Privacy apathy is real – and you probably have it too

Navigating the digital landscape can honestly be a nightmare these days. It seems that every page you visit requires you to accept cookies, enter personal information, or create an account in order to properly use the site.

Furthermore, the number of data breaches has never been higher, with stories of people’s personal data being leaked every day

With the sheer amount of digital noise we deal with every day, it’s not surprising that people are feeling burned out by it all. This burnout brings risky cybersecurity behavior and even potentially dangerous cyber situations – despite the fact that we are constantly encouraged to use privacy software like the best VPNs.

There’s only one way to describe this, and that’s with the phrase “Privacy Apathy.” Read on to discover in more detail what privacy apathy is, why it is so dangerous, and what steps you can take to combat privacy apathy in your daily life.

What is privacy apathy?

Privacy apathy is exactly what it sounds like: being so burned out and fed up with the various procedures you have to perform to exist online that you simply become apathetic to your own online privacy.

Privacy apathy can manifest itself in a number of different ways, including:

Reuse passwords across multiple accounts
Accept cookies instead of rejecting them
Entering your personal information on sites
It doesn’t matter if your data is exposed to data breaches

It’s important to note that what I describe as ‘Privacy Apathy’ isn’t just a lack of education or a misunderstanding of how to stay safe online, it’s knowing what can keep you safe, but also choosing not to do it as it is, admittedly. , much easier.

Furthermore, given the scale of data breaches these days, it’s no wonder that people view the leak of their data as a “when, not if” situation. By 2023, data breaches will increase by 35% more than 17 billion personal records leaked during the year.

One of the clearest examples of this comes from Password Manager The LastPass Password Psychology reportwhich found that despite 89% of people surveyed acknowledging that reusing passwords or using variations of the same password is risky behavior, only 12% of respondents used unique passwords for all their accounts, and 62% admitted to reusing them and/or used variations of the same password. the same password for all their accounts.

Other research from Forbes Advisor has shown that more than a third (35%) of people admit they think they have been hacked because of a weak password, and one in three people say they think they have been hacked because they have repeatedly used the same password.

On top of this, Everything about Cookies has been found that 38% of Americans blindly accept “all” cookies, despite more than one in four (27%) knowing that sites cannot store and sell user information if they reject cookies.

One thing is clear; Even though we know what we need to do to stay safe, we just don’t do it.

A frustrated looking black woman using a laptop

(Image credit: Getty Images)

How can I combat privacy apathy?

A key factor of Privacy Apathy is simply that it makes it easier to reuse passwords, accept all cookies, ignore warnings to change your password, and so on.

So, how do you combat this? Simple. You make it easier to choose the cyber-secure option and keep yourself safe.

Use a password manager

If you’re guilty of password reuse, and chances are you are, the only way to stop it is to create a new password, which is easier than just reusing an old one.

Get yourself one of the best password managers which not only stores all your passwords for you, but also generates unique, secure passwords for each of your accounts.

You won’t have any trouble remembering or coming up with passwords, and you’ll eliminate the chance of several of your accounts being compromised if one of your passwords leaks.

Reduce digital noise

Accepting all cookies can be much easier than rejecting all cookies, especially if you have to manually uncheck third parties in the ‘legitimate interest’ section. However, this does allow companies to track you and your data.

To reduce the appeal of the “Accept All” button, you can simply turn off this digital noise with a cookie and an ad blocker.

VPNs like NordVPN has additional features that can automatically block cookies on websites so you don’t even have to take them into account. Another great VPN, Surf sharkhas a function called Clean Web which blocks all ads and cookie consent pop-ups and warns you about malware and data breaches.

It is important to note that cookies are used for personalization, tracking and marketing, so if you block/refuse all cookies your experience on certain websites may be affected.

Look at the data

While data breaches may seem inevitable, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to protect your personal data anyway. One way to recognize the severity of this situation is to actually look at how much of your personal information is available online.

HaveIBeenPwned.com is a handy checker that allows you to check whether your email address or telephone number has been compromised by a data breach. This will give you an idea of what you need to better protect to prevent your accounts from being hacked.

If you’re concerned about the amount of personal data legitimate companies have about you that could potentially be leaked in a data breach, you may want to consider using a data deletion service. Data deletion services Contact companies that hold your data on your behalf and have them delete it.

Remember this: If your email address or phone number is leaked, you’ll likely see an increase in nasty scam or spam messages, and no one wants that.