Yet another ‘Data Privacy Day'(January 28) is here and how else to celebrate it than by reinforcing the basics of ‘Privacy’….
‘Privacy’ is a huge factor today particularly with explosion in social media and the ability to surreptitiously capture personal information and store it for a long period of time.
So, on this ‘Data Privacy Day’, let us refresh our basics of privacy pertaining to everyday life:
- A basic understanding of “What is privacy?” in today’s world will help a lot
- ‘Privacy’ is the “right to be left alone” in the physical world
- However, basic privacy in the online world is allowing the apps to know only necessary personal information
- Online privacy is having control of “your digital data”
- Apps have to know certain details for it to function correctly – as an example, location is needed for an app to deliver its products, but other details like age, gender are totally unnecessary
- It is good to review every app’s ‘privacy settings’ and set it to the appropriate and most private level
- As an example in Whatsapp, you can control who can contact you and who can view your profile photo and status. This is possible in other social media accounts and apps accordingly
- Reading about local privacy laws also helps (in India this is the DPDPA Act of 2023)
- It is always good to share with care online and to never show children’s faces
- And last but not least, it is good to research the data we are giving to a social media provider:
a. “What information am I giving you? – my name, my age, my gender, my ethinicity etc
b. “What will you do with that information?”
c. “Where will you store it? How long will it be stored?”
d. “Will you share it with other third parties? Who are they?”
All these questions show our conscious knowledge of privacy and the way our data is being handled.
Hope these basic privacy suggestions enhance and keep you safe and private online!
Let less people collect about information about you this year!