What Are Online Privacy Issues?網絡隱私問題知多少？

袁峰

You might think that you wont have to deal with any of the common online privacy issues as your e-activity is not worth tracking. All you do is browse through different websites and search engines， or post updates on social media platforms. No one could have an interest in that， right？

Wrong. That couldnt be further from the truth！

For hackers and cyberthieves， this data that you produce is a rich type of personal information， stating more about your online activities than you might even imagine.

Battles have long raged over how third parties can access and use your data. But without the right privacy laws and with emerging technologies appearing constantly， our online privacy faces newer and more powerful threats each day. And these may have an even bigger effect than what is estimated on how your Web-based life is either protected or exposed.

Those preoccupied with what are the issues of privacy when online， ought to pay careful attention to the following 5 major threats， including：

Cookie generation

Wondering which is one of the biggest threats to our privacy？

Meet the cookies！

Cookies are fragments of information that gets saved whenever you visit a website. This information is later used by sites to customize your browsing experience and to recognize your device the next time you revisit that particular website.

Ever wondered how come you are receiving personalized ads as if someone knew exactly what you want and what you are searching for？ Well， you can definitely thank the cookies for that.

Online privacy issues caused by the hidden cookie application that monitors your browser and personal data are likely to multiply in the nearest future. Wondering why？

Because your system is liable to collect more cookies.

Five to ten years ago， in the event that you opened some specific websites in your web browser， you would get maybe a couple of cookies from advertising/marketing agents， but this would basically be it.

Long gone are those times now. With the advertising world， the entrepreneurs， and all the other information profiteers depending on cookies to spy on your identity and learn what you could be interested in shopping， the cookies are just getting bigger and stronger each day.

Online privacy issues caused by cloud data

You might love how easy it is to grab data through cloud services. But so do conduct law enforcement bureaus.

If you use email services， keep files in Google Drive， or upload sensitive information like your credit card or medical records， whatever you set up there can be retrieved by somebody else.

Unsecured location sharing

Your cell phone is the first nosy parker1， but the locations you post and share on social media sites are revealing sources， too. Showing your whereabouts got even simpler now as many people are using a multitude of location-beaming2 devices like smarter watches， Google Glasses， or car trackers.

Equipped with all this information， advertisers might （for example） send you promotions for nearby businesses， wherever you are.

Data never forgets individuals

Posting and tagging photographs online may feel like fun. But behind the scenes， it helps construct a facial recognition catalog which makes escaping notice increasingly hard for anybody.

If these social networking platforms would use this data strictly to help you find other people you know on their site， it might be okay. But once these websites start selling user information to third parties， image data might be integrated leading to serious privacy and GDPR concerns.

Social networking websites make one of the leading facial recognition databases in the world and the tremendous number of photographs uploaded to these websites cause one of the main online privacy issues surrounding this technology.

Scanning cybersecurity

You may not be a hacker， but this doesnt mean your online activity wont be scanned for signs of cybercrime. The federal government has made cybersecurity a high priority， as more and more concerns are raised regarding the vulnerability of the nations infrastructure in case of an online assault.

“Make no mistake3， everything we touch that is digital in the future will be a data source” says the IAPP4s Hughes.

In conclusion， you might be rightfully wondering， “Is privacy dead in the online world？”

你也許以為自己無須應付任何常見的網絡隱私問題，因為你的網上活動不值得追蹤。你所做的無非是瀏覽各種網站、使用不同的搜索引擎，或是在社交媒體平臺發布最新動態。沒人會對此感興趣，對吧？

不對。這與事實大相徑庭！

對黑客和網絡竊賊來說，你生成的上述數據是豐富的個人信息，所透露的網上活動底細之多超乎你的想象。

長期以來，對于第三方如何獲取和使用我們的數據一直爭論激烈。沒有恰當的隱私法規，卻有新興技術不斷涌現，以致網絡隱私每天都面臨著更新、更強勁的威脅。這些威脅對網上生活受保護或被曝光程度的影響恐怕比人們估計的還要大。

上網時會有哪些隱私問題？對此憂心忡忡的人應密切注意以下五大威脅：

緩存文件的生成

想知道我們的隱私面臨的最大威脅是什么嗎？

就是緩存文件！

緩存文件是訪問網站時被保存的信息片段。網站此后會利用該信息為你提供個性化瀏覽體驗，并在你下次重訪該網站時識別你的設備。

你是否曾納悶自己怎么會收到個性化廣告？似乎有人確切知道你想要什么、正在搜索什么。知道吧，這絕對是緩存文件干的好事。

監控瀏覽器和個人數據的隱藏式緩存文件應用程序會導致網絡隱私問題，在不久的將來，這些問題多半會成倍增加。想知道原因嗎？

這是因為你的系統可能會收集更多的緩存文件。

五到十年前，要是在瀏覽器中打開某些特定網站，你會招來區區幾個來自廣告/營銷代理商的緩存文件，但基本上僅此而已。

這樣的時代早已一去不復返。隨著廣告界、企業家以及所有其他信息牟利者借助緩存文件來窺探你的身份、了解你的購物意向，緩存文件正日益強大。

云數據引發的網絡隱私問題

你大概喜歡通過云服務輕松獲取數據，而執法部門也是如此。

如果使用電子郵件服務，將文件保存在谷歌云端硬盤，或上傳信用卡或病歷等敏感信息，那放置于云端的任何信息都能被他人檢索到。

不安全的位置共享

手機是頭號泄密者，而在社交媒體網站上發布和分享位置也會暴露信息。現在許多人都在使用智能手表、谷歌眼鏡、汽車追蹤器等諸多位置傳送設備，探明你的行蹤因而越發輕松簡單。

有了所有這些信息，廣告商可能會（例如）向你發送附近商家的促銷信息，無論你置身何處。

數據從不放過個人

在網上發布和標記照片想必饒有趣味。但在背地里，這有利于構建人臉識別目錄，讓任何人都越來越難以逃脫注意。

如果社交網絡平臺嚴格使用這類數據來幫助你在其網站上查找認識的人，這興許沒問題。可一旦這些網站開始向第三方出售用戶信息，圖像數據就會被集成，導致嚴重的泄露隱私和違反《通用數據保護條例》問題。

社交網站是世界上主要的人臉識別數據庫之一，巨量照片被上傳到此類網站，導致圍繞人臉識別技術的一大網絡隱私問題。

監察網絡安全

你可能不是黑客，但這并不意味著你的網上活動不會受到旨在發現網絡犯罪跡象的監察。美國基礎設施脆弱不堪，難抵網絡攻擊，此類擔憂越來越多，聯邦政府因而已將網絡安全列為重中之重。

國際隱私專業人士協會的休斯表示：“要知道，未來我們接觸到的任何數字化事物都將是數據源。”

綜上所述，你或許有理由發問：“網絡世界是否已不存在隱私？”

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）