Five Questions
TechnologyJamil Alhidiq on privacy work, and what people outside it miss
The Privatus founder on a day of calls and product work, the route in from IT and networking, and the advice he gives people starting out.
Question: Founder covers very different days depending on the company. What does a normal day actually involve?
Answer:
Calls, product work and partnerships.
Question: A lot of people building security products arrive from somewhere adjacent rather than from security itself. What were you doing before this?
Answer:
IT and networking.
Question: In public use the word privacy has narrowed almost to a single service, which is getting records deleted from data brokers. What do people outside your field get wrong about it?
Answer:
Privacy is more than data removal.
Question: Attention is the scarce resource in this field, and most of it goes to whatever is loudest. What are you paying attention to right now?
Answer:
AI scams and personal data exposure.
Question: Founder advice tends to get repeated until it stops carrying meaning. What do you actually tell people starting out?
Answer:
Talk to customers early.
About Jamil Alhidiq
Jamil Alhidiq
Jamil Alhidiq is the founder of Privatus, a Chicago company that builds privacy and security tools. He came to the work from IT and networking.