Online privacy in the UK
“The sun also shines on the wicked.” — Seneca
Our government, the websites we visit, the phones and computers that we use, and our internet service providers all track, store, and have the ability to access our data to be used in ways that they deem acceptable.
Below is an example to frame the issue for you.
Let’s say you visit these three websites today:
- The Evening Standard
- The Economist
- The Telegraph
All of these sites are normal, and you would expect nothing scary to be happening to your data by visiting them right?…Well here’s a list of the companies, organisations and countries that now have access to your data:
ORGANISATIONS
• Metropolitan police force
• City of London police force
• Police forces maintained under section 2 of the Police Act 1996
• Police Service of Scotland
• Police Service of Northern Ireland
• British Transport Police
• Ministry of Defence Police
• Royal Navy Police
• Royal Military Police
• Royal Air Force Police
• Security Service
• Secret Intelligence Service
• GCHQ
• Ministry of Defence
• Department of Health
• Home Office
• Ministry of Justice
• National Crime Agency
• HM Revenue & Customs
• Department for Transport
• Department for Work and Pensions
• NHS trusts and foundation trusts in England that provide ambulance services
• Common Services Agency for the Scottish Health Service
• Competition and Markets Authority
• Criminal Cases Review Commission
• Department for Communities in Northern Ireland
• Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland
• Department of Justice in Northern Ireland
• Financial Conduct Authority
• Fire and rescue authorities under the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004
• Food Standards Agency
• Food Standards Scotland
• Gambling Commission
• Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority
• Health and Safety Executive
• Independent Police Complaints Commissioner
• Information Commissioner
• NHS Business Services Authority
• Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Health and Social Care Trust
• Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service Board
• Northern Ireland Health and Social Care Regional Business Services Organisation
• Office of Communications
• Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland
• Police Investigations and Review Commissioner
• Scottish Ambulance Service Board
• Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission
• Serious Fraud Office
• Welsh Ambulance Services National Health Service Trust
COMPANIES
• The Economist Group
• Lebedev Holdings Ltd
• The Telegraph Media Group
• Optimizely
• Skimlinks
• Disqus
• Krux
• Criteo
• Google
• Nielsen
• Ooyala
• Effective Measure
• Parse.ly
• VisualDNA
• Chartbeat
• Quantcast
• Brightcove
• Facebook
• Krux
• Twitter
• AudienceScience
• Dianomi
• ComScore
• Gigya
• Visual Revenue
• Outbrain
• Grapeshot
• Tapad
• Turn
• Flashtalking
• TRUSTe
• MaxPoint
• BlueKai
• ValueClick
• AdRoll
• FetchBack
• LinkedIn
• DG
• Amazon.com
• Adara Media
COUNTRIES
• USA
• AUSTRAILIA
• SPAIN
• IRELAND
• THE NETHERLANDS
• AUSTRAILIA
Are you ok with that?…. I didn’t think so.
Now, I’m pretty sure that my list isn’t exhaustive, it took me around 20 minutes to source that information so I’m sure that there are more companies, organisations and countries to add to that list. Here’s a couple of my sources so that you can see for yourselves:
The types of data that all of the above entities have access to varies, but they all have access to your browsing data at the very least.
This should concern you, not because you’re doing anything wrong or because you have anything to hide, it should concern you because if you’re anything like I was before I became interested in the future of online privacy, then you’re completely oblivious to what’s happening with your data and who is able to use it, and the frightening thing is about it all, is that there is nobody to ask about it, and nowhere for you to check up on your data, who has it, or how its being used.
We have to take steps as individuals to protect our privacy online, as it’s plain to see from the above information that nobody is going to do it on our behalf. Unfortunately I can’t help you protect your private medical data from being lost by the NHS (yes that happened this year)
but I can give you a few steps that you can take to ensure that you’re looking after your privacy online.
1. Two factor authentication
It’s like needing two keys to open one door, usually these keys take the form of your computer and your phone.
For example — if you’re accessing your email from a new computer, your email service will text your phone with a verification code that you must enter before your email is displayed.
You can use this site to check whether or not your service offers two factor authentication.
2. Use a password manager
If you’re anything like my friends then you probably use the same password for everything, and it’s probably something simple like ‘BananaCherry_24’(no that’s not mine). You probably do this because you have to remember so many passwords nowadays that you just want something simple that’s easy to type when you’re logging in.
Do yourself a favour, use a password manager to not only save a different password for each of the sites you use, but have it generate better passwords for each site. I personally use 1Password.
3. VPN
A VPN is like giving your computer a fake identification number that also changes all the time.
Here are the benefits of using a VPN:
- A VPN keeps your computer & physical location private
- Your information & communication will be encrypted, which makes it harder (especially for people using public WiFi) to steal your information.
- Some countries or Internet Providers block certain websites based on your location, using VPN makes it look like you’re suddenly coming from the other side of the planet, so those websites will now work for you.
- Most websites track your behaviour online in order to sell it to advertising companies. Using a VPN helps you keep this data private.
I personally use PureVPN
4. Watch your computer
There have been numerous stories published recently that tell of software and hardware providers accessing people microphones and cameras without their permission or knowledge. It’s not a bad idea to install some software that will tell you when either are being accessed.
I use OverSight
There are quite a few more steps that you can take to further protect your privacy, but these are a great starting point.
Please forward this info to a friend and help them protect their privacy.
If anyone has any comments/suggestions/additions please tweet me @callumadamson
#recommendedreading
Artificial Intelligence (What Everyone Needs To Know) by Jerry Kaplan
If you’re interested in AI and already have a basic footing in the sector, then this book isn’t for you. This is a great book to buy your friend that has heard of AI and wants to know more. It will give the reader a competent knowledge base in the field and will hopefully encourage them to find out more.
