April 2018 | Batten down those privacy hatches
We’re hearing a lot about data breaches lately, and Facebook’s privacy policy, breaches, and data use are especially hot topics. Loads of people around the world share their inner thoughts, nasty thoughts, nice thoughts, location, baby pics, naked pics, and more while documenting their lives for friends, family, and strangers. People are worried about privacy, and rightly so. It’s pretty creepy that even anonymized datasets can identify individuals in hours (or seconds or minutes via computer program).
But if you’re only worried about FB, you’re not casting your worry wide enough. Your internet service provider (ISP) and your mobile phone company know WAY more about you than FB does. You know why? Because your ISP and your phone company get to see every single piece of digital information you send through their networks. That’s every question you’ve asked any search engine, any text you’ve sent, any photo you’ve uploaded, all that stuff you put on Facebook, and a heck of a lot more. So maybe it’s time to stop freaking out about FB and start freaking out about your ISP. (And then keep rooting for net neutrality.)
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CAST YOUR PRIVACY WORRY WIDER
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NOTHING TO HIDE
I’m big on privacy, but some people aren’t, and sometimes that stems from an erroneous understanding of what it means to have nothing to hide. “What’s wrong with sharing my life online? Let them see my posts! Let them see my photos! I have nothing to hide.” That’s a common refrain. But there’s danger in peddling the belief that you have nothing to hide.
When you say you have nothing to hide, you imply that only “bad” people desire privacy, that there must be skeletons in closets to desire privacy. But would you share the password to your email with a stranger? If not, you have something to hide. You value privacy. Would you give a stranger access to your bank account? If not, you have something to hide. You value privacy. It’s essential that you get to choose what personal information you want to share and with whom. That’s worth fighting for.
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QUIT THE INTERNET AND EMBRACE BOREDOM
We can all agree that most of us are internet addicts, right? That’s not news. Maybe you're thinking, “Not me. I can put my phone down any time.” Liar. You’re jonesing for another dopamine hit – an email reply from a friend, a text, an elusive answer to a challenging question, an obvious answer to an easy question that you didn’t want to tax yourself digging into your memory to answer yourself. Even a like, love, haha, or sad face will suffice. It tells you that someone, anyone, is thinking about you, and that feeds your inner mammoth, and that makes you addicted to connection. And no wonder, when people are literally dying from loneliness. (Just don’t forget that online connections can’t replace actual human interaction with people you love; online connections do not necessarily un-lonely your life and may even contribute to loneliness.)
Before your phone chirps or dings or rings again and gives you that validation that somewhere out there is thinking of you and that you’re valuable (because we all need to feel valued and purposeful), try embracing boredom by taking a break from the internet (she recommends from the glow of her internet-connected laptop late at night). You may find value in yourself, in your real-life connections, in life itself.
You might have a killer portfolio or an excellent resume or a hot PowerPoint presentation (this is a business blog, after all; however fun my witty commentary might seem, PowerPoint is a part of my life), but without a solid narrative, your story is up for grabs, and someone else will grab it. Wrest control, my friend, and control the narrative yourself.