Data Privacy Is a Human Right
Low-income people are often the underdog in the data privacy wars. What role can design play in changing that?
They say the small bit of data you don’t give away, companies will find a way to take anyway.
“Data privacy”: It’s a phrase that has increasingly bubbled up in news headlines, conversations, podcasts, and interviews. It’s become a death sentence for some companies, a savior for others, and has snuck into our vocabulary as we begin to consider, for the first time ever, the darker side of the spectrum of personalization.
Naturally, I, like many others, have started being a more thoughtful about clicking “accept” when modals ask permission to track my behavior. I’ve changed my passwords to ones that are long and weird. I’ve updated my security settings and deactivated Facebook. I use a fake email address for online forms, I’ve opted out of location settings, and have stopped storing my personal information in public places. I’m doing the bare minimum, I’m sure, but I’m getting increasingly freaked out by the barrage of news about people’s personal information being compromised. So I’m taking some sort of action. And, as I’ve started to get a sense for how damaging a breach of privacy can be, I’ve realized that everyone should take action too.
It’s not that hard. Data privacy is a human right. Everyone can take action.
Right?
Well, it tends to depend on how much money you have.
The reason not everyone can take action to protect their data privacy starts with the growing economic disparity between upper and lower classes, which has further manifested itself as a digital divide. To summarize: lower-income communities rarely have access to the same level of tech equity that higher-income groups do when it comes to access, education, opportunity, and quality.
It’s no surprise, then, that people in low-income communities are less aware that data privacy is a real concern, and they may not fully understand the implications it can have on their lives.
In fact, because low-income communities are disproportionately plagued with real-life physical safety threats, they…
