INTERNET PRIVACY
We are used to internet. Our lives depend on it currently and we can not live without being online even just for one hour out there. It is more valuable for us to run internet to find what we want or to be informed of what is going on Earth. We give much more sense to internet that the reason why we enter our personal informations on our online account in order to keep it safe or to permit google to remember it in our place.
This act of register your personal information online is a part of what we call by « internet privacy»
WHAT SHOULD BE UNDERSTOOD BY « INTERNET PRIVACY »?
Internet privacy is the use of personal data online. There is normally a right or mandate to be applied for such information if it will be used by a third party. Thus, Internet privacy does concern the person oneself or another person who uses his/her personal information online.
What we can define by private is all information related to oneself which attached to his/her individual matters. It means that whatever information such as age, address, colour of skin as well as sex for example are considered as privacy online. By these criteria, one’s can identify an individual without even knowing name.
Everybody, especially internet users, has already divulged their information online with or without attention. Once you create an account or subscribe to some newsletter by providing your email address, you already give your personal information.
WHICH ONE CAN USE INTERNET PRIVACY WITHOUT ANY AGREEMENT ONLINE ?
There are five companies which can use your data and have the right to do so. They are Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google. According to the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commissions parameters, these companies has the right to use internet users data as they fit.
These entities are the most popular in tech stocks and have good performance in terms of online marketing. This opportunity allow them to reach certain average to capitalize market throughout the world. Their business turns around their internauts. The loyalty of internet doer is the secret of these great companies earnings. It is the main source of their demands to the Federal Communications Commissions to use personal data for their business.
WHAT ARE THE RISK TO INTERNET PRIVACY ?
When we talk about internet privacy, it is always social media that comes up in our mind particularly Facebook. It collects all our personal information once when we create an account. They even as ask now sexual orientation. We thought this is little but know that it is more important for the person who sees your profile. Here, the threats is that one third person can use your privacy to create a fake profile. At that time, you will be stalking by the other Facebook maker as the person uses your personal data without your agreement. Even when you tend to bring it to justice, you do not have the right. Facebook has signed that they can use all their internaut personal data so as the case between their doers.
Apart from Facebook, threats also can appear when you are to make payment online. Of course, you do not have time to shop in a mall so that you do it online. However, do not forget that once you accept their general agreement and policies, you are about to submit to all information they request including payment. You have to provide first your IBAN and BIC and then the number of your credit card to finalise the payment. Sure, they do not ask all the number ; just the three or four latest ones. But it is already an information that you are only the one who supposed to know it, classified as personal and private. What if the payment does not work as it should be, what do you do ? Supposed they debited your credit card within a wrong amount. You as customer, you come back to them to complain. They told you that it was the right amount that they found in your basket. It is a big mess but you can not do anything since at the beginning you have already ticked their general agreement. They remind you that it was your fault not theirs to put many items in your basket. You may have a proof but if the error came from you, you are always wrong whatever you will tend to do to resolve this matter.
It is when we faced to this kind of issues that we realise our disappointment. Thus, we should aware of what we add when we are online. After all, you are being trapped by your own action if you do it unconsciously.
WHAT CAN WE DO TO PROTECT OURSELVES ?
There are many tools that you can use to protect your personal data online. First of all, you have to strain all information you expose online. Then, you can use some of the application below to permit you to protect your data. The list is not exhaustive. You can find other tools online but they are just the easy ones among them:
Wikr: a mobile messaging app. It gives users the capacity to control what information is retained when this last use social media.
NordVPN : it protects sensitive information about location by hiding IP address. The only information shown is the VPN server. It encrypts user data through a secure tunnel before accessing to internet.
Omlet: it is an open social media network which allows users to control over their data. In any case, they can delete it if they do not want to save their data.
SSLPrivateProxy.com: a link which is totally anonymous and secure VPN. You will get dedicated IP when you run and no danger to use your own personal data as this one does not save your data. Private tunnel : it hides public IP address and users can run internet anonymously. It protects them also from cyber-attacks. It warns users when they are to access malicious web pages.
This matter of internet privacy will be resolved as GDPR is already on its way. This is a kind of data regulator in order to get approval of internet users before using their personal information. A good solution for all of us !