Dear reader,
The Techlore forum has for years been my favorite place to discuss privacy-related things among like-minded people. Unfortunately, the time for that has now ended, as the forum is shutting down next year while being read-only until then. As someone who has been an active member on the forum since it got started, and working as a volunteer moderator behind the scenes this year, the news is of course disappointing. The privacy community loses a place where they could communicate and exchange ideas mostly in a constructive atmosphere that I think is still lacking from other places. The forum was an especially welcoming place to people who were just getting started on their privacy journey, so losing it is a shame for that reason as well. Yet, I also understand the reasons behind this choice.
These days, the most relevant place for these discussions is the Privacy Guides forum, which offers a great platform as well, and I have been a member for many years already. However, having more than one community served a distinct purpose and allowed more diverse discussions with alternative viewpoints. As I wrote in my post about the lack of kindness in the privacy community, if the discussions become overly black and white or even hostile, many people interested in participating in these discussions likely have better things to do with their time than fighting with random people on the internet.
While I’m also excited for this new chapter for Henry and Techlore, it still feels bittersweet to lose the forum, and the community there. 🌔