At the RSA Security Europe Conference in London, individual privacy was again brought to the front of people’s consciences. It was debated that communication has irrevocably changed, which has already had a bad effect on personal privacy levels. Before computers became so commonplace, conversations were normally carried out on the phone or in person. But now, a lot of correspondence is done by email or online. This creates a saved hard copy of all communication.
Deleting an email does not necessarily get rid of it. The receiver or sender still has a copy on their account. Furthermore, large data centres make it really easy to record online conversation. It was argued that inexpensive technology and ever increasing memory capacities mean that data storage and collection is now more accomplishable than it was a few years ago.
You may be wondering why it matters so much, but personal data is the same as higher profits and having access to a lot of private personal data will result in companies making more money from advertising. Everyday, this is routinely seen whilst registering for something new, with those ‘cross here if you do not wish to hear any communication from our company’; this occurs offline as well. However, how many consumers read all of the privacy policies and terms of agreement for the programs we download or the websites which we visit? It may be astonishing to read a few of them and know just what the website can do with your data.
Facebook continues to be derided for its convoluted privacy policy and not being transparent enough with users. It is completely possible for everyone to go through just about all the info on a person’s profile if they have not enabled selected privacy configurations. Whilst the security mindful among all of us will make sure to set our privacy settings accordingly, a lot of users do not realize they’re actually exposing themselves to prospective Internet crime and identity theft. It’s not just enough to argue that it is their own problem if their level of privacy becomes compromised. Additionally, companies should never wish to deceive users for the purpose of simpler data farming.
Google was also faced with lots of political and social complaints with regard to its unauthorized collection of private data while collecting data as a part of its StreetView services. Google effectively listened in to people’s wi-fi connections and subsequently stored private data. Google’s nonchalant reaction upset lots of people and many national governments were drawn into the debate challenging the legality of what Google did.
The more private information a company has on you, the more they can charge companies to target users. If a company knows that you are female, aged between 30-40 and have three children, well then advertisers will be willing to pay more since they are able to target ads more efficiently. If an advertisement is targeted at the proper customer then the advertisers will achieve more results. Marketers may be willing to pay a premium since then they would be able to target with toy, home improvements and kitchen advertisements, compared to advertisements for weight lifting or extreme sports (although it should be noted that these are big generalizations).
Therefore, it is key to ensure you have read the terms of agreement accurately and know your rights. Whenever you sign up for anything you are signing a contract. It would be horrible to think one hasty registration for a site could result in a negative outcome a few years down the line. Always read the small print, it might sound hackneyed but it might just save you from sticky outcomes. Similarly, you should also always have safe Internet safety practices. Owning a good password is an excellent step but you could also try a password organizer which will improve your safety! You can retail store passwords to a site and keep them secure and safe.
If you eat a lot while surfing the internet, you may experience this. Sometimes it’s so bad that it feels like this!