“Is Your Digital Front Door Unlocked?” explores the modern implications of our human nature: our inherent inclination to share our experiences, specifically on the internet. Our increasing reliance on technology to connect with others has us sharing far more information about ourselves than we realize, and without a full understanding of the risks involved.
While we’re posting innocent poolside pictures, we’re also creating a collection of highly personal information. And not just on social media. It happens by simply going about our day. Whether it is the computers we use for work and play, the smartphones that are nearly always within arm’s reach, or the digital assistants that field household requests—all of these devices capture and share data about our habits, our interests, and even our comings and goings. Yet we largely don’t know it’s happening—or, for that matter, with whom we’re sharing this information, and to what end.
The notion that binds the book together is the idea of a personal data lake. “Data lake” is a widely used term in business to reflect a large repository of data that companies collect and store. In the book I explore how we create personal data lakes as we go about our digital lives. I explore how our data lakes fill as we do more and more activities online, and offer insights that can be used to protect our personal data lakes, so that we can live more privately and enjoy safe online experiences.
This book is for people in families of any size or structure. It looks at security and privacy across the stages of life, and explores the roles each of us play in those stages, from birth to the time we eventually leave a digital legacy behind, along with important milestones and transitional periods in between. You’ll see how security and privacy are pertinent at every step of your digital journey, and how specific age groups have concerns that are often unique to that stage of life. The structure allows you to easily navigate to the chapters and sections that most relate to the life stage you are in, and offers guidance.
Gary Davis’ book, Is Your Digital Front Door Unlocked?, is available September 5, 2019 and can be ordered at amazon.com.