More secure communication, finding friends online
How the digital revolution is changing our lives – Part 8: Family and leisure
One place where you notice the change is at the breakfast table, where the daily newspaper used to be as indispensable as a cup of fresh coffee. As recently as only 15 years ago, 78% of Germans read a printed newspaper every day; today that figure has fallen to around 63%. Many people now prefer to read the news on their smartphones. They also increasingly like to keep up with their friends online: 33.1 million Germans are active on social media. The Internet is not only changing communication between friends and acquaintances – it’s increasingly bringing people together who have never met in person. Nine million Germans have already used an online dating service to look for a partner – one in three of them successfully.
However, despite all the openness, there is a growing desire for more security in communications – also in the private sphere. One source of hope in this context is the “personal server” that is now being offered by some IT manufacturers and business startups. You keep your personal data at home or in the office on a shoebox-sized server, and your data is encrypted to the highest standard. ▪
