Privacy is a human right; observing and maintaining it is a feeling of security and peace for society. Privacy allows people to create boundaries to protect themselves from unauthorized intrusions. In simpler words, privacy is the information and personal life of people because every person has valuable information that disclosure or unauthorized access to that information may cause him some resentment and harm.
In a society, through privacy, people can determine the limits of their communication with the outside world and prevent their information from being controlled by others (government, organizations, companies, and natural persons).
It should be mentioned that privacy is not related to a specific person and includes all people, groups, organizations, etc. Also, privacy does not have a specific amount of information, and it is different based on culture and different people; For example, even the chocolate that your little child has hidden in the corner of his room can be a clear example of privacy, and removing or even moving it is a violation of privacy and causes him resentment.
Although society has not yet reached a good point of protecting people’s privacy, this right has been addressed as an important principle in regional and international laws, and several laws have been approved in this field. Currently, more than 130 countries support privacy laws.
What is Data Loss Prevention (DLP)?
Types of privacy
Privacy has different areas and types, and every person, company, culture, or country has a specific definition of privacy, physical or mental. Physical conditions, specific diseases, and memories are related to this aspect. Another aspect of privacy includes a person’s family relationships, which are somewhat broader and affect his social relationships.
In contrast to these issues, there is also information that has a more general and social aspect; for example, the field of study, nationality, recreation, job, and appearance characteristics of people can also be considered part of their privacy based on the individual’s diagnosis. According to the above explanations, it can be seen that privacy does not have a specific category, but it is divided into two general categories.
Physical privacy
Physical privacy can be defined as preventing an intruder from entering a person’s privacy, which causes a sense of insecurity in a person. Some countries have established laws to protect this type of privacy. For example, one of these rules is to respect the distance of people from each other, which is known as personal space.
According to these laws, in public places, every person has a personal distance according to the general culture of that country. They are entering that distance, and getting closer to a person more than a certain amount is considered a violation of his privacy and can be sued and pursued by judicial authorities.
Information Privacy
Information privacy is the protection of data that includes collecting and storing digital or non-digital data and information, including documents, identification documents, personal digital files, digital signatures, passwords, etc.
Due to the advancement of technology and doing most things in the internet space, the importance of digital privacy has doubled. Because maintaining security in non-digital cases can be done to a large extent.
What is privacy on the Internet?
Internet privacy is the extent to which the privacy and security of private data are maintained by individuals who move this data over the Internet or upload it to the cloud. For example, when you send a personal file through a mobile phone application or an email service, no one but your intended recipient must have access to that file.
The fact that the security of the file sent by you is maintained even after it is received by your recipient and is only available to the person you want is also a very important concern. Still, the issue does not end here because many risks in the Internet space threaten your privacy.
Accessing your system through third-party software and publishing them on the Internet, listening and checking your sent and received information, storing and disclosing information related to your searches on the Internet, and even listening and identifying the people you interact with. You are connected. Hackers can do it to a great extent if you don’t follow security measures.
Why is privacy so important?
For example, suppose one day Google, like Facebook, decides to share your personal information with other organizations! What do you think will happen? All your personal information, such as date of birth, mobile number, list of your email recipients, files uploaded to Google Drive, location, interests, and all the information you don’t even think about, from your online times to all the sites you have visited and even your email password. It will be available to that organization!
Suppose people in that organization use your email to send and receive illegal information! How will you convince the court judge that you were not the sender? You must have noticed by now that the internet space can be much more dangerous than the physical space of your world.
But with these interpretations, why is the Internet still in everyone’s attention, and is it safe to a considerable extent? Apart from the rare action of Facebook, the Internet, like the country you live in, has many laws to maintain the safety of users, which, if followed, will provide you with information security to a large extent.
It is not the case that companies that provide services on the Internet can easily disclose or share their users’ information, and large companies such as Microsoft and Google have many obligations to this information, and with the slightest error, not only their billions of revenues may be lost. But pay heavy fines for this mistake that will push them to the brink of bankruptcy, so you can safely use these services.
Factors and laws protecting security and privacy on the Internet
In most countries, there are laws such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for fair trade and non-deception of users; The commission is the main privacy regulator and takes enforcement action against companies that violate the law.
These rules include non-compliance with privacy policies in the data sent by users and a lack of proper protection of personal information. For example, when you enter your personal information, such as email, contact number, and address, to register, you can be sure that the site you are looking for will not abuse your information by checking the site’s information.
