As far as the use of personal data is concerned, 2018 was far from perfect. It seemed as if not a week went by without hearing about the latest breach.

What followed was a new era of data awareness for governments and consumers around the globe. Movements like #DeleteFacebook went viral as new data protection efforts like GDPR went into effect.

By reflecting on this past year, you can educate yourself on how corporations and others have treated your data and begin taking an active roll in how you want it to be treated.

Breaches

2018 was another year filled with massive breaches. Among all the major tech giants none were more prevalent in the media than Facebook and for good reason. Facebooks breaches this year include the infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal and the reveal of a Privacy Bug that affected over 6 million people.

While Facebook took up most of the spotlight in 2018, they were hardly the only company whose data breaches made waves on news cycles.

Here is a list of some of the biggest breaches of 2018 outside of Facebook:

• Marriot (Starwood Hotels )
• British Airways
• Google+
• Quora
• Aadhar
• T-Mobile
• FIFA
• My Fitness Pal (Under Armor)
• Reddit

Data Sharing

Towards the end of the year, the New York Times ran a report on how Facebook has been sharing and exchanging data with other tech giants. While the practice of sharing data is hardly new, the report does provide some insight into the degree of sharing larger companies are participating in.

Facebook gave Amazon the ability to search their user’s Facebook friends and allowed Bing to search through all their users. They also gave Netflix and Spotify the ability to read users private messages and allowed Yahoo to view user posts.

It is unlikely that most companies will stop sharing data with each other anytime soon. If you are uncomfortable with Facebook using your data in this manner there are ways you can limit the amount of information they capture from you.

Regulation

The past few years of data breaches brought forth a new legal framework in the EU called GDPR (The General Data Protection Regulation). It requires that businesses protect the personal data of EU citizens. Businesses that are not able to follow GDPR are expected to be met with heavy penalties.

In fact, some of the companies who experienced breaches this year will soon begin feeling the repercussions. For example, Facebook could receive a fine of up to 4% of their annual revenue for failing to report a breach in their system within the allotted 72 hours.

British Airways was touted as the first true test of GDPR following their breach in 2018. They could receive a fine similar to Facebook’s while also having to compensate any customers who may have experienced financial fraud because of the breach.

What you can do

While new legal frameworks like GDPR are a welcome arrival to the world of personal data, it is still up to you to take control of the Digital You.

At ScoresMatter we offer tips and tutorials for ways you can better manage your data. In the case that your data becomes collateral in a breach you can use our Dark Web scan to see if your information is being sold and traded by criminals.

Tap into the Digital You at ScoresMatter, and make 2019 the year you better manage your personal data.