At a busy shopping mall in Dubai, I was about accessing an open wifi network when a voice in my head told me to be careful. What if the network was unsafe? What if they stole my private information? My fear of stolen data was due in large part to what had been reported in the media –large-scale breaches that have compromised the data of millions of people. The Identity Theft Resource Centre – a non-profit organisation that focuses on identity theft – classifies data loss according to the following categories: insider theft, hacking/computer intrusion, data on the move, physical theft, employee error/negligence, accidental web exposure/unauthorised access.
In 2018, I had just started working in the Middle East when Careem, the ride-hailing app in the region, suffered a cyberattack that compromised the data of its 14 million users. Personal details such as names, email addresses, phone numbers and trip data were stolen in that unfortunate incident. That same year, hacking was identified as the most common form of data breach in the world.
Internet users like me are worried, and continue to disagree with businesses’ claim on transparency in the use and protection of their personal data. A CIGI-Ipsos Global Survey on Internet Security and Trust conducted to determine people’s opinions on online privacy and the power of social media platforms, revealed that users generally distrust social media platforms, search engines and…
