Digital Fingerprints and Anonymization
Thrown out there on September 15, 2009
It’s necessary to share the truth with upcoming generations concerning the “privacy” to which we’ve clung dearly in the past. Social networking, online surveys, and any other online activity which can be digitized are inherently flawed with regard to privacy simply because every little piece of information can be linked to an individual. As the study below lays out in horrifying and technical detail, knowing a person’s gender, complete birth date, and zip code leads, with an alarming 87.1% accuracy, to a particular person (and how many times have you filled out a survey or signed up for an account with this information?).
It’s time to get smart and teach others, as much as it lies within their power, to take common sense control over minimizing their “digital fingerprint.” Public education (and of course all other sectors as well) need to teach basic technological skills lacking from many institutions today such as password selection, identifiable information evasion, search query sensitivity, etc.
The article, “Broken Promises of Privacy: Responding to the Surprising Failure of Anonymization” by Paul Ohm, (linked below–click “Download” at the top of the page once you arrive, and select any of the locations from which to download the PDF…for the sake of location identification you may even want to select a location which is not closest to your actual location;-)) provides an excellent case study and analysis of these and many other profound considerations regarding privacy in this age of technology.
Read it and weep. Or at least skim through the first half of the paper when you have a free half hour or so. Then dry your tears and take action as we educate others to avoid, perhaps, some of the very mistakes we may have once made ourselves. Maybe we can’t control the security and release methods employed by unavoidable organizations with which we come in contact, but we can control that which remains in our power–including the education of others.
“Broken Promises of Privacy: Responding to the Surprising Failure of Anonymization” by Paul Ohm
