A recent book I read, Privacy: And How to Get it Back, from a recent podcast guest, BJ Mendelson, really got me thinking about a big topic right now in society; digital privacy.

The big takeaway for me from Privacy was that it isn't so much that the tools themselves are inherently bad, it's how the companies who made them use them and sell our data as well as what individuals put on these platforms without knowing what is done with this information.

I think BJ's book serves as a great counterpoint to my other book review, Winning with Data. There are ways to responsibly use data to make life better for people, but profiting off of social media posts and this community that exists on your platforms isn't really doing many people much good. And there are other models that could be made to allow these companies to make money without selling your data, or at least compensate you for your valuable data (which BJ recommends).

We create many of our own problems in the world, but we can also create solutions as well. These amazing tools we've made need to used responsibly by all involved. Many of these digital companies (whether they be Amazon, Facebook, Google, etc.) have a duty to do right by us, their users. But often they're working within the lax regulations put upon them. If we put proper rules in place, then they will work within them, as we're seeing with the GDPR rollout. I think digital privacy is a right, and these companies shouldn't be obfuscating the way to control how our data is shared.

I'm hopeful that as these digital tools as becoming more ubiquitous, we will update our laws and make sure to keep these companies that make them in check. It is also on the individual to feel empowered and informed to manage their data in whatever ways they feel most comfortable with. Maybe that means being more conservative, or it means sharing it widely, or only with certain platforms. Also, in my world, as higher ed becomes more digitized as well, we need to more conscious of how we're securing this information, which at times can be very sensitive.

I hope this gets you thinking like it did for me. It's something we can take for granted but the right to privacy is fundamental. We just need to learn how to navigate this issue in the digital space, but I'm confident we all can.