Since the advent of the internet era, violations of online privacy have been on the surface. Strangely, people don’t seem to notice until the problem has taken its toll on their lives outside of the internet. And while people are typing away at home or at work, law enforcement agents, advertising mobs, and web key punchers are lurking behind closed doors, gathering as much information as they can from them.
What is data mining anyway?
Data mining is defined as the gathering and classification of personal information from internet communications. The primary objective of data mining is to be able to come up with an individual’s identity by sorting different kinds of data. As the word suggests, “mining” best describes this activity due to the confidentiality of data gathered. These are data that are, in a sense, meant to be kept private as per user preference.
After many attempts from tipsters to make NSA budge, news of developments in the fuss over one of its programs code-named Stellar Wind is what’s up on cyber security headlines. It turns out the Department of Justice took a bullet for allegedly violating the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) by withholding information on NSA’s impending activities. The DOJ is currently facing legal charges arraigned by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group based in San Francisco.
Even with lips sealed on the matter, the DOJ cannot possibly hold off for long as the multitude of NSA tipsters continues to grow. While the growing groups of whistleblowers are being overrun by the likes of Thomas Drake, Thomas Tamm, Mark Klein, and William Binney, our lifesavers can shed some light on the confusion that is currently seizing the cyber world.
This is technically why we have identity protection companies providing online security with comprehensive services and apps. ExpressVPN, for example, has an SSL VPN (Virtual Private Network) service which offers protection from modern data collection methods and gives instructions on encryption. ExpressVPN advocates the use of VPN protection to make sure your internet communications are not being monitored by third parties and to keep your online privacy at its prime. You can also check out other top VPN providers across the country here.
