Internet privacy involves the right for a person to control the spread of their personal data concerning the storing, repurposing, provisioning, and displaying that data for unintended purposes. Internet privacy is becoming a more pressing issue in today’s society because of the growing involvement of the internet into our daily lives. As it becomes harder to traverse through social norms without giving up sensitive information to the web, a growing number of people are becoming concerned about what that could mean in the future. All of our data, from social media to e-commerce, is being sold and stored for companies and the government to use in the future.
Internet security consists of various security measures to protect your internet transactions from unwanted eyes. It prevents attacks targeted at browsers, network, operating systems, and other applications. These threats could be from hackers, viruses, or worms. Today, businesses and governments are prioritizing their security measure to protect themselves from malware originated from the internet. In 2016, according to CNBC, the world economy lost over 450 billion dollars due to cybercrimes and this number has been rapidly rising ever since. The main aim of Internet security is to set up precise rules and regulations that can deflect attacks that arise from the Internet.
Internet privacy and security closely related terms that play an important role when we interact with the internet. Internet Privacy refers to the personal privacy that you’re entitled to when you display, store, or provide information regarding yourself on the Internet. Internet security consists of various security measures designed to keep transactions online secure. Internet security can exist without internet privacy, but it is not true the other way around. To have privacy these days you need to have security measure in place to protect your information. These terms differ in two main aspects. Let us take a bank account as an example. Security controls consist of controlling who can view your account information whereas privacy is controlling what and when people can access specific data. With both of these forces working together in harmony, we are able to protect the data that defines us.