Back in late 90s, I first experienced internet. I was happy to create an email account and start exchanging notes with my friends. Little did I know then, it is going to be the start of next big revolution.
Today, it is difficult to imagine a life without internet. Virtually everything is connected to the web. Statista reported nearly 3.58 billion internet users across the world last year, a trend which is on the rise in the last decade or so.
The growing numbers are certainly encouraging from technological and socio-economic aspect. However, at the same time, it has also opened floodgates for data breaches and cyber crimes. Today, internet privacy is a farce for modern day internet users. A travesty to right and safe internet practices.
It’s dramatic to see how online trend has changed over the years. In the initial years, people directly used to visit sites if they needed anything. A few prominent news portals fulfilled for general surfing. Then came the era of search engines which gave people more options to explore. They could search for things they didn’t know anything about.
Mobile had the last laugh in Oct 2016, when Statcounter reported more number of internet users on mobile devices than on computers for the first time.
With search engine and e-commerce boom, online privacy was already in jeopardy. Now things have gone from bad to worse.
Even though a good number of people feel online privacy is critical and must be protected, there hasn’t been any initiative on their part in securing it.
Aggregators and big businesses continue to leverage on available opportunities, exposing internet users to data theft and hacking.
See this wonderful infographic that illustrates some useful tips to protect internet privacy. It’s time we made conscious efforts to restore our privacy and not rely too much on technology.
