Information Security in the Modern World
Information security for individuals is a crucial aspect of modern life. The more cautious a person is online, the safer they are in the real world.
Companies Ensuring Digital Security
There are companies that help individuals secure this area by developing the right software. Among such software, browsers and email services are most common. Notable examples include Firefox, Brave, Vivaldi; Protonmail, and Tutanota. These companies position themselves as not selling user data.
Special mention goes to the Vivaldi browser and the Tutanota email service. These companies do not collect any data from users and strive to ensure maximum security.
The Problem with Demand for Privacy
However, what is the problem with such companies? The issue is that privacy (security) in the internet is practically unnecessary to most people. It's a sad fact, but true.
There is a golden rule: If the software is secure, it is inconvenient. If it is convenient, it is certainly not secure.
Examples of Neglecting Security
Consider your experience with smartphones. Many people do not have a password on their phone. If they do, it's often a 4-digit PIN. Although developers recommend using a password (at least 8 characters) as the most reliable method, fingerprint or facial recognition is less secure than password protection. But no one sets a password: it's inconvenient. It's easier to use a fingerprint or face recognition.
The same goes for browsers. There is widespread use of Google Chrome, which shares your behavioral patterns with Google. Additionally, numerous websites track your online activity, collect data, and build your digital profile. You could download Mozilla Firefox, which is better than Google Chrome in this regard, but it requires effort to transfer bookmarks, and Mozilla runs slower.
In short, no one is willing to make an effort for security and privacy.
Financial Aspect of Privacy
And we haven't even talked about money yet. When it comes to paying for privacy, the global audience of billions shrinks to a few hundred thousand people.
A simple question: Do you have a paid email service? I'm sure you don't. Statistically, I would be right.
—Pay $30–60 a year for a basic email service? No way!
Marketing and Business Model Mistakes in Privacy
This brings us to the problems of companies like Vivaldi and Tutanota. With good intentions, they want to bring privacy and security to the world. But neither their business model nor their marketing allows them to function properly.
The marketing mistake is trying to build and sell a fully private product in a market where privacy is seen as a pleasant, free add-on that people think about last.
The business model mistake is assuming that this marketing component can cover product and marketing costs and make a profit.
Specific Example with Vivaldi
Unlike the Brave browser, which has its own search engine (and tracks users, earning additional money), Vivaldi does not collect any user data. Moreover, it stores all user information on its own servers, not on third-party cloud services. This is more expensive and less reliable.
This is the problem. Look at the screenshot:
This is the availability service for Vivaldi browser synchronization. Data synchronization between devices (desktop and mobile) has not worked for 14 days. Half a month without service! The company faced issues with software and hardware. In my opinion, the likelihood of data recovery is close to zero. An uptime of 77% is beyond reasonable in the IT world.
Why did something break? The answer is simple even for an outside observer: there is no money for expensive, high-quality solutions, no money for highly qualified employees. Yes, Vivaldi could have used a cheap and reliable third-party service (like Google Drive) for data storage from Amazon, Cloudflare, or Microsoft. But marketing does not allow it:
“We cannot tell users that third parties do not have access to their data!”
Yes, this is a marketing mistake—users do not understand or care about this. They do not buy into this marketing!
Conflict Between Convenience and Privacy in Paid Services
Instead, users notice when browsers do not work on desktop and mobile. They understand this well. And they stop using the Vivaldi browser altogether. The convenience of synchronization in a simple browser like Google Chrome outweighs the loss of privacy.
For this reason, Vivaldi will forever struggle with 1.5 million users and try to monetize through partner commissions. This is a fundamental and unsolvable problem in the modern world. And it can only be solved by a black swan event: if everyone suddenly loses all their money due to browser issues. Then a private, reliable browser with a guarantee against hacking could be sold for $50–500 per month. Otherwise, it's impossible.
Problem with Updates
Another example: many people disable Windows updates, saying, "Why bother? Everything works fine." And there are people (many of them) whose smartphone updates remain uninstalled for weeks—too lazy to restart the phone.
Dear marketers and business model developers, stop focusing on the privacy trigger in the internet. It does not work at all in free products.
Why Tutanota Faces User Resistance
But there is also paid software—for example, the Tutanota email service:
They also advocate for full privacy through end-to-end encryption of all emails. This means that only you can read your emails. And this is not a joke; emails on Gmail, Outlook, or even Protonmail can be read by an employee of the respective company if they wish. Yes, it is propagated that this will not happen, that internal security is set up. But physically, such a possibility exists. In the Tutanota service, there is not even a theoretical possibility—everything is encrypted in your browser, and on the Tutanota server, everything is stored in encrypted form.
So, what is the problem? The problem is that if everything on the servers is stored in encrypted form, then your beloved spam filters do not work (they work extremely poorly). And spam pours in by the wagonload! This is uncomfortable and causes discomfort for 99% of users. And they do not want such a service, for which they also have to pay at least €36 per year.
Unsolvable Problems of Secure Email and Their Causes
Besides this, there are other problems. You use email to communicate with other people. This means your email goes to the servers of Gmail, Outlook, Yandex, Mail.ru... And they do not like such email. If it is so private and secure, spammers will use it. Let's put all emails from Tutanota in spam, or not accept them at all.
And there is another problem. Not all internet services where registration is through email accept Tutanota addresses. The logic is simple: secure email → means a hacker is registering for the service → we do not need hackers, we will not let them register.
As a result, truly secure email has few clients. There are only stubborn individuals who are well-versed in technology and willing to endure inconveniences and daily find ways to circumvent them.
Recommendations for Marketers and Business Model Developers
Marketers, do not waste your efforts on solving these problems. They are unsolvable by definition of human nature, at least for now.
TAM, SAM, SOM—are not in your favor. And even if it seems to you that the market is huge (there are millions of users needing real privacy and security), just think about CAC and LTV.
Marketers, as well as business model developers, try to start with ordinary paid email that does not position itself as super secure and extra private. In my opinion, a marketer who learns to sell emails is a genius!