As big data companies expand it seems that our personal privacy becomes more invaded
The importance of data privacy
The importance of data privacy is crucial because any breach of personal information that occurs could potentially harm the user. When the personal information of the user is leaked or breached it directly affects the basic human and freedom rights which can lead to potential identity theft or other types of fraud.
The main risk for many organizations is failing to comply with security and privacy requirements which can lead them into serious legal problems. As they fail to comply with these requirements it can lead to serious consequences such as lawsuits and high fines. These complications are the leading factor in the battle companies around the world are fighting in order to raise privacy awareness among businesses.
As privacy concerns with big data grow more each day enterprises are facing reputational risks if they fail to ensure data privacy protection. While businesses still view this problem as a set-and-forget legal routine, the customers have changed their attitude towards this issue. So, in order to maintain the customers’ trust, these companies need to adjust and improve these privacy protection issues that arise each day.
Protecting your privacy from Big Data
The biggest issue that arises from this is that people still believe they are anonymous among the masses. That what they do on the internet is “under the radar” and no one can track them. Well, to put it in short terms, there is a tradeoff of user data between search engines and social media which provide free functionality. The data that is being collected is going beyond commercial use and this currently poses as the biggest issue.
The more internet expands the more we must pay attention to ways that we are being monitored
Commercial and state entities are able to combine credit card information, web searches, entertainment choices, and other web activities you participate in to create a surveillance engine that is able to track millions of users at once.
Now, even though commercial entities tend to collect data for marketing and buying indicators, state entities are a whole different spectrum. The state or any other malicious actors are able to watch conversations, videos, photos, or even pinpoint your location. As scary as this may seem, lucky for us there is a way to protect ourselves and hide our actions and identities from these big data enterprises that lurk all over the internet.
Best ways to protect your privacy
It can be said that to operate the internet today, you must sign away your privacy for the most part. Seems like users are keen on choosing convenience over privacy but this cannot be pinned as their fault. We must realize that using the internet comes with a cost and that cost us our privacy.
Although there are no direct or immediate consequences of signing away your privacy, these data points collected can and will be used in order to pre-determine your future actions and beliefs.
The best ways to protect your privacy online are:
- Encryption – As we said above, since we are using the public internet there is no reason for us not to use this method while online. Encryption provides anonymity of data when online, which makes it harder for third-party viewers to breach. This method encrypts the data being sent between the user and the server. It also leads us to a VPN, the best protection tool of the modern age when it comes to the internet.
- VPN – or Virtual Private Network is an essential internet tool that encrypts the user data and provides a shield that blocks any outsiders from peaking into your internet traffic. By using a tunneled protocol it ensures that you protect your privacy when online and makes it almost impossible for the government, the ISP (Internet Service Provider), and hackers to breach your internet traffic. By selecting one of many virtual servers created all around the world it successfully hides your real IP address with the one from the chosen server. This means that everything you do on the internet will lead others to the server in the chosen country.
- Policy change – Many organizations are changing their policies in order to comply with privacy regulations. We must admit, this is a positive initial step but unless these organizations do not enforce these policies it will be harder for you to protect your privacy while online.
- Authentication – There are many password management tools that should be used in every business. These tools allow password updates every 60-90 days and require a two-factor authentication. The best way to protect data is to enforce password management tools to be required on every device that is being connected to the company server and can gain access to every company data.
VPN is the best way to protect yourself online as it provides its users with full anonymity and privacy while being on the internet
We live in a modern age, where being on the internet is counted as a daily activity. This is why we need to dig deeper and understand what risks and problems we might trigger when online, that we do not know about. As big data enterprises abuse our private information in order to track us we must do whatever we can to protect our privacy and internet freedom. If you want to protect your privacy while online you must first understand the issue and where it is coming from.