Alternate widget for Advanced Privacy for better serving the needs of average users

Ralph Böhlke
2025-11-23T03:28:08Z

Summary

Introduction of an alternate mode or a alternate widget for Advanced Privacy for better serving the needs of average users. This widget should become the standard (pre-activated) widget Advanced Privacy.

Description

Observation:

Most average users do not make active use of the of the three switches provided by the Advanced Privacy widget. They rather use settings as they were set out of the box.

To most average users, the current Advanced Privacy widget is rather a threat: when they change settings by mistake and like this expose themselves to tracking at al.

To most average users it makes more sense to have the current widget being hidden. Instead:

Ideally there’d be a widget that does not offer 1-click manipulation of privacy relevant settings but rather informs the user and in the best case enables them to carefully improve their user behavior/reduction of usage of especially ‘data-hungry’ apps.

The new ‘alternate’ widget: In a first iteration it could be identical to the current one but without the three toggles at the bottom.

In a second iteration it could be similar to the first version but differentiating between blocks of apps and websites.

In a third iteration I would like to user to see

the total number of blocks related to apps today and in the past month and

a list of at least the top 5 apps that generated the blocks.

additionally I’d like to see in a separate section blocks not related to apps but visited websites today and in the past month

and a list of at least the top 5 websites visited that generated the blocks.

and finally: if trackers were not blocked (in case this happens what app/website it is related to)

As of today it seems that blocked website trackers are counted with the app (aka the browser). This does not allow the user to gain an understanding what websites are particularly hungry for user data. Ideally, the widget enables users to become more sensitive.

This website tracker count of course should not only work with the built-in browser but as well with others.

Who will use this new feature?

Average mobile phone users who what to benefit from the privacy settings of /e/OS but who have only limited understanding of the manipulations that can be done with the phone.

Why these users would like to use this feature?

Because it’s there :-) (ideally preset)

Because it increases the users’ awareness of how much tracking is actually happening all the time – by apps as well as by websites

Examples

Reflection

Mockups

1st iteration (without the 3 toggles below)

2nd iteration (differentiation between apps and websites)

3rd iteration (listing as well the apps/websites with the top blocked no of trackers)

Diagrams

Validation