It’s ten years since the first Data Privacy Day (DPD) in 2008. I remember how excited I was at the first one and how I tried to round up as many events to link to as I could. I even tried to make a graphic for it. Those posts are not in the current PogoWasRight database, because I switched platforms a few years later, and my graphic was never requested by the Louvre, but I do remember the thrill of being part of a coordinated global effort to increase public awareness about protecting the privacy of our data.
But has there been any significant progress in protecting our data privacy since our first DPD, or do you believe, as I do, that we have actually lost ground in some important respects? I think we’ve actually lost ground in the U.S. because I see more reports of:
- license plate readers and databases of where our license plates have been recorded;
- TSA using biometric identifiers;
- DEA being able to access prescription records;
- stores tracking our movements and activities via our phones;
- “smart” devices and connected devices that send our data up to the cloud (where it may wind up exposed due to misconfigured databases);
- connected cars storing our location data and much more info; and
- more and more firms compiling data to build better profiles to use for targeted advertising.
You can add your own examples of how we have lost data privacy ground over the past decade. I’m just hard-pressed to think of any clear examples of significant privacy improvement, and in a quick poll on Twitter, 75% of a small sample believe we’ve lost ground on privacy while 25% feel we’ve made some progress.
So what are you doing on this Data Privacy Day to protect your data privacy? And if you’re in a corporate environment, what is your company doing today to reinforce data privacy protection?