Recently there's been headlines about the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal, which accounted for about 87 million people having their data improperly obtained according to this BBC News article. If something like this can happen to a major corporation like Facebook, then where does that leave the consumer in terms of personal data protection?
Speaking of data breaches, gonna take you back to something that still enrages me: the Equifax data breach in September of 2017. This BBC News article reveals that around 143 million Americans had their personal data leaked, which includes: social security numbers, birth dates, credit card numbers, etc. Is this still talked about? No. There's hardly even a mention of it in the media now. While Equifax does have lawsuits in the triple digits according to Reuters over this scandal, my question of many is: where is the accountability?
Yes, we are playing a different game compared to 30 years ago when it comes to protecting our personal information. There is much less a factor of one's information being physically stolen. However, it increasingly seems that corporations in charge of our data are handling it recklessly. And what happens when our data gets stolen? Well, we get a half-assed apology
I'd say this is the equivalent to:
If I may speak for others, I would say that sorry just isn't enough. We have a right to ensure that our personal information stays personal. Companies have gotten way too wreckless with our information. If I can be realistic, it's going to take a lot more data breaches and a lot more pissed off consumers for anything to really happen. For now, the only viable thing to do is to stay updated on the latest data breaches to know what you should do to protect your information.
Photo by 
