Has your data been leaked yet? What is it used for? And how to protect yourself.

In a data-driven age where businesses consider data as an important part of their business strategy, it is hard not to wonder why do they need it and how can you protect yourself from their prying eyes. For instance, the infamous data breach scandal of Facebook and Cambridge Analytica in 2018 left many social networks to hurriedly update their privacy policies and many users shied away from social media. This poses a question:’ What does the business do with your data, is your data private, and what can you do to protect yourself?’

First, let do a small test, to see whether or not your data have ever been leaked and floating around the internet: https://haveibeenpwned.com/

It would be very impressive if the answer is no, then you have done a great job! However, for the rest of us, that is not the case.

We are living in a digital-dominating world. Business is digitally transformed or digitally based, your personal data become a high-value commodity. Social media platforms, such as Facebook, has always been collecting our data, that we have known. It has been happening for ages. What you do, what you watch, what you like and engage with are user behaviour patterns that are crucial information for advertising and even pushing political agenda. Facebook, Twitter, Google, Snapchat, Amazon, and all of them have access to your data, that is for sure, but what they are doing with those data and should a breach happen, who is to blame?

Then it comes to the question:’ What can you do to protect your privacy?’. We Are Social reports that data privacy is the top concern of all social media users, yet only two-third actually take action. While some countries have regulations, some have somewhat of regulation or nothing at all. The most developed one being the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) from the EU, which is a much-needed step in the right direction. The US also has a law to protect consumer privacy but it still has a long way to go. Other countries might see themselves unprotected by the government as it is less of an urging problem in their countries, that leaves the responsibility in each individual’s hands. Do not give out your real personal info too easy, do not do silly quizzes, do not use unsecured websites and regularly do a privacy checkup and password management.