When Privacy Is A Good Thing

Have you ever put up a fence around your yard or planted a row of shrubs around your patio for privacy? Do you turn your blinds down or shut your curtains at night? Most people respect that privacy is important and necessary in everyday living. Some things just need to be kept private!

How often do you think of privacy and your computer? I am not talking about putting a physical curtain around your computer or hiding it from public view. It is what is inside and what you send out of your computer that needs to be kept private.

Personal Information

Everyone has personal information that helps to define who we are. Our name, our bank account information, credit cards, date of birth, place of employment, social security information etc.… Much of this information needs to be kept private for our own protection. Since we control whom we talk to and what we say we can pretty well protect ourselves in the real world unless, of course, our wallet is stolen or our homes are broken in to. In the digital world, it is much harder to know whether our personal information is safe and it is very difficult to track violations of our privacy. For this reason, many people avoid using computers all together.

Jordan’s Story
Jordan owns a small flower shop in a growing little town. She was reluctant at first to use the computer for orders, supplies and communication but realized that in order to keep up with the bigger flower outlets, using technology was necessary. Jordan set up several online accounts with suppliers as well as Ecommerce options on a website and other marketing pages via social media. For the first time in her life, Jordan also set up a few online profiles hoping to drum up some business.

Passwords

Coming up with a password for her online accounts was easy as Jordan is a cat lover. So, to make things easier, she set all of her passwords to “catsrgreat.” She thought that this password was extremely creative. However, no one told Jordan that the one golden rule of the online world, never use the same password for more than one account. Jordan, however, used the password for ten different accounts including her email account, her online access to ordering supplies, her Facebook, Twitter accounts and more.

Privacy Invasion
Unfortunately, someone somehow accessed Jordan’s password and was able to run up a large bill on one of her online ordering sites. Jordan never got the merchandise and had to fight to avoid the charges on her bill. She learned after this experience that it is always best to use a different password for each online account or use a one-time password option that protects information from being stolen. After this incident, Jordan realized just how important Internet privacy really is.

Privacy Solutions

Because there are so many computer savvy thieves lurking in cyberspace, it is imperative that business owners and individuals alike stay protected. Password protection is not the only concern either. Any information that is sent over the computer, no matter in what form, is open game to theft. Many businesses realize this mounting threat and employ such protection services as PKI (Public key Infrastructure) to safeguard online data transactions and communications. With PKI, documents, files, folders and signatures are kept safe and can be easily transported across cyberspace with privacy. PKI is like the fence or hedges around your yard and is an excellent investment for those for those who take privacy seriously.