Digital privacy - bad news or long overdue ?

Who would have thought that all our lives would revolve around fast internet connections? It would be an understatement to say that it’s a crucial part of our life - from work to everyday chores have all been moved over to the digital world. So much so, that we have multimillion empires relying completely on people’s accessibility of the internet. So when did privacy become the main thing?

Browsers and apps have started prioritizing security. As more people become active on the web, they’ve become more educated about their online behavior. There has also been an increase in users seeking more secure platforms. With more people working online, there is also the matter of keeping the company documents secure. People have found the difference between personalization and outright breach of privacy. We have encryptions, data blocking, and more features coming to the front to ensure that netizens can use the digital medium without having to sell their identity and preferences for a better experience.

In August 2020, MalwareBytes reported that 20% of organizations had had a data breach due to remote working. This has increased the need for secure browsers and platforms so that digital properties can be kept secure. So where does FireFox come into all of this?

FireFox has always prioritized safe browsing. It’s one of the reasons it’s remained relevant in a monopoly of Google. Mozilla’s Firefox has started encryption of domain names by default. To put it simply, this will ensure that the user's search history cannot be accessed by any third party without seeking the user's permission.

This upgrade is a continuous process and will take a few weeks. So why is this helpful? Well DNS or Domain Name System has been around for a long time as an encrypted data. This makes all data susceptible to spying and has been exploited through history. FireFox is ensuring that they set an example, many other websites have also announced that they’d do the same - like Facebook, Google and more.

Now of course all data today is easy to stalk and prone to attacks especially if the internet server is not personal. Anyone using the same network as you can track down what websites you visit and may redirect you to other websites as well.

As the prices for everything including technology and internet connections keep rising, privacy and safety continue to be the features that users demand in exchange for their money.

There has been severe backlash for this effort. The shift to introduce DNS over HTTPS has led many tech giants to name tag FireFox as the internet villain. There has also been questioning over centralized encryptions.

As netizens grow, it’s only instinctual for them to protect their browsing habits and online data. Safari today has data showing how many websites were blocked from tracking your information. Taking extra caution to ensure digital privacy has been long overdue. It’s time we treat it like the digital real estate it is and give people their rights. This will surely put marketing and tech efforts on the back burner. Here’s what we urge you to focus on - better safety for individuals means better user experience. It also ensures more people participate on the web. It will also secure your brand’s experience. Trust has reduced significantly over the last few years, increase in digital privacy will also help with reader retention and active engagement.

Are you still curious to learn more? Here’s an article from FireFox for all our tech nerds!