---
title: When does a service take away your software freedom?
osem_url: https://osem.seagl.org/conferences/seagl2020/program/proposals/792
beginning: '2020-11-14T13:15:00.000-08:00'
end: '2020-11-14T13:45:00.000-08:00'
resources:
  internet_archive_identifier: SeaGL2020-Ian_Kelling-When_does_a_service_take_away_your_software_freedom
presenters:
- name: Ian Kelling
  affiliation: Free Software Foundation
  osem_url: https://osem.seagl.org/users/446
  gravatar_id: 984909fad8517c7c7314ec036d577c1e
  biography: I'm a Free Software activist. I've been a sysadmin at the Free Software
    Foundation since 2017. Before that, I developed software for several years.
---

A lesser known tenet of the free software movement: "You can have
control over a program someone else wrote (if it's free), but you can
never have control over a service someone else runs, so never use a
service where in principle a program would do." -
[gnu.org/philosophy](https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.en.html)

But when exactly would a program do? I will dig into the details and
examine popular services so that you can gain confidence in evaluating
services you encounter.

Finally, I will dip into other dimensions of judging services, such as
how they treat your data.
