Internet Privacy

The other night I was sharing a meal with a couple of long time friends. The topic of Internet privacy came up. I am a technology professional and it is not uncommon for people to ask me about.

"What do you think about the whole TikTok thing?"

"If you are on social media, you're basically done, you have no privacy. It is bad enough that we have given up our own privacy to our own government and various U.S. corporations, it is even worse to give it up to a foreign entity."

This was a flippant response made without much thought.

I have been resigned about Internet security and privacy for a long time. The organizations collecting my data are more dedicated, better financed and probably staffed by people smarter than me.

My typical response when asked about Internet privacy is to quote Will Rogers,

Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip.

However, the landscape has changed; artificial intelligence, data analytics, foreign interference in elections, the "algorithm" designed to keep you scrolling through mindless posts are shifting equation. Maybe efforts to protect ones privacy have more value.

In future posts we will look at techniques and tools we can use to protect ourselves.