Arm Yourself for the Data Invasion
What started as a technology renaissance is starting to feel like a personal invasion.
By virtue, privacy is a valuable thing that feels like an indisputable right. However, with the advent of a digitalized world, privacy has become an exception, not the rule. “Data hacking,” “data mining,” any kind of data and privacy breach, have become familiar headlines, igniting a cyclic spark of panic peaks. But for many of us, these catchall phrases are just that—catchall phrases without catchall solutions.
The cyberworld is evolving to a point where a VPN, incognito mode, or just careful clicking may not be enough to stave off data breaches. No, this cyberworld necessitates more aggressive, progressive, and comprehensive tactics.
You Matter—kind of
You’re not important. Your data is.
Not to say you aren’t special, but in the cyberworld, you’re a digital fingerprint made of 1’s and 0's—we all are. And for any entity on the Internet, your coded identity and data can be invaluable currency. It can be commercialized, weaponized, tokenized, centralized, decentralized, humanized, dehumanized—it can be made into a lot of things. Suddenly, buying tickets to Disneyland can be identity theft, more Star Wars ads, or maybe just a fast pass experience.
And you’re not the only data source that’s important. Governments, companies, schools, hospitals, any enterprise, institution, collective, are all founts of data. Virtually (no pun intended) every slice and sliver of society can be devoured by privacy and data breaches.
I Matter—and I’m scared
The notion of breached data and compromised privacy is unsettling, to say the least. In fact, “hacker phobia” is becoming a bonafide affliction in which people suffer from hacking-induced anxiety. This is not unfounded, as 64% of Americans have experienced a major data breach. Recurring blunders by tech giants don’t help either. When Facebook shared sensitive information with organizations like Wikileaks, people vested in derailing governments and societies quietly mobilized an upper hand.
But as with most technological conundrums, they appear complex, cryptic, and consuming. There is no one person that commands ultimate authority or knowledge about the technological world; digital omniscience does not exist. This means we’re all in the dark, at least a little bit.
So not only do many of us feel bamboozled, we don’t know what to do about it. This may be what is a greatly terrifying phenomenon, that is, a “digital overload” and “ news overload.” Essentially, our minds become so saturated with news and screens that we become cognitively compromised; we’re turgid with information and swollen with negative emotions. Our mental wellbeing is embattled with our digital existence. We’re confused, frustrated, and vulnerable.
Now What?
So there’s a war on privacy and a battle for data, and it’s taking a toll on all of us. Data is valuable capital that can either thread the needle or tear the fabric—or some quilted medium. And there is a catalog of novel, hot-button technologies that can operate on either end. It’s a matter of who’s using it and how. Data should not be feared. Privacy should not be violated. But evidently, we live in a world with bad actors weaponizing data and privacy. Ergo, we need to protect ourselves from technological invasions—with technology.
So, let’s bolster our holsters with Zero-Knowledge Proof, Verifiable Computation, Homomorphic Encryption, Secure Multi-Party Computation, and Secret Sharing. Esoteric gibberish. That’s technical jargon; that’s “overload;” that’s shooting blanks. Instead of inundating you with mumbled patter, let’s break protection down between the “me” and the company “we.”
Companies Making Steps
In (semi-)short, one potential way to safeguard data is with cryptography-based privacy-preserving computation and blockchain technology. This is an encryption method that guarantees users’ privacy rights while maintaining data circulation. Effectively, it keeps data safe yet accessible. Research has demonstrated how this specific method of blockchain cryptography can effectively prevent breaches. Its success has insofar created companies. And these companies are fighting the war on data for an era of digital harmony. For example, the start-up PlatON uses said technology to both protect user privacy, as well as decentralize and democratize AI for a secure cyberworld. In what can be a fine line between data sharing and privacy infringement, PlatON maintains the former and quashes the latter; it’s an upkeep of ethical collaboration and privacy. Other organizations like Evervault, Bitkey, Evernym, and so on, also use derivatives of this tech to fit various needs and niches. Essentially, the demand is growing and the market is expanding; options for protection are becoming more, more comprehensive, tailored, and advanced. An entire industry is evolving to make digital fluency possible.
You Taking Steps
Cryptography-based, privacy-preserving, blockchain technology is not the only way—and may not be the way for you. Sometimes avoiding a data breach may simply be ignoring a sketchy link or not responding to an email from the Prince of Portugal. Many of us have figured out that the Prince of Portugal wouldn’t start an email correspondence to seek financial help (also because Portugal doesn’t have a prince). However, data breaches are becoming far more sophisticated and pernicious, especially since 2020. And there are several gateways to compromising privacy, each one dependent on who or what you are; a business or organization necessitates different modes of protection than the individual. PlatON might not serve you, but it might serve your business. Everynym might not protect your office, but it might protect your home. The first step towards protection is understanding who or what you are. Are you an online shopper? A college professor? A restaurant owner? Understand what makes you—your data—valuable. Recognizing your place in this cyberworld is empowering; this allows you to pursue a service or method of protection that directly serves you.
It may be that your technology use is truly limited, that your greatest vulnerabilities are clicking on suspect links. In this case, the most realistic protection for you is being a conscious clicker. But if you clicked on this article, odds are, your technology use goes beyond the 1980s. You’ve probably made digital payments with banking details, messages with personal information,—you have sensitive, damning information. Irrespective of digital status, from the individual to the institution, we’re all targets. Yet at the same time, we can be benefactors and beneficiaries; we can become masters of our data. With digital faculty, we can protect our privacy whilst promoting data circulation and knowledge contribution. Privacy companies like PlatON, Evervault, Privitar, etc., are on a mission to do just that: securing and optimizing data to empower the “I,” “you,” and “we.” Although the cyberworld can feel like a dismal ditch and a lawless underbelly, there remains potential we are only beginning to tap. Data doesn’t have to be feared, it can be adaptable, favorable, and serviceable. We can co-opt data detonation with a true technological renaissance.
Surely, there’s good reason to conduct some Google searches on how to protect your particular, digital parts. Use your cyber utilities to find your cybersecurity. So by all means, Google.
Originally written for PlatON.
