Canadian Government Executive - Volume 25 - Issue 03

August/September 2019// Canadian Government Executive / 21 DIGITAL money to people who’ll look to exploit you with it. So, all things considered, the term ‘data broker’ isn’t really that helpful. What is helpful is understanding the intent be- hind the marketplace – and, generally, that intent is based on targeting you – for better or for worse. Should you care about your data being out there? For most people, having some portion of your personal data out in the world feels inconsequential. Society is changing – and governments are having to adapt their ap- proaches to influence this change. By now, we’ve probably all realised that the large social media companies probably know what we’re going to eat for breakfast be- fore we do – the trouble is, benevolent and malevolent data collection go hand- in-hand. Realistically, is it a problem if a credit referencing facility knows you’re holi- daying in Europe? What does it matter if there’s a record of who provides your gas and electricity on a server somewhere? The thing is, in the wrong hands, this data will build a bigger picture of you and your life. These are just examples – but they’re things that a criminal could use if they wanted to do a convincing job of imitat- ing you. So, should you care? The answer is a very definite yes – when your data is ‘out there’ you might never reel it back in – and you’re potentially at the mercy of people with sinister intentions. It might feel im- possible to live your life away from an in- ternet connection – but that doesn’t mean we have to openly broadcast everything we do, every location we visit, or every website we frequent. How to keep your data private The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security notes that “Cybercrime is the most com- mon threat that Canadians and Canadian organizations are likely to encounter.” So, in the absence of sweeping international regulation change, the onus falls on each one of us to make sure we’re being safe – especially as we do business online. There’s an element of behavioural change that can help to make sure we’re safe. Using different usernames and pass- word combinations is a good first step – as is using good virus detection software and keeping your operating system and software up to date. The thing is though, this often isn’t enough. We’ve become reliant on tech- nology that often doesn’t keep pace with the most sophisticated criminals. Increas- ingly, we need to look toward using VPNs and secure browsers to make sure we’re ahead of the crowd. Sadly, this ‘ahead of the crowd’ mindset is where we need to be with data security. If you’re running away from a lion, you don’t have to be fast – you just have to be faster than the person next to you. The same is true of cybercrime: Unless you’re particularly high-profile or wealthy, it’s very unlikely that you’ll be targeted spe- cifically – since the most attractive pros- pects are those who are lacklustre with their data. Data might not quite have the market flexibility of oil yet, but to those who op- erate in the shadows, you might argue that it’s even more valuable. Howard Dawson is a writer and tech enthusiast at Strictly Digital. of the marketing just because you’ve run into bad credit – that’s not how marketing works. In fact, the whole idea behind mar- keting is to find the people who’ll part with their money – regardless of whether or not that’s what’s best for you. Of course, this kind of data-use happens behind closed doors. Industry secrets that are intended to give companies the com- petitive edge. Not all redistribution of data is quite so protected though. There’s another type of data broker; the services and sites that let you punch in a few details about an individual before sell- ing you more. Want to know someone’s name and address history? Their political affiliations? Details about their relatives? The services are out there – and they’ll sell access to your information to anyone who’s willing to part with the money. As if having your data available to com- panies and individuals wasn’t daunting enough, there’s an even darker side of data collection and sale – that done by cyber- criminals. From phishing scams and iden- tity theft, to the targeting of young or oth- erwise vulnerable individuals, personal details are worth a tremendous amount of The thing is though, this often isn’t enough. We’ve become reliant on technology that often doesn’t keep pace with the most sophisticated criminals. Increasingly, we need to look toward using VPNs and secure browsers to make sure we’re ahead of he crowd.