One of the most important aspects of modern life is our privacy. One of the biggest problems in terms of privacy is the problem of protecting the privacy online. Any attempt to protect one’s privacy online begins with policies. These policies are extremely complex and invariably confusing. Their language also seems alien since most of these policies are designed to hold up in the complex legal systems.
Luckily, a few individuals from the University of Victoria, Canada created the CATSMI Project (The Canadian Access to Social Media Information Project). This project analyses the policies of the top 20 social media websites and provides a plain worded description on what to expect from the policies with respect to –
- Who has access to the PII (Personally Identifiable Information)
- How can an individual lodge a complaint.
- Details of privacy officers
- Can the privacy policies be changed without informing individuals
- Does the collected PII change if the user is a child or an adult.
- Can a child sign up without adult consent
- Can a user make do without disclosing his/ her PII
- Is there any mention of international and national privacy laws in the privacy policy.
- Can the information which has been previously provided be deleted permanently.
- Is the privacy policy applicable just for the site or is it a part of another larger organization.
- Does the privacy policy involve a seal of approval.
- When was the privacy policy updated? Where can one find older versions?
- Does the site in concern make a commitment towards keeping the PII safe and secure.
- Will the PII be disclosed to various law enforcement agencies and if yes, why
- Will the site inform the user if there is a breach of information.
- Can a user update or correct his/ her PII
This whopping list of questions and their true answers go a long way in making the concepts of social media privacy become an extremely easy affair for the common man.
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