Your Data Online.
Advertisers know WAY more about you than you realize. This week, we're telling you what they know and what to do about it.
- We know you never read the Terms of Use. Just make sure you actually know what you agreed to…
- Instagram:
- Has the ability to sublicense your pictures
- Is free to share your data with third-parties
- Twitter
- Has the ability to sell your personal data without telling you
- Ignores Do-Not-Track orders
- Facebook
- Tracks you across the Internet (even if you don't have an account with them)
- Keeps all the information you delete
- For more apps, check out https://tosdr.org/ for an easy, visual breakdown.
- Everything about you, down to your keystrokes and tapping patterns, can be bought by advertisers. They may know more about you than even you do. Aside from the things you post publicly online, they may know:
- Locations you often visit
- Health problems you have
- How likely you are to become addicted to drugs or alcohol
- The marital status of your parents
- How soon you're likely to get a new job / get married
- How your emotions change the way you interact with your screens
- Data brokers are the organizations that compile and sell this information to corporations.
- For now, to get your data back you have to take it from every data broker individually. This process can only get easier with increased federal regulations. (Except in California, who are already fighting back.)
- Your data is as valuable as oil. Big data corporations will keep absorbing as much as they’re allowed to until you have no privacy left, unless we stop them. How far might they go? Some possibilities include:
- Health insurance companies could change your rates based on where you eat
- Employers could track your location when you call out
- Smart speakers could sell data about the sounds in your home
It can happen to you.
There’s always someone lurking in the dark, waiting to take what’s yours. This week, we're reminding you how to defend yourself and your data.
- Identity fraud is incredibly common as personal information becomes more available through data breaches.
- 1 in 15 people experience it a year.
- Texas ranks 6th in the US for most cases of identity fraud.
- If you're info has ever been leaked, you're at risk.
- Check https://haveibeenpwned.com/ to see if your info is out there.
- Even one leaked password can unravel your whole life, if you let it.
- If a hacker gets access to your email account...
- They can reset your bank passwords...
- They can transfer all your money out...
- They can open new accounts in your name...
- They can destroy your credit...
- Leaving you to clean up the mess for years.
- Deepfakes aren’t something you have to worry about now, but someday they could become as common as genuine content.
- Deepfakes are highly realistic pictures / videos made with AI.
- They can trick you into believing what isn't true, or wrongly convince others you did something.
- The worst of all: they weaken our ability to trust what we see.
- Protecting yourself isn't hard.
What should be allowed?
It’s hard to keep up with the issues on the ballots. This week, we’re giving you a refresher on data privacy issues, so you’re prepped to vote!
- Mail-in voting is not any less secure than in-person voting. It isn’t too late to request a mail-in ballot for November 3rd!
- Security methods include:
- Matching the info on the ballot with the info in the voter database.
- Signature verification.
- Barcode tracking.
- Fraud is exceedingly rare. In the past 20 years of mail-voting in Oregon, 14 out of 15,000,000 votes were considered fraudulent.
- In 2018, a quarter of all votes were done by mail.
- The weakest link at a voting machine is the human using it. Make sure to double-check your ballot before submitting it and stay alert to misinformation campaigns.
- There's a wide variety of voting machines scattered across the country. This prevents large-scale hacking, because every machine works a little differently.
- Fraud is rare. Historically only 4500 in 15,000,000 votes / election are considered 'fraudulent'.
- Most of the time, they're actually just a byproduct of clerical error.
- The biggest risks to voting machine security is the spread of false information and the use of outdated machines.
- UPS and FedEx are not obligated to protect your data in the way USPS is. It’s worth considering.
- USPS must uphold the Privacy Act, and therefore have to protect your data.
- UPS will not sell your personal data, but they maintain their right to use it however they want.
- FedEx can both sell your personal data and use it as they please.
- Facial recognition technology has lots of risks. As legislation on it becomes more common, we need to protect our ownership of our faces.
- Pros:
- Helps catch criminals
- Helps locate missing persons
- Can be used ethically (following strict guidelines proposed by the ACLU)
- Cons:
- Limits anonymity
- Enabled detailed tracking
- Can help stalkers and harassers
- Discriminates against POC
