Apache: Big Data 2015

Data from users is needed to build great products. Google, Facebook, Doubleclick would not be able to offer their services unless they had tons of data.

Cliqz is no exception, it needs massive amounts of query-logs, browsing patterns, etc. to build its search engine and phishing protection. Such data is also collected by other search engines like Google, Yandex and Bing. Industry standard is to send raw data and sanitize and filter out at the 'backend', however, this approach implies absolute trust on the company's good intentions, more so there is always a risk of a data-breach or a government subpoena.

Cliqz developed a framework called 'Human Web' that combines algorithms and an open infrastructure to collect data in an anonymous way by removing any trace of user identifiability. The 'Human Web' will be open-sourced to encourage others to collect user's data in a safer manner.