Grab your coffee and laptops/phones on this lovely Monday evening. February has been off to a wonderful start and I'm looking forward to what this week will bring. Last month, I began a new journey working with this organization known as The Futures fund where I teach middle and high school students how to create websites using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript which allows them to acquire new skills and prepare for their college careers. This new project has helped me to strengthen my front-end development skills while also gain experience from a teaching perspective. I love working with my students and seeing their interests, talents, and unique personalities has inspired me to think about a future career in the education field.
Speaking of inspiration, I was happy to lend a helping hand to a friend with their homework assignment because a specific question inspired me to write about this topic. I mentioned the reason behind the topics I will cover and how it relates to my major, life, and yours. What I did not hit the nail on was why my blog is titled 'ToBeSecured' but privacy is splattered on the header and background of each page of my website. Aren't they the same thing? Security and privacy are both for the protection of users, right?
Today, I decided to distinguish between privacy and security, while stating how they are related. The reality is that privacy, security, and safety are issues that everyone should be concerned about and have an understanding about. For those of you who work in communications, this is especially important for you. In this post, I will describe how the two are important for you and how they are different.
I'll start with my favorite of the two, privacy. Privacy is the safeguarding of user information. Privacy is more difficult to define because user-specific details can also be secure data. For example, privacy provisions may limit client record access to specific staff members. Privacy may also specify when users can access specific client information (i.e. business hours only).
Security is about the safeguarding of data. It refers to protection against unauthorized access of data. For example, facilities use secure systems to communicate with clients about their private information, instead of sending it via personal email accounts. The differences between the two can be complex, but there are certainly some areas where they overlap.
It is possible to have security without privacy but impossible to have privacy without security. Why is security so important? As the use of technology increase and technology have constant advances, we become more and more dependent on it. Our dependence, however, makes us more vulnerable to security threats such as identity theft and email hacks. Our information is being routinely processed, stored and transmitted through global networks of connected systems. Information systems and the data they contain have been compromised because of inadequate security. The resulting loss of data can have meaningful consequences to individuals whose data is stored on these systems.
Why is privacy so important? If someone can steal personal data, its privacy is not guaranteed, which puts you at risk for identity theft and other personal security breaches. The point is technology alone cannot ensure the privacy of personal data. Most privacy protection protocols are still vulnerable to authorized individuals who might access the data. The burden on these authorized individuals is, above all, about privacy law, not technology.
Would you rather your information to be secured or to be private? I would prefer both, in my opinion, but if I had to choose it'll definitely be security. To know my data is being safeguarded or protected against unauthorized users accessing it is reassuring. There are a lot of applications that I use and a number of facilities that collect, use, and store my personal data. I wouldn't want my information or data to land in the wrong hands or malicious users/hackers to have authorized access to critical data. Who knows what they could use that data for! On the other hand, referring to my social media life, it's important for my pages and information to be completely private. Who has access to the information I share should be completely up to me.
I'll take the advantage of utilizing both security and privacy within my life. What do you think? Does security outweigh privacy? Do you think they overlap in more areas than being distinguished? Which would you prefer if you had to choose? I'd love to know your thoughts on this topic and how it relates to your life - whether it's work, socially, or personally related.
Enjoy your Monday!
If you would like to discuss further, please leave a comment or ask a question. I'd love to chat with my readers and hear your thoughts. Thank you for dropping in and remember ToBeSecured!
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