Evaluating Privacy Threats for Safeguarding Personal Data

Businesses are responsible for implementing practices that promote data privacy and uphold customer privacy rights. Governments mandate regulations, and consumers have the right to protect their data from potential mismanagement or misuse.  

Internet applications and websites generate copious amounts of digital data daily, and more businesses participate in the global data privacy and GDPR Compliance scenario.  

Understanding common data privacy threats is crucial to making the most of internet applications while minimizing the risks of privacy violations.  

 

To evaluate and address privacy-related threats, you need to focus on the below-mentioned list of activities performed by most websites and mobile apps you visit: 

Data Collection 

Companies (data collectors and processors)  collect data for analytical purposes that help provide better customer service. Unique customer information assists businesses in developing marketing strategies and upscaling profitability. A data owner is an individual who provides information to a data collector or processor.  

Under various data protection laws such as the GDPR, data is defined as Personally Identified Information such as names, IP addresses, email addresses, banking details, sexual preferences, healthcare information, postal code, social security number, and more. 

Data Processing 

Companies that collect customer data either process it to understand consumer behavior or appoint third-party services to process the information to generate detailed reports. Processing consumer data allows companies to provide a refined and personalized user experience. Considering business profitability, data processing will enable companies to target specific groups or individuals showing relative interest in a product or service. 

Data Sharing 

Companies implement third-party advertising, marketing, and analytics services to improve customer relationships and business retention rates. Third-party services like Google Analytics and Google AdSense get access to customer data. Businesses that use third-party services are responsible for maintaining the data dignity of their customers by ensuring cooperative participation from collaborators or partners.  

Unethical collection, processing, and sharing of a data subject’s information have severe repercussions. The privacy threats caused due to mishandling or misuse of consumer data are as follows: 

Problems with data collection: 

Identity Theft 

In the U.S., 33% of the citizens have faced identity theft, affecting nearly 15 million Americans yearly. In 2020, The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) handled 2.2 million fraud reports, and identity theft cost people $50 million. Credit card frauds are among the most pressing concerns, followed by identity theft on social media platforms.  

Phishing attacks 

A report by CNBC says that compared with 2021, there has been a 61% rise in phishing attacks in 2022. Anyone who uses a smartphone for emailing, text messaging, or other forms of communication is a potential target of phishing attacks. Threat actors use text and voicemails to execute Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks. Phishing attacks are more common around holiday shopping and tax season. 

Hacking 

Customer data is the digital gold that sells on hacker forums. On December 4, 2023, a threat actor sold a data collection containing over 200 million Twitter profiles by exploiting the platform’s vulnerability. Unauthorized parties could access Twitter profiles and extract information sold in the hacker market. Twitter has now resolved the authorization vulnerability by implementing two-factor authentication. 

  

Problems with data processing: 

Unauthorized Profiling 

Business owners and marketers study customer behavior to create unique profiles of individuals. Profiling includes tracking a customer across the internet to understand personal interests deeply. Data privacy laws like the GDPR and CCPA make it harder for businesses to do unauthorized customer profiling, but consumers must actively preserve their privacy rights. 

Unsolicited Targeting 

Have you ever been followed by a random advertisement on the internet? Most likely, everyone who uses Google Chrome, YouTube, and Instagram has been through a series of repetitive and relatable ads. Companies that use third-party ad services are often clear about their intentions. Still, as customers, we are responsible for understanding how businesses use our data to serve targeted ads and products. 

 

Problems with data sharing: 

Data transfer without consent 

Accessing information about health, finances, sexuality, education, and other personal information with a data owner’s consent is unethical. Global data privacy laws prohibit businesses from transferring customer data to third parties without informing and seeking approval from the data owner. 

 

Data over-sharing 

Data over-sharing creates a massive complexity in erasing personal information from the internet. In organizations, data shared can be accessed by many people, and re-sharing occurs by the company’s requirements. The process makes it hard to keep track of customer data points, inviting potential data privacy threats such as unauthorized access. 

 

How can Consumers (data owners) ensure data privacy in a data-driven world? 

Customers have a big part to play in preserving their online privacy. Here are some tips that can help you understand and implement data privacy in your daily interactions with the Internet: 

• Understand the data privacy rights you can access as a consumer. 

• Always read the privacy policies of websites and mobile apps you use.  

• Check if you can change data collection and sharing preferences on social media platforms, websites, and mobile apps.  

• Share only relevant data that meets the requirements of services you seek from a business. 

• Check your browser for unwanted cookies from third-party applications and sites that you visit. 

 

Customers, businesses, and governments are responsible for upholding individual data privacy rights. Whether you are a business owner or a customer who wants to keep up with data privacy news, Adzapier’s resources can help. Visit the website to learn more about data privacy rights.