Account- what was the first think that clicked in your mind? Obviously social media accounts- Google , Facebook , LinkedIn, and umpteen numbers excluding bank account. But why? The invasion of the social media in our minds has completely transformed the way we view the world. But with socialising through these platforms comes the horror of the privacy of our personal information. A plethora of cases reflecting the sloppiness of these highly reputed corporations in handling the private information have been the center of attraction in the recent past.
High-profile hacks of private data have made one thing abundantly clear to privacy advocates and lawmakers alike, says Northeastern University’s professor Woodrow Hartzog.” The laws that govern privacy on the internet fall lengths short of safeguarding users as much as they should. Some lawmakers believe that the quick fix to remodel internet privacy lies in revamping privacy policies and terms of service agreements”. But he has found this approach to be “hopelessly flawed”. Companies claim that people’s privacy is imperative to them, and in isolated contexts there are a number of firms that are toiling hard to protect people’s privacy, but a lot of it right now is voluntary rather than obligatory and is dynamic in nature. People are still sort of at the mercy of companies who still dance in their own financial interests.
Trust based rules are the only solutions which should prevail and takeover in short term. These are the standards drafted to keep that faith and relieve the burden of the risk calculus from public along with better balance the dead-weight of protection where corporations carry that burden a little more.
Harminder Singh