Privacy? What privacy?

By Rebecca Stewart

Since the coming of the digital age, our privacy has slowly eroded away.

The now ubiquitous mobile phone, the advent of the internet and the coming of social networking sites has ensured that everyone knows everyone else’s business. It has also allowed us to be less strict about what of ourselves we keep private and what we tell others in an online environment.

The biggest worry, though, is not what we ourselves share, but what others share, though the information may not be given willingly. The safekeeping of documents online cannot be trusted. Many companies have taken to storing documents electronically. This, in an ideal world, saves time and paper. It can also be a safeguard against disaster, such as fires.

However, the abundance of cyber hackers limits the safety of personal information. Information that, perhaps, might not have otherwise been freely given. It may be fine to update statuses on Facebook, Twitter or MySpace, but these details are willingly shared. Online social networking profiles can be edited to give the information people feel comfortable sharing, such as the fact they’re in a relationship; if this information does not want to be disclosed publically, it can be kept private.

But the ability for others to access and share this information, however difficult it is made to get, is still a small worry. For the most part, this worry is kept to a minimum and not brought to attention until someone starts hacking into personal information.

Recently, classified documents on government and private computers in 103 countries were hacked into by a cyber spy network. This network targeted, among others, embassies, banks, foreign affairs ministries and news organisations.

At this stage, the hackers have not been conclusively identified, but initial investigations by the Information Warfare Monitor (IWM) indicate the network is being run out of China.

A report released by the IWM alleges 1,295 machines were compromised, including those at NATO, foreign ministries in Iran, Bangladesh, Latvia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, Barbados, India, South Korea, Indonesia, Romania, Cyprus, Malta, Thailand, Taiwan, Portugal, Germany and Pakistan.

This remote spying operation is thought to be one of the biggest uncovered to date. With so many countries and organisations affected, it brings into sharp focus the lack of power we can have over our own personal security. While we were still at risk with the keeping of personal documents on-site, the risk has increased greatly with the ability for just about anyone, world-wide, to gain unauthorised access to our information.

So, in this day and age – this modern age of digital wonders and supposed digital safekeeping and security – how secure are we, and how much trust should we put into the organisations charged with looking after our personal details?