It was four years ago that I first proposed breach warning labels. There were fewer breaches back then, and when it came to cybersecurity there were even fewer true believers than there are today.
In the wake of the Equifax breach and the more recent revelations regarding Cambridge Analytica, a slow trickle of pundits and lawmakers have shown interest in the ideas that us true believers have been pushing for a while now. It’s a welcome development, because we need all the help we can get.
The time has come for consumer labeling on the digital experience — generally when it comes to consumer privacy — and specifically with regard to how our information is being used, whether the entity using it is selling personal data to third parties and what those parties can do with that data — in short, the Wild West days of digital information robber barons making a fortune off our personal lives is now coming to an end.
What can be known about us by our online behavior will not be considered fair game in the years to come, but rather a battleground of consumer interest versus corporations trying to expand the boundaries of what consumers are willing to accept.
While breach notification is crucial, it doesn’t cover the breach of trust that underlies the entire surveillance economy.
This article first appeared on AdamLevin.com.
Adam K. Levin is a consumer advocate with more than 30 years of experience and is a nationally recognized expert on cybersecurity, privacy, identity theft, fraud, and personal finance. A former Director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Mr. Levin is Chairman and founder of CyberScout and co-founder of Credit.com. Adam Levin is the author of Amazon.com Best Seller "Swiped: How to Protect Yourself in a World Full of Scammers, Phishers, and Identity Thieves." He is the security and credit expert for ABCNews.com and writes a weekly column for The Huffington Post, Inc. Magazine, The Hill, and Newsmax. Mr. Levin is a go-to expert appearing on many national TV programs including "The Today Show," "Good Morning America," "MSNBC Live," "Fox and Friends," "NBC Nightly News," "ABC World News Tonight," "Cavuto Coast to Coast," "Bloomberg Surveillance," as well as radio nationally. Read more of his reports — Go Here Now.