Instead of just kvetching about Facebook, these four self-described “talented young nerds” are doing something. They’re constructing a new kind of open-source distributed social network called Diaspora, and protecting all your information is at its core. Instead of handing over your bits to a central hub, it goes into your personalized server or “seed.” You own the server, you own your data. Everything is private and encrypted by default. It’s up to you to decide how much or how little you want to reveal. Sound crazy? There’s plenty of people who don’t think so. In just 20 days, the NYU students have raised $93,068 on Kickstarter.

In a video pitch, the Diaspora founders say, “Social networks have only really existed for 10 years.We don’t know what’s going to happen to our data. It’s going to exist into the foreseeable future. We need to take control of it.”

“Because once you give it away once it’s no longer yours. You cannot stake claim to it.”

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