“This privacy of data and image includes concerns about making sure that individuals’ data is not automatically available to other individuals and organisations” (Friedewald, 2013)

I think that most of us have a notion of our data being used against our wishes. Just simply look into the electronic mailbox and consider all the spam. Of course our email is a channel which is often exposed to the public, but some spammers are getting to it through sites where we register for a service or where we want to participate in a forum (we did not come there for spam). And that might be on the edge. Another example – I’ve heard about quite disgusting way of getting to personal data. A good lady is going to a hospital visiting mothers who gave birth and giving them some little presents – creams, toys, nice words. She only wants the mothers to subscribe – of course they can refuse and cancel it later on, not a problem. Like that a company is collecting precious data about the age of kids – therefore being able to target the right offer in the right moment of childhood.

These are pretty “old” technologies, there are newer ways to collect, store and process the data. We can be glad that there is even some legislation regulating the usage of personal data (actually, next year there is the EU legislation coming to our country and causing some headaches to companies). As Friedewald says “we should be empowered” concerning our data. The interesting thing is that many of us do not feel the urge to protect our own data. I have to admit that I’ve already lost the track of all the videos, photos, opinions I was sharing somewhere – hope that it won’t get back in the wrong way.

I promise, I’ll try to be more cautious. Especially as I remember examples of burglers going to social networks like to a shopping mall. First, they browse through your photos searching for valuable objects (TVs, computers, Hi-Fi, VR sets…), then they look again at the photos of your flat observing the weak spots and how the interior is set (to navigate without problems). And then they are just waiting for your post such as: “Greetings from Corsica, suckers! #summer #vacation #finally”.

References
- Finn, R. L., Wright, D., & Friedewald, M. (2013). Seven types of privacy. In European data protection: coming of age (pp. 3-32). Springer Netherlands.