Why does your online privacy matter?

Your privacy matters. Especially in the times of global pandemic, when the world has switched to remote work and online communication.

As the latest news points the finger at security and privacy issues in online conferencing tool Zoom – where your personal credentials could be easily stolen – the question of your privacy online becomes critically important.

Why does online privacy matter? How do digital tools handle it? Does this apply to securing passwords?

Let’s discuss this together.

How digital tools are handling your privacy?

There are tools that don’t bother to take your privacy seriously.

Some websites store or send your sensitive data in plaintext(in unencrypted text, written in a fully readable format).

How does this violate your privacy?

Any intruder (for example, a hacker) who manages to access your data can easily read it. And by storing your data in readable format, such websites strongly violate your right to data privacy.

“But… I have nothing to hide”

That is one of the most common comments we receive when it comes to securing passwords, and other sensitive data online.

If you don’t own a company or you’re not responsible for highly sensitive data, then you might think that there is nothing to hide. But privacy is not merely about protecting your credentials. When any outsider can get access to our private information, this leads to inevitable consequences.

Personal life

Browser cookies, Facebook Pixel, Google Tags and other web tags track our actions on majority sites we go to. Later, this collected data is used for understanding your browsing patterns, showing personalized ads and creating customized content. And this helps to sell– whether a person wants it, or not.

What to do? Adjust privacy settings on Facebook, Google and other networks you use. Plus, you can always delete cookies on browsers you use, or use a browser that doesn’t allow companies to breach your privacy – i.e. Firefox and others.

Effect on society

When the government starts tracking our actions online, we no longer have personal privacy.

Couple of years ago, people fought for uncontrolled, equal-for-all usage of the Internet in the Net Neutrality case.

Recently, the U.S. government introduced a new controversial draft bill, called “Earn it”. In short, it requires each message or data you send online to be scanned by a government-approved program.

Despite the fact that most of us have nothing to hide, together with our online privacy there comes our right to free speech and, most importantly, the right to choose what parts of personal life to show and what to hide from the public.

What about securing passwords?

One thing that we can all do to protect our privacy online, is to start securing passwords and other sensitive data now. Always use a password manager that ensures nobody– neither the government, nor any intruder – can access your data.

That’s right. In such a password manager as PassCamp, all data that you store can be accessed only by you, the owner, and people you decide to give access to. That is the level of privacy we’ve been talking about.

How does securing passwords in password managers work?

There are two primary features that protect privacy of your data – end-to-end encryption and zero knowledge proof (click on each to learn more).

These advanced features ensure that nobody gets access to your personal data, including creators of a password manager. It’s your personal data and from day one it belongs only to you.

In the end, one thing is for sure – manually adjusting privacy settings on social media and browsers, as well as securing passwords in a password manager is a must. Because that’s what brings you control over your personal data back. And it’s totally worth it.

Try out PassCamp – a password manager which offers you absolute privacy. Such a privacy, that should have always belonged to you.