Other laws such as ECPA or Electronic Communications Privacy, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) include unauthorized access to users’ computers to obtain specific information, forging or accessing anything of value to users, transferring files, and Harmful cases or traffic checks, including passwords. There are laws to protect children’s privacy, such as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act or COPPA. With the help of these rules, the virtual world has been secured to a great extent, but is it enough to present and implement these rules?
Methods of creating safe conditions for privacy
The fact that many laws help protect users’ privacy is effective to a great extent. Still, many times the violation of the privacy of users on the Internet is due to the lack of knowledge of the conditions for establishing security on the Internet, so we will try to continue with some useful information that can Let us help make the Internet safer and protect your valuable data.
Use of secure protocols
Creating a secure platform through special protocols such as HTTPS has been created and developed to maintain the security of users on the Internet so that users can ensure the authenticity of the websites they exchange data with. If you are interested in knowing more about this protocol, you can read the article Read what HTTPS protocol is. Also, one of the attacks that compromise your data is phishing.
In the phishing method, fraudsters try to get the bank and personal information of users by designing a page similar to the bank page or similar sites but by checking the page address (which is the same as the address of the bank site or good payment gateways) and having a green color or a lock symbol. You can use these services safely if the URL and the beginning of the address are https. Be careful that even one extra character compared to the main address calls into question the nature of that site.
Safe mode in browsers
It is better to use anonymous or safe mode in browsers when using a shared computer with others, such as your work system, or in public spaces such as Internet cafes. Incognito or Private mode is a mode in browsers that, by not saving web browsing history, Cookies, download history, etc., provides security to a significant extent for your web browsing.
For example, when you log into your email in simple mode and forget to log out of your account after closing the browser, your email will remain open in the browser. If this happens in an Internet cafe, everyone who logs out of that system after you will have access to all your emails. Still, this problem does not occur in Incognito mode.
Firewall
A firewall is a tool to prevent unauthorized access to personal computers or servers through the Internet and other networks. Firewalls operate based on rules or roles defined in them and block anything violating them. For example, on some sites, if you enter the password incorrectly more than a certain number of times, your access will be temporarily blocked. Firewalls exist in the form of hardware and software, which can be used depending on the need.
With the explanations above, you might think a firewall is only used for websites and servers. Still, a firewall is built into your operating system to prevent unauthorized access to your computer information for the security of your electronic devices.
Sometimes, people turn off the device’s firewall to access some sites or run some software, making the user’s system prone to hacking and privacy violations. In such cases, it is better to add a new rule or rule to the firewall to run the software or site and never turn off the firewall.
Choose a password
Sometimes you may have come across strict sites that are obsessive about choosing a password, and every time they get a new problem with your chosen password, all the strict things, in this case, are related to the password selection standards, which include the following:
- The minimum number of characters should be 8.
- Include upper and lower case letters.
- Include special characters and numbers.
- Avoid using predictable phrases.
You should note that many of the criticisms related to choosing a password are to protect your personal information so that there is no problem with their security, so try to follow them.
Antiviruses
Antiviruses are software responsible for cleaning infected systems and preventing viruses and malicious agents from entering the computer. Antiviruses are designed to remove virus-infected files and prevent malware from running, and their big difference is from firewalls. It is that firewalls prevent intrusion into your system and have a preventive mode, but antiviruses are also made to cure the system.
Maybe this question will show you there is something wrong with installing an antivirus if the firewall is inactive. I have to say yes because the firewall has a wider range of prevention, and the antivirus comes with the aid of your firewall. Fortunately, in Windows 8 and later, Microsoft included Windows Defender on its operating system so that users do not need to pay additional costs to install antiviruses that may be incompatible with their system.
Smart approach
By observing all the above, if you do not act intelligently in dealing with anonymous sites and information, your system may be damaged, and you may lose your information, which we will discuss further:
- Always keep your antivirus updated.
- Do not upload your personal and valuable files in any space.
- Clear your browser cache and browsing history regularly.
- Scan your system with antivirus after each flash and hard drive connection or every few days.
- If you receive an anonymous email, please do not open it and do not download the attached file under any circumstances.
- Avoid disclosing personal information on anonymous websites with a low-security level (you can ensure their security by using the above)
In general, remember that security is never 100%. Always act smartly in cyberspace and avoid baseless rumors and unusual and suspicious content. What experiences do you have in maintaining your privacy and security on the web? Please share your valuable views with Ded9 users and us.