We want to get famous, get noticed, and want to get likes, follows and shares on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. We opt to get help from Google whenever we are looking for any information. Not thinking for a minute that Google is tracking us like a homicide. We get to click the agree button without reading what’s in the privacy policy whenever we’re downloading an application. We opt to surrender our privacy in order to gain a short-term benefit.
We are not safe. However, according to the privacy paradox we pretend that we are. Is there nothing to fear about? Think about it once again. The walls have ears. The same can be said for the Internet! You are being watched and tracked! But either you aren’t realizing it or aren’t feeling or seeing it. Amnesty International in a recent report stressed how Facebook and Google’s surveillance is posing a threat to the basic right of every human being, i.e. privacy.
Let us explain the ‘privacy paradox’ to make things clear. Individuals often claim to be concerned about the threats to their privacy, but don’t do much to protect themselves and their personal information. And this is what the privacy paradox is all about. The world is digitally connected today. New internet-based technologies are there to increase productivity and efficiency in our lives be it on the level of the household or on some professional level. And it is this connectivity that is increasing cyber security threats, making our privacy and security vulnerable. And there is no reason denying it that the intensity, frequency, scope, and scale of the threat is going to increase in the future.
Be it Google, Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, YouTube, Wikipedia, Pinterest, online banking or your online shopping website, everyone is collecting your information. Danah Boyd, in a research paper “Privacy, Publicity, and Visibility” has rightly said that we are in the era of ‘public by default and private through effort’. She explains it through this scenario that if we have a conversation on social media the chat would be public by default. And we must consciously choose to make our conversation private if we don’t want to give up on privacy.
Some analysts suggest that tech companies should offer this ‘delete all data’ kind of a button that instead of securing one’s personal information would be deleting all the data once the person stops using a particular application or website
Predicting what threats we are going to face in the future is something difficult, but assessing the current situation is what in our hands. There are tractors across the world of the internet that collect our detailed profile, browsing history, current location, and much more. Need is to understand why we need to keep security to keep not just our reputation, but our assets, information and systems safe.
Let us discuss some of the current security threats we ought to face in today’s digital world. Did you remember everyone’s oh so favorite Facebook’s colossal security flaw that allowed hackers to rob the personal data of the millions of users? In the past performing a bank transaction required your presence, but now with this e-banking and stuff most of the transactions are being done through mobile phones. This is where targeting mobile banking applications and stealing ones personal credentials comes into place. Ready to use hacking devices are widely available out there. Cyber criminals now no longer need to have the expertise to execute a cyber-attack. As readily available hacking tools have made stealing the credentials and personal information way much easier. Local governments are not prone to advanced cyber security measures. That’s the reason they get attacked by the hackers quite often. You might have heard about some government’s official website getting targeted by the hackers and attackers. Election meddling is also one such case. You possibly have heard Russia successfully manipulating US’ 2016 general elections.
The frequency with which these security surveillances are taking place is quite alarming and making us wonder if we should call our online information personal or not? Security apps are being developed to protect you from the apps that you’re using. It is this vicious cycle of applications where you download one app and in order to protect your privacy you download another one. Isn’t it something funny?
Some analysts suggest that tech companies should offer this ‘delete all data’ kind of a button that instead of securing one’s personal information would be deleting all the data once the person stops using a particular application or website. Moreover, there are these secure and fast private browsers like Brave that block website trackers and use the blockchain technology to keep user’s privacy intact. Moreover, the least a user can do is using some Virtual Private Network, widely known as VPN, to keep his location and other data safe.
People believe that they have the right to privacy but this privacy paradox tells that they are perfectly fine with giving up their right of privacy to the companies they are completely unaware of. If you are online you are at risk. Therefore, the burden of keeping your personal data safe is on your own shoulders. No one is going to come to protect you.
The writer is an economist and a content writer. Her interest in technology, politics and economy makes her a regular contributor to various websites