The hottest topic in tech this year wasn't AI or the blockchain. It was privacy. Crunchbase recorded a more than 30% increase in the number of funding rounds raised by privacy startups in 2018 over 2017.
At the same time, some of the biggest tech companies in the world endured lawsuits, congressional summons, and investigative reports in major news publications, all centering around their use (or misuse) of user data. Governments implemented sweeping legislation aimed at protecting user data, from GDPR to the California Consumer Privacy Act, California's new law that will offer citizens more control over how companies use their data.