Privacy in a Transparent World

Do you own a Roomba? These little iRobot house helpers have become essentials in millions of households around the world. What you might not know is that Roomba was bought by Amazon for a whopping $1.7 billion. The retail giant claims it is only the next step towards making everybody’s home smart . The vacuum cleaners will connect with Alexa and other Amazon-developer smart home solutions to make everyone’s living even more comfortable. 

But, for market watchers as well as homeowners, this news raised numerous concerns. Among them, the question of privacy is the most concerning. After all, thanks to  Roombas, Amazon will be able to collect information it would not have the possibility otherwise: 

• The number and approximate age of children
• The approximate level of income
• The layout of homes
• Other private information

All of this will allow Amazon to better tailor advertisements for the users. But it also sets a very dangerous precedent. The platform will have access to every bit of very intimate information — our personal lives. 

Another push for privacy is a recent decision by Apple to allow ads in Apple-developed iPhone apps such as Maps, Podcasts, and Books. Last year, Apple introduced a feature which allowed iPhone users to set preferences when it comes to third-party apps gathering their data, and 78% of iPhone 13 users have exercised this option. This decision led to catastrophic losses for Facebook, Twitter, Facebook, and Snap — combined, the companies have lost $17.8 billion this year alone. 

Bringing the ads to the Apple apps raises a question of privacy once again — will the company track its users’ online activity to personalize ads and, as a result, reduce the amount of privacy they have while using their own smartphone?

News like this always makes me wonder — what is the future of privacy in a transparent world? 

Around 50% of US adults have a virus on their computers. This means around 170 million of US adults expose their personal and private information to those with malicious intent. 

Unbelieving or unprotected users become not only targets, but the reason for virus and malware distribution. Harmful software can distribute itself via emails, Wi-Fi, Remote Desktop Protocol or RDP, and spam messages. By failing to protect their own personal data and privacy, they endanger the privacy of the people around them. 

So, what is the future of privacy? Actually, it is looking much better than we could imagine. 

It is predicted that next year, 65% of the world’s population will have their personal information protected by modern privacy regulations — up from 10% in 2021. The rise of GDPR, PCI DSS, ISO, and other regulations will make it easier for people to control and protect their private data.

At the same time, people’s privacy awareness is growing. More and more consumers read up on companies’ privacy regulations and familiarize themselves with the ways to protect their personal information: 

• Set up stronger passwords
• Follow basic cybersecurity industry news
• Be aware of the soft- and hardware you are using, and the data protection means implemented in them
• Know your rights and responsibilities

As we go further, privacy becomes more important and more elusive. Big Tech companies seemingly remain above the law, and our personal data seemingly becomes less and less protected. 

In reality, we hold the key to data protection in our hands — the first step is to be aware of what may violate our privacy and the ways we can protect it. We, the consumers, are the ones shaping the future of data privacy.