Why Should You Care About Privacy and Security?
I recently had the pleasure of hosting our first PS Workshop with Future Ada at the downtown library in Spokane, WA. The monthly workshops give us a chance to interact directly with the community, where we talk about issues such as privacy and security (hence the “PS”), dealing with online harassment, and other similar topics.
Privacy. The word itself might remind us of the privacy of our bedroom, sharing or keeping a secret with someone we trust, or maybe a space where we can keep our thoughts away from prying eyes such as a journal. For some, the word might even evoke a feeling of safety. The Oxford dictionary defines privacy as:
The state or condition of being free from being observed or disturbed by other people.
It’s easy to get a sense of how we can achieve privacy in a physical space. For example, by closing and locking doors or by hiding our private journals. Yet when it comes to the digital space, this gets trickier as we often lack insight as to how our information is handled. In our workshops, I use a similar definition to the Oxford one for online privacy:
The state or condition of having our personal data being free from being observed or disturbed by other people or organizations.
Like 91% of Americans, most, if not all, of our workshop attendees feel like they have lost control over how their personal data is collected and used. Outside of that space, however, I do still encounter what I call the 9 percent. Those who quickly ask: “Why should I care?”, followed by remarks such as “I have nothing to hide”, “My information’s already out there, anyway”, or my favorite one, by my dad: “Even if hackers get my credit card numbers, big deal- I’ll just call the credit card company and cancel everything”.
There’s a reason why when I speak about privacy, security follows closely behind- because you can’t have one without the other. To achieve a state of online privacy or security requires having some sort of control over our data. Of course, this is more easily said than done. Over 64% of Americans have already been the victims of a major data breach, and with the number of breaches increasing every year and hitting record highs, some people may feel like they’ve already lost the battle.
“My information’s already out there, anyway.”
For those who’ve given up, I’m here to give you hope. Even if you were among the 148 million Americans in the Equifax breach and had sensitive information such as your social security number compromised, there are actions you can take to prevent further headaches. Credit freezes, alerts for whenever a new account is linked to your social security number, changing passwords and security questions, I could go on for hours about the actions a person can take to protect themselves. At the very least, it’s better to have some defenses in place and some sort of agency regarding your privacy, security and information than none at all. And it’s certainly better than the alternative: leaving identity thieves, third parties or opportunistic hackers with a greater chance of successfully using that information against you.
“I have nothing to hide.”
The idea that a person is too uninteresting, or is a model citizen and therefore should not worry about being a target became especially popular after the 2013 Snowden revelations. It’s a comforting concept for the person who believes in that argument, as it means that if they abide by the law and social norms, then nothing bad will happen to them. When you think about it, the argument really boils down to saying that bad things only happen to bad people- which is completely false. There is no “morality firewall” which magically blocks malicious people from accessing a Saint-like victim’s social media or financial accounts. There are, however, plenty of ways to use a mother’s maiden name, a pet’s name or previous residential addresses to reset a person’s password or PIN number. Unfortunately, church attendance does not correlate with better security.
“Even if hackers get my credit card numbers, big deal- I’ll just call the credit card company and cancel everything.”
If the hassle of cancelling your credit card and changing its numbers on all of your accounts, possibly freezing your credit and more isn’t a big deal… I have a garage that needs cleaning and a list of renovations for you! All jokes aside, Americans affected by cybercrime spend an average of 20 hours dealing with the aftermath. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, identity theft is on the rise with victims losing an average of $850 per incident. This number doesn’t include indirect costs such as having to skip work to manage the incident, related administrative fees or even emotional costs.
At the end of the day, having less control over our data, or less privacy, directly impacts our security. If you would like to learn how to better secure your online presence, I invite you to stay tuned for the next blog post in this series. And if you’re in the Spokane area, we welcome you to join some of our free, monthly PS Workshops.
