Privacy first
Your information is part of your autonomy. Minimising unnecessary data collection and explaining data practices clearly are guiding principles for Ethos. People should be able to make informed decisions about their digital lives.
02 / OUR ETHOS
People should have
the final say.
We’re an independent software company building alternatives with privacy, security and individual agency as guiding principles.
A PRACTICAL BELIEF
Technology should
serve your life.
More of our digital lives depend on a small number of providers. Ethos is an attempt to give people useful options—and more room to manage their own outcomes.
Choice should be practical: tools for everyday work, clear information to help you decide, and the freedom to take a different path when your needs change.
WHY OPEN SOURCE MATTERS
Open to inspection.
Open to possibility.
When source code is shared, people can look beyond the interface. They can study how a tool works, ask better questions and help improve it.
- Visibility
- Accessible code gives people a way to examine the decisions behind the software.
- Participation
- People can learn, report problems, share knowledge and contribute improvements.
- Continuity
- Shared code gives communities a starting point to maintain and adapt tools over time.
OUR PRINCIPLES
How that guides
what we build.
The future of technology should belong to the people who use it.
We judge progress by the choices our tools give people: what they can understand, what they can control, and how confidently they can do their work.
Security as a responsibility
Protecting people takes continuing care. We aim to make security a priority in how tools are selected, built, maintained and explained, with clear information that helps people use them thoughtfully.
Useful alternatives, freely available
Cost and dependence can narrow people’s options. Our mission is to make practical tools freely available, from productivity applications to the system utilities we’re building next.
Ethics in everyday decisions
Respect for people should shape the software, its defaults and the choices it offers. We want to help people understand their options and choose tools that fit their own needs and values.