Data Privacy Group 2 Wiki



Data Privacy
In the not so distant past, the idea of government and big business sharing all of our information was material for a sci-fi horror film. However, today this is a reality for many of us. Whether we know it or not, our whole lives are contained on the web. For most of us, we don’t know exactly what we are sharing as many of these companies doing the collecting keep this information private. While there are protections in place there are many forms of tracking that are not bounded by the law. Any of us can keep more of our private information private with a bit of knowledge.

With proper knowledge, we can try to regulate what the internet knows about us. While not all the information being shared is “bad”, it is very important to know exactly who has what. Some companies collect information on us to help to improve our browsing experience, this is a feature of Web 3.0 or the semantic web. However, a good amount of data on us is sold to advertisers to gain profit. Most of us don’t care if advertisers know what we are shopping for online, but not just our shopping habits are being tracked. Our name, address, family, location, and even bank info can all be gathered and held and these companies are using our personal data to profit.

With this in mind, many internet users will want to learn about data privacy and how best to protect themselves online. There are many sources of information on this topic, but not all are credible, and some may even want to collect the user’s data as well. This wiki aims to provide accurate information on internet privacy and how to stay anonymous online. Pages that are built around this topic will focus on various data privacy acts, how each website a user visits is tracking them across the internet, and how to protect information that is put online. Additionally, data mining is not the only issue pertinent to online privacy; how other individuals are able to stalk other users and gather their addresses and information about their families based off of their internet presence will also be covered.

The newest way the web is being used for -- to be essentially a personal assistant -- is incredibly helpful in a user’s everyday life. However, the amount of information that has to be gathered on the user to fulfill this goal of being a personal assistant is staggering. Users will now need to be aware of how their data is being spread out across the internet and who is using it in order to self-police who exactly can view their information. The internet is a powerful and useful tool when used safely, we aim with this project to give users the tools and knowledge to fully be aware of their online presence.

Topics


The Web

Anonymity

Tracking

Data Privacy Acts

Social Media

Data

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