At the RSA Security Europe Conference in the UK, individual privacy levels were again at the front of people's consciences. It was debated that communication has changed irrevocably and that has already had a negative impact on personal levels of privacy. Decades ago, conversation was normally done over the phone or in person. Now, most correspondence is carried out by email or websites. This creates a saved hard copy of each piece of correspondence.
Getting rid of an email will not necessarily delete it. The recipient or sender will most likely still have a version of the email on their account. Furthermore, giant data centres make it easy to store online conversation. It is argued that cheaper technology costs and increasing memory sizes mean that storing and collecting data is now far more feasible than it was some years ago.
You may be asking why it might matter so much, but private data can result in more money and having access to lots of personal data will often result in companies making more money. On an everyday level, this is often seen whilst signing up for anything new, with those 'please cross here if you do not wish to hear any correspondence from us'; this occurs offline and online. Additionally, how many users read all of the privacy policies and terms of agreement for the programs we download or the websites which we use? It might be surprising to go through some of them and realize precisely what the website can do with your collected data.
Facebook continues to be derided for its convoluted privacy settings and not being transparent. It is completely feasible for anyone to browse just about all the information on a person's profile page if they haven't enabled particular privacy configurations. Although the security mindful among people will be sure to set our privacy settings accordingly, many people usually do not know they're actually exposing themselves to potential online crime and identity theft. It's not simply sufficient to assert that it is the user's problem if their level of privacy becomes compromised. Furthermore, companies should never desire to deceive people for the purpose of less complicated data farming.
Google was also faced with a lot of social and political criticism regarding its gathering of personal data whilst gathering data as part of its StreetView service. Google effectively listened in to people's Internet connections and stored private and personal data. Google's blas reaction upset loads of users and lots of governments were drawn into the debate challenging the legality of Google's actions.
The more private data a company has on you, the more they can charge advertisers in order to target you as a user. If a company knows you are a woman, aged between 30-40 and have four children, well then advertisers will be willing to pay more as they can target their ads better. If an advertisement is targeted at the right demographic then the advertisers will see more results. Marketers are willing to pay a premium since then they could target with toy, home improvements and kitchen advertisements, compared to advertisements for extreme sports or weight lifting (although these are large stereotypes).
Thus, it is important to be sure that you have read the terms of agreement accurately and know your rights. Everytime you sign up for something you are signing a contract. It would be sad to imagine one speedy registration for a site could result in a negative outcome a few years down the line. Always read the small print well, it might sound hackneyed but it just might save you from sticky outcomes. Additionally, you should also always keep good Internet safety practices. Using a good password is a great first step but you could also try an online password manager which would enhance your online safety a lot! You can save passwords to a site and keep them safe and secure.
Getting rid of an email will not necessarily delete it. The recipient or sender will most likely still have a version of the email on their account. Furthermore, giant data centres make it easy to store online conversation. It is argued that cheaper technology costs and increasing memory sizes mean that storing and collecting data is now far more feasible than it was some years ago.
You may be asking why it might matter so much, but private data can result in more money and having access to lots of personal data will often result in companies making more money. On an everyday level, this is often seen whilst signing up for anything new, with those 'please cross here if you do not wish to hear any correspondence from us'; this occurs offline and online. Additionally, how many users read all of the privacy policies and terms of agreement for the programs we download or the websites which we use? It might be surprising to go through some of them and realize precisely what the website can do with your collected data.
Facebook continues to be derided for its convoluted privacy settings and not being transparent. It is completely feasible for anyone to browse just about all the information on a person's profile page if they haven't enabled particular privacy configurations. Although the security mindful among people will be sure to set our privacy settings accordingly, many people usually do not know they're actually exposing themselves to potential online crime and identity theft. It's not simply sufficient to assert that it is the user's problem if their level of privacy becomes compromised. Furthermore, companies should never desire to deceive people for the purpose of less complicated data farming.
Google was also faced with a lot of social and political criticism regarding its gathering of personal data whilst gathering data as part of its StreetView service. Google effectively listened in to people's Internet connections and stored private and personal data. Google's blas reaction upset loads of users and lots of governments were drawn into the debate challenging the legality of Google's actions.
The more private data a company has on you, the more they can charge advertisers in order to target you as a user. If a company knows you are a woman, aged between 30-40 and have four children, well then advertisers will be willing to pay more as they can target their ads better. If an advertisement is targeted at the right demographic then the advertisers will see more results. Marketers are willing to pay a premium since then they could target with toy, home improvements and kitchen advertisements, compared to advertisements for extreme sports or weight lifting (although these are large stereotypes).
Thus, it is important to be sure that you have read the terms of agreement accurately and know your rights. Everytime you sign up for something you are signing a contract. It would be sad to imagine one speedy registration for a site could result in a negative outcome a few years down the line. Always read the small print well, it might sound hackneyed but it just might save you from sticky outcomes. Additionally, you should also always keep good Internet safety practices. Using a good password is a great first step but you could also try an online password manager which would enhance your online safety a lot! You can save passwords to a site and keep them safe and secure.
About the Author:
This article has been written by the author, Alex Blaken. Should you require any more Signing Up For a New Website please visit his When Enrolling For a New Site resources!
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