Data security, such a buzzword but seriously relevant in this day and age.
Time moves on and generations are born with the continuous looming presence of the internet in their everyday lives. Almost every moment is captured. From that first bath to graduation, citizenship, business loan etc, you get the point.
This is of course, quite fantastic; the ability to share all of our greatest or worst moments with others almost anywhere on the planet.
We can communicate instantly with friends and family regardless of timezone or location. Slowly becoming more and more integrated with the technology around us; some are implanting chips in their bodies, smart limbs, AI, all this and 5G has not even arrived yet…
Ignoring the fanfare. The one over-arcing theme here is data. Without data there is no message sent, no ‘first day at school’ pictures shared, no requesting appointments, the list is endless.
Obviously, data has to be used in a digital medium. The question remains; at what point do we decide that’s enough data shared with people or parties who have nothing whatsoever to do with the contents.
Requests for your data
Data, the more you create the more it seems the government and corporations want it. The links that follow are just from a small search online this morning.
November 14 2012 The Telegraph – UK government data requests double, says Google
November 12 2015 ITPro – UK government Facebook data requests grow 71%
September 28th 2017 Cnet – Google reports all time high of government data requests.
December 4 2018 Technologylawdispatch – UK government introduces Data Retention and Acquisition Regulations 2018
13 February 2019 Engadget write about Amazon and Google asking for non-stop data from smart home devices.
13 February 2019 Tech Crunch – Reddit said government data requests more than doubled in 2018.
Without going into too much depth, figures are generally rising across the board.
Truth be told, large corporate bodies should not have access to any of your data apart from what is relevant to you and the service they provide. Unfortunately the standard reason they provide their service is to make a profit, this is why some unscrupulous ones take a little more than is needed. More data, more profit. Its an easy one to calculate. The more you know about something the better a position you are in to sell that information to another.
Data Collection Prevention Tactics
Barring disconnection from the internet there is not much you can about the data security of your ISP and how it is collected. Obviously this is an end of the line tactic. For less extreme options here are a couple of links that may assist in your Data saving.
DuckDuckGo Non tracking search engine
During the multiple times you use the internet this weekend, make sure at least for 5 minutes that your own data security is at a reasonable high level. Don’t forget, your data is priceless and there are many bidders for it out there!