Why You Need Privacy

Posted: July 28, 2010 by at Must Read | Personal Security

It’s not about having something to hide it’s about having something to keep.

When I think of privacy I think of security and when I think of security I think of defense; defense against an attack of any kind. These days the most common attack is an attack on Privacy. We live in a digital age and we have more passwords than ever and have signed up to more accounts than we can remember.

If someone breaks into your house and steals your computer or back up hard drive, they may have access to most if not all of your passwords and intimate details of your life. You will be spending the next 96 hours or more notifying banks to cancel credit cards and bank accounts. Online accounts too, like E-bay, Amazon, PayPal, Facebook, Twitter, and My Space etc, will require you to change login details and reset passwords – That is of course if the thief hasn’t already beaten you too it. If you then start adding police reports, the whole thing turns into real a nightmare fast.

The stress of having to go through this is horrific and can be avoided with a bit of forethought. Sit and take an inventory of all things digital in your life. Your iPhone your flash drives left lying around the apartment and even old e-mails that you keep for nostalgia could all contain information about you, which could be used against you.

So what do you do next? Put all things private in one place on your computer or flash drive and use encryption software. Unless the thief is some kind of hacker they will find it impossible to access your information. Organize your security like you would any other part of your life like bills and social life. The trick to being secure is knowing where you are easily weakened, and doing something about it.

If you are not an organized person you will have to become one. I guarantee that having to contact all the companies that support your lifestyle and resetting passwords is going to take a hell of a lot of organization on your part and you’ll be doing this as fast as you can and under tremendous stress.

So you have two options really. Do it now or do it under a mountain of stress and pressure. You don’t have to do it all in one sitting either. If you’re feeling lucky you can risk it and do it all in a few days or even a few weeks. Just do it.

There is an old line. “If you aren’t doing anything wrong then you have nothing to hide”. Rubbish! – don’t fall for it because it’s not about that at all.

In Summary – In this digital age it isn’t about hiding anything incriminating more so than protecting your personal assets.