Should I Care About Online Privacy?
Real types of privacy are poorly thought out, but in the digital space, the notion of privacy is distorted. Privacy settings do not impede Facebook's ability to collect and store data, and it does not impede its ability to hand over your data to the government when it asks for it. Nor does it control the dissemination of information on the platform. [Sources: 2, 3]
People often assume that digital privacy is only about what they do online, but that is only a small part of the picture. Internet privacy is less about what you do and more about who you are and what you have done. With this in mind, let us take a closer look at how others access our personal data and how you can protect your privacy online. [Sources: 2, 7]
The most obvious problem which comes to mind when thinking about privacy violations is hacking and other criminal activity. Hopefully, people will stop trying to steal your information or steal your private accounts. [Sources: 7]
Some people are struggling with the consequences of a failed online privacy policy. Some people have crippling restrictions on public access to and use of personal information. [Sources: 6]
There are many situations in which we risk losing our protection of online privacy. The loss of control over the confidentiality and security of an individual on the Internet is a measure of the loss of control over his or her life and dignity. The other reason is more fundamental and touches on the core of human reverence for the human individual: at the end of the day, the individual is an autonomous being that must be respected regardless of a person's privacy on the Internet. [Sources: 6]
Efforts are constantly being made to persuade most people who are online today not to do so because they do not know how to protect their digital privacy. By ignoring this crucial step, they are presenting flawed arguments that negate the need for digital privacy in the first place. [Sources: 5]
A majority (79%) of respondents believe that consumers are losing control over how personal data is collected and used by companies. Two-thirds believe it is impossible to protect their privacy online, and 60% believe it is too late to protect them with personal information. [Sources: 1]
A 2017 survey found 69 per cent of Australians are more concerned about their online privacy than they were in 2012. However, only a small percentage of people take the necessary measures to protect their privacy. When asked if they care how their personal information is shared online, most people answer that they do. [Sources: 8]
One of the things I often hear when I talk to adults is the feeling that young people don't care about privacy, and how awful that is. This is not true, and there is amazing research on this by academic experts. [Sources: 3]
If you are a parent and worry that your children are sharing more information than you think, you may be surprised at how tech-savvy and privacy-savvy so many children are. Teenagers are pretty good at protecting their privacy on the Internet, and they are very good at hiding sensitive information from their teachers, their parents, and their adults who think they are doing nothing. [Sources: 3]
If you're one of those people who doesn't think much about online privacy or computer security, you should listen to what Jameson Lopp has to say about how online privacy relates to your own physical security in today's digital world. While many people repeat the "nothing to hide" mantra when it comes to their reasons for sharing their data with giant technology companies, the government, or a random developer of a flashlight app on their phone, Lopp shows that the online privacy debate is far more complex than it appears at first glance. There are many arguments for those who say they have nothing to hide, from Edward Snowden's NSA revelations to the 143 million Americans whose Social Security numbers were compromised by the Equifax hack of 2017, but the vast majority of people are not interested enough in how they use the Internet. [Sources: 11]
In 2015, renowned journalist and data protector Glenn Greenwald gave a spectacular TED talk about the importance of privacy and showed how the Internet has changed from being a tool for liberation to one for compliance. [Sources: 10]
Given recent developments between the FBI and Apple on encryption in recent weeks, we thought it worth going back to basics and participating in some of the most recurring debates about privacy. For some reason, you get a steady stream of privacy updates from online services to which you forgot to subscribe to, and the European Union recently adopted a General Data Protection Regulation giving users greater control over the information they collect from online companies. [Sources: 9, 10]
The Internet is a global medium and many businesses will have to comply with the European Union. With the California Consumer Privacy Act coming into effect later this year, data protection will become a key issue for businesses in 2020. [Sources: 4, 9]
While consumers spend much of their lives online, few understand the crucial issue of privacy and how their personal information is used, collected, and shared with businesses. When thinking about digital privacy, it is best to shift the lens from analyzing what individuals are doing wrong to thinking about corporate and government interests and what the other side perceives as vulnerable to political and consumer manipulation. Digital surveillance is not only used to keep Internet users morally under control; it can also be used to manipulate people by tracking and reporting their behaviour to show what happens when users shut down certain apps or systems. [Sources: 4, 5]
Businesses and consumer data have growing concerns as privacy advocates shed more light on the amount of data and security breaches collected last year. Even harmless information, such as your favorite restaurant or items you buy online, can be used to draw conclusions about your socioeconomic status, your preferences, and much more. People's behaviours are compiled and analysed without their consent, used in large quantities to produce finished products, and their psychology is sold as data to the highest bidder. [Sources: 0, 5]
Sources:
[0]: https://www.activateprivacy.com/why-we-should-care-about-online-privacy/
[2]: https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-privacy-why-your-online-privacy-matters.html
[3]: https://ideas.ted.com/why-online-privacy-matters-and-how-to-protect-yours/
[4]: https://security.berkeley.edu/news/why-should-we-care-about-online-privacy
[6]: https://www.wpeka.com/why-you-should-care-about-online-privacy.html
[7]: https://www.namecheap.com/blog/why-you-should-care-online-privacy/
[9]: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/06/18/why-do-we-care-so-much-about-privacy
[10]: https://www.expressvpn.com/blog/why-you-should-care-about-privacy/
