Privacy5 min read•
What is default privacy? The difference between a setting and an architecture
Privacy by default means the protective behaviour happens without configuration. Here is how to tell default privacy from a checkbox, and what it changes in practice.
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Three private surfaces. Same zero-knowledge architecture.
The definition Default privacy — often written *privacy by default* — means the most protective configuration is what you get without doing anything. No hidden toggle, no premium tier, no "advanced settings" page where the real protection lives.
In European data-protection language, it is a legal principle: only the personal data necessary for a specific purpose should be processed, by default. In engineering terms, it means the safe path must also be the easy path.
Why defaults decide outcomes Almost nobody changes defaults. A service where encryption is optional is a service where most data is unencrypted. A share link that never expires unless you set an expiry becomes a permanent public link. A setting that protects you only if you find it is not protection; it is a liability transfer.
Four tests for real default privacy - **Is the protective mode automatic for a brand-new account?** - **Does the provider lose a capability because of it?** Real defaults cost the provider something — usually the ability to read your data. - **Do shared objects expire on their own?** - **Is telemetry opt-in rather than opt-out?**
How DRIVUNO applies it Encryption is not a mode: every file, message, mail, document and secret is encrypted on your device from the first byte. Public share links carry a short expiry automatically. New team members receive their own sealed key rather than a copy of a shared password. Search runs on blind indexes so that the private path is also the fast one.
There is no "privacy plan". The free 1 GB account uses exactly the same architecture as the largest business account.
The uncomfortable consequence Default privacy means we cannot help you if you lose your password and your Recovery Kit. That is not an operational gap — it is the same property that stops anyone else from reading your account. A provider able to rescue you is a provider able to read you.
What to check in any product you use Open a fresh account, change nothing, and ask what the provider can see. That answer is the product's real privacy policy.
Try it in one click.
Three private surfaces. Same zero-knowledge architecture.