Foreword

The amount of online data is increasing at an alarming rate. Many of our traditional face-to-face interactions — such as banking, shopping, and social connections — are now taking place online. While more knowledge may lead to undeniable economic and social benefits, the availability of data and specialized analytics that are capable of linking seemingly anonymous information can paint an accurate picture of our private lives. This raises significant concerns about the future of privacy. Preserving privacy may depend on our ability to reclaim control of our online information and personal identities, ensuring continued freedom and liberty via privacy and data protection, in the midst of 21st-century technologies.

We are social animals who seek contact with each other, but we also seek privacy: moments of solitude, intimacy, quiet, reserve, and control — personal control. These interests have coexisted for centuries and must continue to do so, for the human condition requires both. To achieve these competing objectives, organizations must embed easily accessible, privacy-protective controls into their services, or what I call, “Privacy by Design.” Equally important, though, must be the willingness of each of us to use them. So while much work is required on the part of organizations to gain our trust that they will be upstanding data custodians, as individuals who also independently contribute to our online identities, we too must shoulder some responsibility for our online privacy.

Your Right to Privacy: Minimize Your Digital Footprint makes a valuable contribution to simplifying the complex online ecosystem into manageable chunks so that each of us is able to understand the implications of our online activities for our privacy. This practical user guide is an encyclopedia of knowledge about privacy and even more, including advice and tips about how we can protect our online identities without needing an advanced degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics.

We can, and must, have both — the future of privacy … the future of freedom, may well depend on it. As the saying goes — if you ask for it, it will come. So speak up, get smart, and claim your privacy!

— Dr. Ann Cavoukian,
Executive Director of the Privacy and Big Data
Institute at Ryerson University and former Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario
(ryerson.ca/pbdi/about/people/cavoukian.html)