The Importance Of Digital Privacy

Abstract

With the speed and convenience of current technology, we may forget about the importance of digital privacy. People tend to overshare their personal information online because they do not realised the danger of it. With so much personal information provided willingly by online users, it may be easier for cyber criminals to do their illegal activities. We need to educate ourselves about the significance of digital privacy, the consequences of oversharing as well as how to prevent cybercrime.

Introduction

Digital privacy is referring to the protection of the online citizens’ information that is being used through digital mediums / channels. It is also referring to it in relation to internet usage by the citizens as well. Every time

Hence, privacy is crucial to protect and support the many responsibilities that we possess today.

Many individuals expose their deepest thoughts and barest body parts every day, leading many to think that privacy is outdated, least important. These positions entirely miss the point of privacy. Privacy is not about embarrassment or bad behaviors but it is about choice. In many cases, people who expose their ideas online choose to do so. And those cases in which people were exposed by someone’s choice such as reporter, the people felt that their privacy was violated.

We have to learn to understand the importance of maintaining our own choices for what we want to keep private. Each individual’s home, thoughts and beliefs are all within themselves and are easier to hold private. Their finances, relationships are areas that most of us would consider private although additional parties such as banks and boyfriend/girlfriend holds information pertaining to their private matters, so privacy is expected though total control is not

Some spyware hijacks users’ Internet browser and takes them to its desired websites or even redirect their browser’s homepage to the spyware site.

We may view the various type of spyware as bloodsucking worms with no other purpose than to enter our system by any means, feed themselves and then find a way to spread to other people’s system.

To keep clean, we need to watch where we click.

• Stay away from the suspected free software downloads as they are often loaded with commercial adware.

• Do not open attachment in emails from anyone that we do not trust.

• Do not open attachment in emails with confusing or unexpected text even from anyone that we trust.

• Do not click on buttons inside pop-up windows that invite us to close the window. Click the close ‘x’ in the corner of the box to close it.

The higher we set for our browser security settings, the less exposure we will have to spyware. Also, installing spyware monitoring tools that can prevent spyware from installing on our computer would help better.