Understanding privacy terminology helps you make sense of privacy policies, security discussions, and technology choices. This glossary covers the most important terms you'll encounter in digital privacy conversations.
Anonymity: The state of being unidentifiable. True anonymity means that actions cannot be traced back to a specific individual, even by people who have access to the data.
Data Broker: A company that collects, aggregates, and sells personal information about individuals. They gather data from public records, online activities, and other sources to create detailed consumer profiles.
Digital Footprint: The trail of data you leave behind through your online activities. This includes both information you consciously share and data that's automatically collected about your behavior.
Encryption: A mathematical process that scrambles information so only people with the correct key can read it. Think of it as putting your data in a locked box that only certain people can open.
End-to-End Encryption: A form of encryption where messages are encrypted on the sender's device and only decrypted on the recipient's device. Even the service provider cannot read the messages.
Fingerprinting: A tracking technique that creates a unique identifier for your device based on its characteristics like screen resolution, browser version, installed fonts, and other details.
GDPR: General Data Protection Regulation. A European Union law that gives individuals more control over their personal data and requires companies to be more transparent about data collection.
Metadata: Information about information. For example, while the content of your phone call is the actual conversation, metadata includes who you called, when you called, and how long the call lasted.
Privacy Policy: A document that explains what personal information a company collects, how they use it, and who they share it with. These are often long and difficult to understand.
Surveillance Capitalism: An economic system based on collecting personal data to predict and influence behavior for commercial purposes. The term describes how many tech companies make money from personal information.
Third-Party Cookies: Small files placed on your device by companies other than the website you're visiting. These are primarily used for tracking your behavior across different websites.
Threat Model: A way of thinking about what you're trying to protect, who you're protecting it from, and how much effort you're willing to invest in protection.
Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): A security method that requires two different types of verification to access an account, typically something you know (password) and something you have (phone or app).
VPN: Virtual Private Network. A service that creates an encrypted connection between your device and a server, hiding your internet activity from your local network and internet service provider.
Understanding these terms helps you navigate privacy discussions and make informed decisions about your digital life. The language of privacy is constantly evolving as new technologies and practices emerge, so staying informed about terminology helps you stay current with privacy developments.