Surveillance is like gravity. You notice it every now and then but are mostly unaware of its ever-constant presence penetrating all walks of life, in all areas. Technology today invades every nook and cranny of our lives.
Even if you consider walking through a vast forest—free of wires and Wi-Fi—there are satellites circling the earth that can zoom in and capture the reflection of your loved one off your sunglasses. That reflected image can be run through facial recognition software and that image can be named.
No one is free of surveillance, so understanding how to be an aware citizen and maintain a sense of privacy, certainty, and independence is important.
As gravity is necessary to sustainability, surveillance also has a place in today’s world. Government and business reactions to COVID19 have demonstrated that technology, surveillance, and other AI have helped to slow the spread, saving millions from suffering.
As Nicholas Wright wrote in Foreign Affairs: The novel coronavirus pandemic is causing tens of thousands of deaths, wreaking economic devastation, leading to lock downs across much of the world, and upending societies and their assumptions.
But going forward, one of its most significant legacies will be the way that the pandemic dovetails with another major global disruption of the last few years—the rise and spread of digital surveillance enabled by artificial intelligence (AI).
1 -Concern for health overrode many of the government’s privacy and security protections to help, cure, or mitigate ailing people. HIPPA and other compliance were cavalierly shuffled aside to get telemedicine up and running.
2 - Stranded passengers left in foreign countries gave their documents to strangers—anyone who could help—in order to facilitate their return to their home country. Business owners and the desperate unemployed filled out numerous forms in order to get financial aid—many on antiquated or unprepared computer systems—filled with security vulnerabilities.
As the pandemic settles down and society rolls into a new normal, the data we shed during the initial frenzy of COVID-19 is now out there, leaving us vulnerable. What will happen to the personally identifying information(PII), and how can we anticipate the fraudulent or dangerous use of information and ourselves?
Protection means understanding that in this often confrontive and divided world, opportunists, frauds, and enemies will take advantage to undermine their target: They’ll gather home addresses in order to stalk or threaten families at home, organize protests on your front lawn, terrorize you in your own house, or even worse.
Hg | Opt Out Online: Finding & removing personally identifiable information found on the Internet
Anti-establishment hackers are joining the ranks of the Crips, the Bloods, and the Hells Angels. They are opposed to the conventions of economic, social, and political principles and values of our democratic society. In the age of COVID-19, U.S. anti-government militia groups have zigzagged across Facebook, organizing for a 21st Century Civil War.
3 - Advocates of this worldview would sooner see you and your family suffer than be subjected to another day of Western idealism, American justice, and democracy. A protesting, anti-government, non-conforming anarchist is welcome in America; however, once the line of civil disobedience crosses over into crime, we Americans must fortify ourselves to do our jobs and protect our families
You cannot avoid surveillance, just
like you cannot deny gravity, but there are
measures you can take to protect yourself
and your family.
Section I of this report, Hg’s Opt Out Online, will help you understand the dark side of information sharing. You will learn the pitfalls of oversharing and how to reduce your online risks.
Section II of this report, Paraben’s The Internet of Things, will help you understand connected devices and best practices for ensuring your security.
Appendix A offers useful tips for protecting your personally identifiable information and preventing identity theft.
Appendix B instructs on how to opt out of online vendors. Appendix C provides steps to remove your personally identifiable information from three major DNA collection retrieval services.
In this digital era, protecting personally identifiable information is of utmost importance. This report is meant to help facilitate your personal privacy in a very open online world. There is no one solution, no one vendor, that has all the answers. The best security practices start at home. Using this report as a guide, you can begin to remove, obstruct, or obscure the open source information that leaves you and your family vulnerable online.
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Information Exposed!
Opt Out Online : Finding & removing your personally identifiable information found on the Internet.
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