Defaults Matter: Why Privacy Should Be On, Not Optional

This week, the Electronic Frontier Foundation launched a campaign called Encrypt It Already. The core insight is worth understanding, regardless of which services you use: when privacy features exist but aren’t enabled by default, most people stay unprotected.

Not because they don’t care. Because they trusted the defaults.

Most People Never Change Settings

The research on this is consistent: most users accept default settings as reasonable choices already made on their behalf. When you sign up for a service, you expect it to work sensibly out of the box. You shouldn’t need to audit settings to stay safe.

This is why defaults matter more than features. A privacy option that 5% of users enable protects 5% of users. A privacy default protects everyone.

Features are what’s possible. Defaults are what actually happens.

The Pattern Worth Noticing

You’ll see this pattern across the industry: end-to-end encryption for backups exists, but it’s opt-in. Encrypted video feeds exist, but require extra steps. Private messaging modes exist, but aren’t the standard conversation.

None of this is inherently bad. Making powerful features optional can serve legitimate purposes. But when the optional path is the safer path, most people end up on the less safe one by accident.

If you care about privacy, it’s worth checking what your current services actually do by default — not just what they offer.

How We’re Thinking About This

At Abrio, we’re building privacy as the starting point, not a destination you navigate toward.

This means:

• Encryption isn’t an option you enable — it’s how the system works
• Privacy doesn’t require technical knowledge — the secure path is the only path
• You don’t need to trust that you configured everything correctly — the defaults already protect you

We think this is the right approach. You might still choose services where privacy is optional — that’s a reasonable tradeoff depending on what matters to you. We’re just building for the people who’d rather not have to think about it.

Learn More

The EFF’s Encrypt It Already campaign explains why defaults matter and what you can do to advocate for change. If this topic interests you, it’s worth a read.

And if you’re looking for cloud storage where privacy is built in from day one — not a setting you have to find — that’s what we’re making.