Big Tech knows most Brits don’t know how to protect their online privacy
Two thirds of people would rather lose their passport than access to their email account
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With online services increasingly becoming the center of people’s lives, the amount of personal data we share on the web is growing exponentially.
When data handling scandals occur, such asMeta’s latest $1.3 billion blunder, we all get reminded of what’s at stake for our right to privacy. However, the reality is that Big Tech companies have built their business model on exploiting information collected online—and all too often they’re found guilty of misconduct.
But, are citizensreallyaware of the risks of their digital lives? And, do they care about their privacy online? One of thebest VPNservices around,Proton VPN, asked these and other questions to people in the UK. What it found is that most Brits are “concerned about online surveillance but lack the knowledge and tools to protect themselves.”
The privacy paradox
As mentioned, companies of the likes ofGoogleand Meta are infamous for engaging in massive data collection. While we all know they can monitor basically anything their users do online, we are all still keen to use their services.
“If Big Tech sent actual spies into our homes, we would never stand for such an intrusion into our lives. But for some reason we put up with it online,” said Andy Yen, Founder and CEO at Proton.
The discrepancy between people’s attitude towards privacy in the offline and online world is known as the privacy paradox.
In March Proton, the company behind one of thebest free VPNservices and homonymoussecure emailapp, decided to try to better understand why this happens and teamed up with YouGov to survey 2083 adults in the United Kingdom.
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It turned out that more than three quarters of respondents (77%) are concerned about their online privacy, with two thirds of people preferring to lose their passport than access to their email account.
The results show that the data Brits are most worried about is financial information (78%), login details (74%), and other personal identification info (68%). Unsurprisingly, people who got hacked in the past were the ones expressing more concern over their sensitive data.
There was also a big generational discrepancy in the responses, as more than a quarter of respondents (26%) aged between 18 and 24 said not to be concerned about their privacy online at all.
Dr. Gus Hosein, Executive Director at UK-based charity Privacy International, said “People are concerned. People want agency. They want to be able to do something. Actually, perhaps, more often than not, they just want to be left alone. They don’t want to be poked at, prodded and surveilled as they just go around their daily lives. People want to not have to be worried about these things.”
The results also show that, (69%) don’t understand how online services are using their data. Despite this, over half of them (52%) believe it’s unethical for free services to make a profit on this information.
How to fight back digital surveillance
“For too long, people have gotten a raw deal from tech companies monetizing and abusing their data. And people are upset about their online privacy, but they don’t know what to do about it,” said Yen from Proton.
The survey depicts a quite grim picture when it comes user knowledge on how to secure their digital lives. The most popular measures were one-click solutions like refusing optionalweb trackerscookies or browsing the web inincognito mode. Sadly, these steps aren’t enough to really escape digital surveillance.
The good news is that the majority of British people (83%) said to be willing to take additional steps to protect their privacy online in the next 12 months.
For those that want to take additional steps, Proton advises users to introduce the following habits into their every day digital life:
What about Big Tech?
As the so-called surveillance capitalism model becomes more prelevant, governments have been trying to regulate the wild world around the web. Legislations like theGDPRin the EU and UK are the current best attempts to minimize data collection. These are far away from perfect and many countries, most notably the US, are still lacking such a law.
Worryingly, commentators believe that simply fining the companies breaking privacy laws isn’t enough to foster arealchange. " When a company’s market cap is the same size as a small country, the fines that are currently being issued are a drop in the ocean. Big Tech has calculated that the surveillance capitalism model is so profitable that fines are simply a cost of doing business," a Proton spokesperson told TechRadar.
Even if Big Tech change their ways, unethical commercial data abuses are just a side of the story. Government surveillance and cybercrime are other major risks that come from sharing too much of you online.
10 years ago, @Snowden changed the course of history by whistleblowing against the NSA & other agencies global surveillance programmes, prompting a cultural shift in the way we think about privacy & security. Here’s just a few ways these disclosures have changed the world ⬇️May 24, 2023
Proton is committed to keeping on with its mission by equipping users with a wide range of end-to-end encrypted products to help them protect themselves from Big Tech. The tools it currently provides are a VPN, secure email, password manager (Proton Pass), encrypted calendar, and drive. All are open-sourced too, and the company claims to collect no customer data.
Yen said: “Online business models where people come first and their data can never be seen, abused, or monetized need to become the norm. At Proton we firmly believe that surveillance-centric platforms aren’t the only way to operate online, and that the internet can work in the interests of people.”
The Swiss-based security provider believes that “a carrot and stick approach” is what’s really needed. This means that governments need to foster competition to help privacy-first alternatives to have a chance in the marketplace. That’s partially what the EUDigital Market Actis trying to do—across the European Union at least.
Chiara is a multimedia journalist committed to covering stories to help promote the rights and denounce the abuses of the digital side of life—wherever cybersecurity, markets and politics tangle up.She mainly writes news, interviews and analysis on data privacy, online censorship, digital rights, cybercrime, and security software, with a special focus on VPNs, for TechRadar Pro, TechRadar and Tom’s Guide. Got a story, tip-off or something tech-interesting to say? Reach out to chiara.castro@futurenet.com
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