In advance of International Privacy Day later this month, I’d thought I’d update my Privacy Resolutions for yet another new year. Here they are in no particular order:
- Continue to unsubscribe from all e-mails, newsletters, magazines, blogs, reddit feeds, etc. that I don't read, never read anymore or never actively signed up for. I clearly know my e-mail address is just going to be sold to other marketers or mailing lists anyway so I’ll at least start to cut down on the clutter. I realize that this might be a relatively futile gesture, but you gotta start somewhere right? Better yet, I’ll create a few junk accounts that I don’t care if they are sold or spammed to. (Where’s Prodigy when you need it?!?)
- Update and strengthen the passwords that I use for critical, financial and other data heavy websites. Better yet: completely migrate all of my passwords to a password manager app like LastPass, DashLane. I had been using PasswordBox for some time, but they just end of lifed it and I’m not crazy about the new owner’s replacement. Better yet, use a password randomizer along with a password manager!
- Stop updating everyone on my location via smartphone apps. No one older than 14 years old one really cares (right?) and I’m probably just letting thieves know I am not home so they can rob me.
- When putting mail in the mailbox for the Postman to pick up, I’ll never lift the flag anymore to indicate that there is mail in the box. The mailman will find it anyway (they’re good like that). Leaving the flag up tells ID thieves that you have some mail that may contain some interesting personal data. Better yet, never mail anything ever again.
- Really take an interest in all privacy notices and policies. This may surprise you, but companies are (finally) starting to make an earnest effort to make those documents readable and accessible to laypeople. What had once been just a CYA document written by the attorneys, now contains the future of where your data privacy may reside.
- Stop using my debit card to make online or offline purchases, or buy gas; use a credit card only. Using a debit card gives a thief direct access to your checking account, making it difficult to prove fraud, and preventing you from taking advantage of consumer protection laws that most credit cards offer.
- Do a regular exhaustive Google search on myself to see what information is out there so I can see what the blogosphere is saying about me, if anything (!), and make sure it is accurate.
- Make sure the "Do not track" option is checked by default in all of my browser's settings. Across all devices.
- Use the TOR browser more often. I did download it as an experiment but got tired of the less than mainstream functionality. But that’s the point, no? Not that I have anything to hide, mind you…
- Helping my business and technology partners better integrate the concept of 'privacy by design' into their business and/or IT development processes; no more bolting it on once the process or application is complete and ready to be rolled out.
- Finally, take a real hard look at the new GDPR just issued by the European Union. The language and principles in there are but a foretaste of what will likely be part of a US privacy regime in 3-5 years. There are lot of tenets in there that US companies would have difficulty implementing today, but they should imagine a future where they might likely have to implement something like a ‘right to be forgotten.’
What are you doing?
Happy New Year!
