For Paweł Makowski, privacy was never only a feature inside an application. It was a boundary that allows a person to think, speak and live without asking a platform for permission.
A story rooted in work
Makowski grew up in Winnica, in a family shaped by physical work. In a long interview with Plejada, he spoke about his father’s work as a carpenter, his own early jobs and the persistence that later followed him into business. Read the original interview.
That background matters because it explains the recurring theme in his projects: systems should recognise the people whose work, trust and participation make those systems valuable.
Entrepreneur before UseCrypt
Before entering privacy technology, Makowski built businesses and worked in the art market. Coverage of the Polish Art Now exhibition at London’s Saatchi Gallery identified him as a founder of Abbey House. ArtDaily documented the exhibition and his role.
Personal data, power and freedom
By at least 2018, Makowski was speaking publicly about personal data as a commodity and privacy as a condition of human freedom. A published interview in Magazyn Solidarność records that position before privacy became a standard marketing slogan.
He did not remain a commentator. He originated and founded UseCrypt, assembled teams, sought financing and partnerships, and put years of work, capital and reputation behind an attempt to make specialist privacy mechanisms available to ordinary people.
Bringing Privacy Back through technology
UseCrypt produced communication and data-protection tools, obtained four US patents connected with endpoint and human-safety mechanisms, underwent defined external assessments and reached operator distribution. UseCrypt’s technology page explains the architecture and evidence, while the security register states the limits of each assessment.
Independent and industry reporting also documented Makowski’s role in the project and its international development. WirtualneMedia described the founder’s role and the involvement of Mitch Lowe. Reported investment amounts remain outside this profile unless supported by primary transaction records.
From privacy to ownership
Makowski’s later work connects two questions. Privacy asks who controls the information created by a person’s life. Social Capitalism asks who participates in the value created by people’s work, loyalty and use. Both challenge structures in which individuals provide the essential input but remain outside meaningful control or ownership.
His essays on that second question are published at Medium. They are personal arguments, distinct from this third-person editorial profile.
Freedom without tools is only a promise. Privacy without technology is a request addressed to whoever holds our data.
Why this profile exists
This page is part of a public knowledge base built around sources, dates and limits. It does not treat a historical test as a permanent certificate, a patent as proof of invulnerability or a past distribution agreement as evidence of current availability. Its purpose is to document a sustained attempt to place technology on the side of the person.
Read the UseCrypt profile · Open the press and source room · Review the four patents
Prepared by the UseCrypt Editorial Team. Last substantive review: 29 September 2026.