Where Is Our Data and How Is It Protected?

As humans, we commit to using our information with enthusiasm and often based on an expectation of return; categorized as the “Reciprocity Standard” of the “social exchange theory.” Additionally, we infrequently honor the request to use information with alacrity, acutely aware of the associated risks—the risk to our privacy, often discussed as the “Privacy Paradox.” This privacy risk has increased as we become more connected through technology and has been the center of the daily news with events like the recent Equifax data breach. These increasing events resulted in a huge public outcry with little discussion of the root cause. This paper will attempt to address the root cause of these frequent and increasing breaches by examining literature showing an anthology of human actions authorizing the use of information throughout our very existence. The paper will shift the focus of attention from bewilderment with the constant occurrence of data breaches to a sanitizing view of contributors, such as the actions of humans. Because this subject is vast and has a worldwide impact across cultures, its scope will be limited to an examination of the individual actions related to the data breach and a focus on our actions to minimize future occurrences. The paper will begin with a review of information sharing throughout our civilization as a background and progress with the mechanism used to support this human desire into the current technological era. The paper will discuss the human conscious role in the process of data sharing and our expectation of return along with the protection of privacy. The paper will show how the expectation of privacy evolved to the current level of uncontrollability, suggesting that the path and releasability of data is both unpredictable and uncontrollable—answering the question of whether we know where our data is stored and if we can ever retain ownership.