Privacy awareness is an important first step in taking control of your privacy practice, but where can you go for reliable, actionable advice on how to limit your exposure to tracking, unintentional sharing, and online security? Who demystifies the terms and technology?
While this blog is a good place to keep up with trends in privacy and the mindful use of technology, there are other resources out there you can tap to help inform your privacy practice. One place you might not be aware of is the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC is the nation’s consumer protection agency. The FTC works to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace.
In fact, the FTC just released new consumer information about online tracking. The webpage provides answers to commonly asked questions about online tracking, cookies, device fingerprinting and behavioral advertising. Additionally, it provides information about ways to take control of your online privacy by opting out where you find appropriate.
The FTC page on online tracking is the most recent extension of the FTC’s ongoing efforts to provide consumers unbiased information about privacy, identity protection, and online security. The FTC also provides tips and resources for businesses concerned with their own role in protecting privacy and conforming to the law.
You might also want to familiarize yourself with the privacy regulators working to protect consumer privacy. From the local level to the global community there are dedicated privacy advocates out there like Ireland’s Helene Dixon, the Whitehouse CTO Megan Smith, and California’s own Attorney General Kamala Harris.
Knowing where to find resources and who’s out there representing your interests is an important component in taking social responsibility for privacy. Social responsibility means that you as an individual can act to benefit your community or society as a whole. Awareness without translation into action has limited communal benefit, but by encouraging by example, presenting a non-partisan view of the issues, and engaging the political machine on privacy, you can become a force multiplier for the protection and promotion of our right to privacy.
Habitual awareness and action is the most effective method of working to overcome the privacy paradox. When our beliefs and our behaviors around privacy are not aligned, we find ourselves in the grip of a paradox all too easy to submit to. Because privacy is often a faceless issue, defaults are not always pro-privacy, and oversharing is common, we don’t always realize the implications of succumbing to the privacy paradox.
Hopefully these resources and reminders about how to make privacy a habit will refresh your dedication to privacy awareness and advocacy. Share them with someone you know and help promote privacy today.
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