Not just for the sake of my own personal privacy, but also for the sake of privacy as a journalist, I must be able to trust those who handle my data. Not only that they protect it, but also respect the data of others.

Growing up with Microsoft I paid great attention to the anti-trust case against them. Not because we need to be careful with monopolies, but because I was affected by it too as a consumer.

What Google has now is undeniably a monopoly on different levels. Which is why I so early on were sceptical of them regarding privacy.

Eric Schmidt’s comment in 2009 sealed the deal to stop using Google all together: “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.”

Today it is revealed that Google knew about the harvesting of emails, passwords and other sensitive information with their Street View cars.

How anyone can trust them is beyond me. By supporting them you are supporting their actions – their disrespect for privacy.

As a journalist I need access to services I can trust. More importantly, I need to use services my sources can trust. Services that will protect and respect both our privacy and security.