Get Tech Support Now - (818) 584-6021 - C2 Technology Partners, Inc.

Get Tech Support Now - (818) 584-6021 - C2 Technology Partners, Inc.

C2 provides technology services and consultation to businesses and individuals.

T (818) 584 6021
Email: info@c2techs.net

C2 Technology Partners, Inc.
26500 Agoura Rd, Ste 102-576, Calabasas, CA 91302

Open in Google Maps
QUESTIONS? CALL: 818-584-6021
  • HOME
  • BLOG
  • SERVICES
    • Encryption
    • Backups
  • ABOUT
    • Privacy Policy
FREECONSULT
Tuesday, 12 June 2018 / Published in Woo on Tech

The Ultimate Personally Identifiable Info

What scant regulation we have as a country that protects our personal privacy is mostly built around the concept of “Personally Identifiable Information” which, according to Wikipedia is, “…information that can be used on its own or with other information to identify, contact, or locate a single person, or to identify an individual in context.” If you think of PII at all (most of don’t as a rule, which is part of the problem) you may enumerate bits like date of birth, social security number, mother’s maiden name, street address, phone number, etc. While those definitely qualify as PII, there is a ton of other information that falls into this category that the average person wouldn’t necessarily consider sensitive, such as a Twitter or Instagram account name, that without context, seems harmless. Thanks to the internet and data aggregation, everything can be connected, and now that pretty much all of our information is stored digitally, more readily stolen. A recent breach of DNA-testing firm MyHeritage put us one step closer to a dystopian future where the security and privacy of our own genetics will be at risk.

What this means for you

Fortunately for its 92 million customers, their DNA information wasn’t stolen, just encrypted emails and passwords. One could ask what sort of world we are living in that this constitutes (relatively) good news, but in the face of the massive Equifax debacle with zero consequences for any of the culpable, it seems that having your account and password stolen from yet another online service provider is now counting as the new normal. As horrifying as that is to consider, consider the nightmare scenario where not only are your DNA test results available somewhere on the internet, an insurance or mortgage company has bought this info and is using it in their underwriting process to evaluate your qualifications. It doesn’t matter that the information was originally acquired illegally or without your consent, there are no laws or regulations currently on the books that govern the use of genetic data, and judging from recent legislation coming out of Congress there is currently little interest in protecting the average citizen from anything, let alone an issue over which most Congress critters have an incomplete grasp. What’s to be done? Definitely don’t stop being outraged at yet another massive data breach that will largely go unnoticed by everyone. Make sure you understand where your government representatives stands on data privacy, and if it doesn’t match your standards, demonstrate your disapproval with you voting hand.

  • Tweet
Tagged under: privacy

What you can read next

Apple Logo
iPhone – too beautiful for its own good?
Eye Spy
Is your webcam spying on you? Maybe.
Lock it up!
Stop Using Weak Passwords

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Social Media monetizes our need to be social

    Part of our occasional series “The Elepha...
  • Freemail accounts will be hacked

    Most of you know that I do not recommend using ...
  • LastPass Breach is bad news for everyone

    Late in the year, just in time for the holidays...
  • 2023 – Approach with Caution

    Traditionally I like my year-end messages to be...
  • Privacy sign

    Popular tax apps leaked your data to Facebook

    While it shouldn’t come as a surprise to any of...

Archives

  • GET SOCIAL
Get Tech Support Now - (818) 584-6021 - C2 Technology Partners, Inc.

© 2016 All rights reserved.

TOP