Privacy Risks in Data Collection and Storage

Cyberattacks and online security breaches have become an increasingly dangerous threat as reliance on online systems in the government, economy, workplace, and social setting has increased dramatically since the introduction of the internet.

The US Government Accountability Office or GAO states that "consumers' personal data, online behavior, and locations are increasingly being tracked" and that "Businesses collect, use, and sell consumer data. But consumers may be unaware of how it's being collected and used and generally aren't able to stop its collection or verify its accuracy." Every purchase, message, and click on the internet can be tracked and users can only trust what organizations choose to do with this data. With this in mind it is important to limit unnecessary sharing and saving of sensitive personal information on the internet. Recognizing trustworthy websites versus sketchy online resources can help protect us from our data getting into the wrong hands.

Intentional Security Breaches are a major threat to our lives. Hackers often target large corporations like microsoft, google, banks, and government databases to try to accumulate massive amounts of citizen data. With this sensitive information including facial scans, prints, names, birthdays, social security numbers, addresses, and bank info hackers can do whatever they want under false names using stolen identities and credit cards. Past fraudulent transactions, government info can be stolen to wreak havoc in the global economy, political landscape, and public relations. It is our responsibility as well as the organizations we put our trust in to protect our data from foreign attacks.