Every modern app seems to ask for something.
Your email.
Your phone number.
Analytics.
Usage statistics.
Crash reports.
Location.
Sometimes... even before you've clicked a single button.
When I started building ATLOCK, I asked myself a simple question:
"Does my software actually need to know anything about its users?"
The answer surprised me.
No.
Privacy Shouldn't Be a Premium Feature
A security application shouldn't ask you to trust another server.
It should earn your trust by not needing one.
That's why I deliberately built ATLOCK around a simple principle:
Your security should stay on your computer.
Not mine.
What This Means in Practice
ATLOCK doesn't require:
❌ User accounts
❌ Email registration
❌ Cloud sync
❌ Telemetry
❌ Usage analytics
❌ Internet connection to function
If your PC is offline...
ATLOCK still works.
Exactly as intended.
Less Data. Less Risk.
Every piece of user data collected creates responsibility.
Every server becomes another attack surface.
Every database becomes another thing that must be protected.
Sometimes the most secure database...
...is the one that doesn't exist.
Building Local-First Wasn't the Easy Choice
Cloud features are convenient.
Telemetry helps developers.
Analytics can improve products.
I understand why companies use them.
But for a desktop security application, I wanted a different philosophy.
The software should protect your privacy—
not ask you to trade it away.
Traditional Model
User
│
▼
Application
│
▼
Cloud
│
▼
Data Collection
Local-First Model
User
│
▼
Application
│
▼
Local Storage
The Trade-off
Choosing local-first also means accepting limitations.
No cloud backups.
No syncing between devices.
No remote dashboards.
Those are useful features.
But I decided they weren't worth collecting user data for.
My Philosophy
Good security isn't just strong encryption.
It's respecting the principle of collecting only what is absolutely necessary.
Sometimes...
the best way to protect user data...
is to never collect it in the first place.
If you're building software today, where do you draw the line between convenience and privacy? I'd genuinely like to hear different perspectives.
GitHub: https://github.com/Akhouri-Anmol-Kumar
"We Build What Others Forgot To Fix"
