It happens to us everyday. Right under (or more accurately; in-front of) our noses. If you use the internet, chances are you have been subjected to an algorithm using your personal data, browsing history and online activity to select the content you see and drive your overall online experience. If you’re at a loss for what you can do about it, don’t worry; you’re not alone. 

It’s 2022, and while early evidence suggests there’s a lot of things not new about this year (cough… Covid…cough) there’s still a chance to make new changes to enhance your online privacy!

Microsoft has just announced that it has turned to something called “zero-party data” to “promote trust and relevancy in advertising”. Well, the notion of what they are trying to achieve is certainly a solid one, but how does it really stand up against the billing? 

As the drive for online privacy increases prevalence, so does the noise from those selling solutions. And this selling is happening in increasingly frontline places. For example a Virtual Private Network (VPN) solution was the front line sponsor on all the pitch-side hoardings at a recent Premier League football game in the UK. On the surface this is great – everyone gets more exposure to solutions that help protect them online. But what actually is the solution for privacy? Is it one thing? For many people it might just be the last advert they saw. While advertising can help raise awareness, it’s not easy to navigate the myriad of options emerging in the nascent privacy technology (“PrivTech”) world.

Data breaches are all too common news these days. They are so common that sites like haveibeenpwned.com, f-secure.com and many others have gained popularity and increased activity in recent years. We’ve heard reports of an estimated 533 Million Facebook users having their data breached earlier this year, 53 Million T-Mobile customers and most recently reports of 70 Million of AT&T (US based) customers impacted by an alleged data breach. Even more alarming is the refusal to acknowledge or validate the data breach by AT&T, effectively denying an incident occurred. What happens when the custodians of our data don’t own up to being hacked? That alone tells a story of who they believe “owns” your data.

This article was originally published by Vass Bednar on November 9, 2020. Some pharmacies are able to use the data you shared to register for your flu shot [LIST] for advertising purposes. Are we down with that?