The online privacy debate: Understanding the basics
May 17th, 2013 by Dennis Kügler
The current debate being waged around online privacy isn’t always straightforward and can often be filled with legislative and technical jargon that confuses people. We frequently get questions on very fundamental aspects to understanding online privacy, such as the difference between privacy at the IP level and at the browser level, understanding what data retention is, or questions around the myriad of surveillance bills that seem to pop-up every month or so. Therefore, we thought it might be useful to provide a run-down of online privacy basics; a cheat sheet, if you will, for the important task of understanding and participating in the current debate.
Apple and Google are two of the biggest giants in the world of technology and if you’re using a smartphone or tablet device, then chances are you’ve tied yourself to one of those company’s platforms and ecosystems. But with the issue of online privacy even more pertinent, and more inflammatory, in mobile sphere, which company has the better track record when it comes to protecting your data and which is more trustworthy?
So the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act is firmly back on the agenda, with the infamous bill likely to be voted on in the next 24 hours. If CISPA does eventually become enacted it will likely see more US citizens turning to virtual private networks (VPNs) to help anonymise their internet activity. But will CISPA impact VPN companies and if your VPN is US-based should you be worried?
The launch of Facebook Home last week was a significant escalation in the arms race between Facebook and Google; a battle that will only result in the continuing erosion of privacy – and the expectation of privacy – online.
While the phrase “there’s no privacy online” holds true in many respects, it’s always worth remembering that there’s a great deal of internet freedoms we currently enjoy that could be put at risk by cack-handed, or downright malicious, legislation. Indeed, we appear to be in the midst of a state and corporate-level scramble to update laws in order to cope with the rapidly evolving communication and consumption habits, making this risk higher than ever.