other similar services, are free (at least up to a certain storage limit) and all (with rare exceptions), profile our data. To realize this, let’s take one at random, for example Outlook, and go into the settings under “Ad Preferences” to see what we are talking about. Obviously, if we only use email to organize the soccer game with friends or to invite our soul mate to dinner, we will care little about “profiling”: at most we will see some ads for sportswear or recommendations for a new restaurant appear, but when it comes to email for our business the matter is quite different and it is better to be careful.

Free professional emails? No thanks!

In addition to the issue related to data profiling, presenting a customer with a free domain email is unprofessional. Instead, let’s think about a comprehensive address that can distinctively qualify us as info@nomeazienda.it. Next, let’s think about security and reliability: who can assure us that less emblazoned email services are truly secure from a privacy standpoint, plus let’s not forget that our data is dependent on the provider of the mailbox with the risk that the service could be shut down or limits imposed. Another factor to take into serious consideration, regardless of whether we use an email provided by a web giant or a small provider, is the lack of quick and personalized assistance to solve any problems. Finally, the last thing to consider carefully, is that all these services offer us too little storage space for business use, particularly if we want to store all our archives on their servers. To increase the available space we will have to pay for a subscription, but at this point the question arises: isn’t it better to take advantage of a professional paid service that can provide everything we need in addition to quick support? Hypergrid provides various solutions regarding email: HyperGrid SecureMail uses encrypted connections that guarantee confidentiality and security in email communications in addition to antivirus control of all mail in transit and spam reduction. The service can be tailored to each client’s needs with automated management of mailing lists and allowed attachments, automatic replies, aliases and automatic message forwards. Not only that, HyperGrid’s technical staff, is available 24H to provide rapid assistance. For those who need a legal mailbox there is HyperPEC a service that offers PEC box activation with 1 GB of space with unlimited traffic, antivirus, antispam. Finally, for companies working with large data traffic HyperGrid Mail Outpost is the solution that integrates transparently with existing e-mail servers and counteracts spam, phishing activities and viruses transmitted via e-mail. All services can be configured according to customer needs (both business and private) and of course you can set up your own custom domain.

For more information contact us at info@hypergrid.it