Privacy 101- Your Digital Wealth
By Darity Wesley
Wealth is the ability to fully experience life. ~Henry David Thoreau
There are a number of ways to measure wealth- some of them have withstood the test of the centuries like real property and precious metals. Others have diminished over time like shells and beads. Now there is a new bankable currency globally- our personal data.
Our personally identifiable information, called ‘pii’ in the privacy industry, is quickly becoming the hottest commodity of the Internet. The race to mine as much of this digital gold as possible is pretty similar to the California gold rush of more than a century ago. Driven by visions of wealth, fueled by ideas of how to collect, store, manage, collate and monetize this information, business people around the globe are racing to be develop our new digital ecosystem.
The tricky part of all of this is figuring out where our privacy fits into all of this. As our society shifts into a context of living a digitally observed life, how will we be able to control our personal information assets? The answers are through continuing education regarding current privacy and information security regulations, safeguarding pii through ethical business practices and by staying aware and alert of what is out there on the Internet about you and your business. It has become just about as important for you to monitor your online reputation, as it is to get your annual free credit report and check it for errors. Creating a Google alert (http://www.google.com/alerts) so that you are emailed when you and your business are mentioned on Google and taking advantage of StepRep (http://www.steprep.com), an online reputation intelligence service, are two good ways to keep track of your digital presence.
Then there is the business side of the digital currency and how pii is managed and protected. According to a National Association of REALTORS® survey, more than 80% of real estate professionals aren’t sure what the privacy laws are for their state-which means they don’t know how to safeguard the precious personal information they collect from clients like social security numbers and financial account information. One of the first things taught in law school is that ignorance is no excuse for breaking a law. If you are in business and not sure of what your obligations are to customers and consumers to protect their information, you need to find out as to eliminate any liability lurking on your website or in your business practices.
Now more than ever it is critical to stay aware and alert of what you make public and what you keep private. It is also a good idea to make sure that you know what is out there in the digital world about you.
