Recent news about privacy and security concerns focus on “smart” machines, public Wi-Fi connections, use of biometrics by law enforcement and phone-transcription software. Devices with sensors and automatic monitoring capabilities generate substantial risks of compromising you and your family’s privacy and security. The Internet of Things, meant to make life easier, often only makes marketing and sales easier for companies. There are dozens of apps and devices that can generate security risks, and material about you is often used and published without your knowledge or approval. Keep track of your online image and information with the tools at MyLife.com.
Recent articles about NSA transcriptions of private phone conversations, security risks from appliances, meters and smart devices that people use in their homes as well as search engine privacy invasions generate some troubling concerns for people who are connected and tech savvy. Sometimes, having the latest technologies, apps and devices means that you have a commensurate risk of revealing too much information to companies, government agencies and criminal hackers. If you suspect that too much of your personal life has become public knowledge, you can monitor your online profile at MyLife.com and take steps to improve your online reputation.
Breaking Security Barriers with Advanced Technologies
The Internet of Things includes smart meters, homes, refrigerators, toys and other products designed to make lives easier. These products often gather proprietary information by allowing machines to communicate with other machines. Of course, machines can’t act on the data without programs in place to interpret and analyze the data. People monitor this information and often have enough access to steal personal information.
Serious security breaches are possible from hacking information from the devices or when authorized employees use the data with criminal intent. Companies can also violate your privacy through the Internet of Things. Imagine that all your appliances, entertainment devices, security system and even your microwave and toothbrush are connected to your old network. Without a common operating system, these devices become vulnerable when you change networks.
Another threat recently highlighted in a July 2015 article in USA Today reported Internet-connected toys can track your children’s locations, feeding and playing habits, and even their health. Criminals could easily hack these simple devices to find out personal information about your kids, such as where they play, what they like, what medicines they take and other information that could be used to gain inappropriate trust or identify easy ways to intercept kids in their daily routines. Some devices might even monitor children electronically and allow hackers to obtain private pictures and sound recordings that could be used inappropriately.
Wi-Fi Connections and Hacking
Your personal information and security are also at risk when you use public computers and Wi-Fi connections, which include hotel and motel Internet services. You could become vulnerable by using smart, sensor-type devices when traveling. The devices might connect through a public Internet connection and expose your information to hackers in the next room.
Google Knows More Than the Government
Google routinely reads emails and monitors your buying habits to deliver related advertising. Services like Yahoo, Microsoft and other search engines similarly invade your Internet privacy, ostensibly to craft a better user experience. It’s not a far stretch to imagine worldwide governments doing the same to identify terrorists, political enemies and criminals.
Where do privacy, reputation management and user convenience intersect? If you don’t trust the government to monitor your behavior, why should you trust public corporations? Abuse potential includes cyber security issues, breaches of personal information, embarrassing social media disclosures and common knowledge of your viewing and reading habits.
Biometrics and Phone-Transcription Software
Don’t blindly trust that the government can’t or won’t monitor your private conversations, personal habits or activities. Recent news reports reveal that police departments have been scanning biometric information about suspects who haven’t been convicted of any crimes through field devices like the Mobile Offender Recognition and Information System (MORIS). Law enforcement is building a database of iris and fingerprint scans.
Whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA can now transcribe phone calls automatically. Using special software, the government can track, monitor and search private phone calls to extract content, all without due process or search warrants. Tapping phone conversations randomly ranks as one of the most serious of potential privacy breaches.
The advanced NSA software can now transcribe complete telephone conversations, and private companies will certainly obtain similar technology soon. Using a searchable index of information, NSA staff can search for terms being used in phone conversations, and the context doesn’t matter. You could be discussing the latest book, movie or news article and trigger certain automatic searches and recordings. Although the NSA claims to use the technology only on foreign communications, it’s impossible to prove that domestic calls aren’t similarly monitored.
Security Essentials for Identity Theft Protection and Privacy Guard
If you don’t value and guard your privacy, you become vulnerable to identity theft, online reputation abuses and compromised personal information about your work and play habits. You might not be able to control what the government and corporations do to invade your privacy, but you can control what you reveal and find out what appears about you in public Internet forums.
You can check your address, name, family members’ profiles and online image so that you can correct inaccuracies, bury negative information and handle social media management from a stronger position. Don’t let your smart devices and sensors compromise basic online privacy protection.
You can monitor how the world sees you, set an effective fraud alert for better security and troubleshoot online reputation management by keeping informed about what published content mentions you and your family by tracking your reputation online. Contact MyLife.com to learn what others know about you. Finding out what’s been collected from the Internet of Things, search engines, marketing companies and other people from across the Web can help you better control your online reputation, image and privacy.
Sources:
MyLife.com: Don’t be Hacked Through Hotel Wi-Fi
https://www.mylife.com/blog/dont-be-hacked-through-hotel-wi-fi/
Wired.com: The Internet of Things Is Far Bigger Than Anyone Realizes
http://www.wired.com/2014/11/the-internet-of-things-bigger/
Recode.net: Inside Target’s Tech Funhouse and Search for Its Next Billion-Dollar Business
http://recode.net/2015/07/09/inside-targets-new-tech-funhouse-and-search-for-its-next-billion-dollar-business/
USA Today: The Internet of Things goes after kids
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/baig/2015/07/08/fuhu-iot-for-the-kids/29855507/
SputnikNews.com: NSA Uses Phone Call Transcription Technology, Violates Privacy
http://sputniknews.com/analysis/20150507/1021801252.html#ixzz3fQC6AKO5
Scientific American: Biometric Security Poses Huge Privacy Risks
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/biometric-security-poses-huge-privacy-risks/
The Economist: Should the government know less than Google?
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2013/06/surveillance-0?zid=317&ah=8a47fc455a44945580198768fad0fa41
The post Unexpected Privacy Breaches from Technology appeared first on MyLife.
