A link to Facebook will no longer be included in Vivaldi’s Speed Dial by default. Here’s why.

As you’ve probably seen, Facebook has been under fire for the mishandling of data on 87 million users in connection with Cambridge Analytica. It’s been widely covered with new details emerging, so I won’t go into the details here. But, to put it mildly – it’s not good.

What is becoming more apparent is that Facebook’s actions (or lack thereof) to protect their users’ privacy and data leave a lot to be desired.

Facebook’s continued lack of respect for their users’ privacy and the just-plain-creepy level of targeting made available to advertisers is at direct odds with our vision at Vivaldi.

We want an internet where users come first. Where usage data is not unnecessarily collected and shared. As we’ve said before, protecting privacy should be the default.

Going forward, we will not include a link to Facebook in the Speed Dial by default in Vivaldi. It’s no longer a platform we feel we can encourage users to access. This means that when a new user installs Vivaldi they will not see a link to Facebook in their Speed Dial. Existing users will not see this change reflected in their bookmarks.

What is the Speed Dial?

Speed Dials are a selection of bookmarks displayed on the Start Page of Vivaldi (i.e. the page you see by default when you open a new tab or window). Speed Dials give you quick access to your favorite sites.

With every new installation of Vivaldi we include a set of default bookmarks, a selection of which are shown in the Speed Dial. The bookmarks included are there because we think they will be useful to our users.

It goes without saying that social media plays a big role in how many people spend their time online. The default Speed Dial includes links to a handful of major social media sites to give users a quick way to access these platforms from their Start Page.

Of course, links shown on your Speed Dial are completely customizable. We encourage you to edit and tweak Vivaldi to your liking, and the Speed Dial is no exception.

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Clearly there is a long way to go in how services treat the private data of their users, but we do hope that Facebook will address the issues at hand and take steps to improve the situation.

Main image by Christopher Burns via Unsplash