As 2012 draws to a close we take a look back at what we think will be the top five threats to online privacy over the coming year. Think we’ve missed something out? Let us know in the comments below.
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US federal regulators have tightened legislation designed to safeguard children’s online privacy. The new laws are designed to give parents more control over what types of data is collected online, and reflect the growing importance and spread of smartphone technology.
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Data breaches suffered by private companies and public institutions increased by more than 40% year-on-year in 2012, with over 160 million people having their personal information compromised, according to a new study. The auditing company KPMG says there was a total of 835 separate incidences of data breaches this year and deliberate ‘hacking’ of companies accounted for 67% of the data loss.
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The USA’s controversial Patriot Act has just got, well, a lot more controversial. A recent study by The University of Amsterdam says US government agencies can secretly request US-based cloud storage companies to hand over data they have on foreign citizens.
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The UK’s home secretary, Theresa May, has made her most outrageous defense of the Communications Capabilites Development Programme yet, saying that anyone who opposes the bill - which allows police to monitor email communications and web browsing - is siding with “criminals, terrorists and paedophiles”.
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Two interesting online privacy-related surveys were published earlier this week. One was conducted in Europe by data management company TRUSTe and the other in Canada by the Canadian Advertising Standards industry regulator. Although the two surveys covered slightly different topics, the way they were reported in the press suggested that Europeans are more concerned about online privacy and tracking than Canadians.
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Last week a man was arrested in the UK for posting an image of a burning paper poppy to Facebook, in just the latest incident of what appears to be a growing crackdown on free speech and internet freedoms in the UK.
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A recent study from business strategists The Boston Consulting Group, has underscored the growing importance and value of online personal data for businesses. The report titled ‘The Value of Our Digital Identity’, says the total value extracted from European consumers’ personal data in 2011 was 315 billion euros and that figure is predicted to grow to a staggering 1 trillion euros annually by 2020.
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