Many people will say they have nothing to hide. Perhaps this and other variations below are in no small part because practicing privacy seems like too much hassle. In these posts I will show that it need not be difficult.
If you believe you have nothing to hide please answer the following questions.
Do you lock your doors?
On the web there is some build in protection for data in transit from your computer to some online service or other site. However if your credential for sites, including important ones like banking, are not strong it is equivalent to not locking the door of where you live. Poor passwords are used by 70% of people according to studies. Poor passwords can be cracked by hackers in minutes. If you also, like many people, use the same relatively weak password multiple places then once it is cracked the hacker has access to multiple accounts you own.
Is it OK someone can access everything you own?
In the online world you have many assets. Some of them as mentioned are financial accounts. Clearly someone unauthorized accessing them would put all financial assets they can access at risk.
It is common today for many sites to “kindly” offer to let you signup using OAuth providers such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Github, LinkedIn and so on. But consider the downside. Not only do these providers no of other sites you frequent, which may be what you want, but if the providing account credentials are compromised then every site and app you used this easy registration and login for is compromised. Some of those can be quite sensitive or disastrous. If the provider account of yours is taken over the hacker can change its credentials and lock you out of everything it was used for and all assets you have on that provider. This is major identity theft.
Do you want all your activities and all you do known by everyone?
By default:
- your location 24/7 and traces of your location over time is accessible
- every post you make in social media is accessible
- all your SMS messages are accessible
- who you call and how long you talk and how often is accessible
- most everything you purchase is accessible
- what you search for is accessible
- which websites you visit, how often, and some of your clicks and other interaction are accessible
All of this and more is used to build a detailed profise of you, your interests, your sexuality, your politics, your religion, your preferences on many things. It is used to
- sell you things
- spam
- tailor your news and information feeds on various sites
- manipulate your opinions and likely actions
- target you as someone of interest
- target you for censorship, cancelling accounts, investigation, limiting job and business opportunities
We live in increasingly accusatory times. Governmment agencies have decided to target people of various apparent opinions or who may own guns, etc. as bulk persons of interest. They may even be considered “potential domestic terrorists”. There is pressure throughout the financial system on companies to force compliance with various social causes and agendas whether the owners or executives of these privace companies agree or not. There are NGOs and other activists who make it there business to target individuals and business that do not in their opinion sufficiently support whatever they think is Right Think. In this environment, simply honestly saying what you think or even just being known to read the “wrong” books can have consequences.
Should it be this way? NO. But a bit of care in light of how it is may be wise.
Is it OK with you if someone knows your business plans and secrets?
Most businesses would certainly answer that is very much NOT ok. Yet most people act as if they think it is ok if their internet provider, countless applications mobile or online, Big Tech, government and others collect a lot of their personal plans and secrets.
The GOOD NEWS
There are fairly simple things you can do to be much more private and secure.