An open letter to builders.
Build what matters.
Privacy comes standard.
You shouldn't need to become a privacy engineer to build responsibly.
Your first app. Your small business. Your next idea.
Dear builders,
You're here to make something that matters. A tool for your community. An idea that deserves to exist. Something that makes someone's life a little better.
Maybe you're writing the code. Maybe AI is helping. Maybe someone is building it for your business.
The moment people share their information, the app becomes a responsibility, too.
We're building Open Privacy Standard to help you understand that responsibility—and give you open tools to act on it.
Free to use. Open to inspect. Built for everyone.
001. The part nobody explained
Your app is ready.
Is the way it handles data?
A booking form. A customer list. A child's profile. A face scan. A conversation sent to an AI service.
These are everyday features. They can also raise questions about permission, access, retention, and legal obligations.
A working app doesn't tell you whether you're handling people's data responsibly.
Mishandled information can harm your customers, damage trust, and create legal exposure. The FTC explains why data security matters even for small businesses.
Source: FTC business guidance ↗
You don't need to know every law before you begin learning. You do need a way to find the questions that matter.
002. What we believe
The foundations of trust
should belong to everyone.
Privacy is not a premium feature.
Security is not an enterprise privilege.
You deserve a better starting point, whether you're an experienced developer or building your very first app.
003. What we're building
Understand it.
Then build it in.
- Learn what matters.
- Plain-language explanations of the information your app handles and the responsibilities worth checking. Start with the basics →
- Find rules to investigate.
- A growing, source-linked library organized by place and topic. Explore the first entries →
- Bring guidance to your builder.
- Our proposed OPS Guide would turn your app's context into questions and implementation tasks, including through an MCP connection for coding agents. See the product direction →
- Use open building blocks.
- Shared contracts, self-hostable tools, and public tests. The first planned implementation focuses on consent and preferences. Read the build plan →
The learning pages and initial law summaries are available now. OPS Guide, the privacy engine, and the standard are still in development.
004. An invitation
You don't have to be an expert
to belong here.
Tell us the part you don't understand. Show us the app you're trying to build. Ask the question you thought you should already know the answer to.
Builders and business owners shape what needs to be easier. Privacy and security practitioners help us make the answers sound.
We're building for the people who haven't been given a starting point.
Open Privacy Standard