There have been millions of victims to the major online data breaches that have been occurring in recent months and recent years.   It seems each week there is a new case. Three billion Yahoo users were victims of one of the greatest online hacks in history, which compromised their personal information, emails, etc. Equifax was another big company who had to face one of the greatest data breaches ever, and this breach should exemplify the consequences of negligent data brokerage and serve as a wake-up call to similar organizations who profit from the Big Data.

Your data is not just at risk at big companies and corporations though.  Dating websites, social media and dating apps are now a main target for internet criminals.  So, for those who like to share and post their personal life online, the risk is only getting greater as many identity theft, romance scam and blackmail victims have learned.  Most dating sites have created apps for smartphones, that can track a lot of information that you are not even aware of. A number of popular dating apps are vulnerable to a variety of attacks that can reveal personal user details including full names, the name of your employer and even your location, because you gave them permission to do so when you installed them in your phone.  Like being tracked and put under surveillance?  Get a dating app!

Every app is supposedly required to disclose what kind of information they will store and track, so as you install it you might recall a message stating that the app will have access to your phone’s camera, contact information, GPS, etc. And if the violation of your privacy was not enough, online criminals are targeting dating apps more than ever as the number of users grows.

Russian private investigators state that there have been cases when dating apps users have used a fake name or alias, and yet online criminals were able to determine the user’s true identity based on data provided in their profiles. By knowing your employer, field of study or where you went to school, it was possible to find users’ social media accounts and thus learn real names.

While some apps certainly need to step their security up, the biggest takeaway here is to simply be aware that the data that you’re volunteering on dating profiles can and will be used against you. Should you want your dating profile to be somewhat anonymous, you need to be as vague as possible with regard to sharing details about yourself. You can certainly save those details for once you when you meet in person, for example.  And of course, not before verifying the background of the person you are meeting! Remember that Russia ranks among the top of the dating scam countries.

If there’s one thing to realize in this modern era, it’s that the expectation of reasonable privacy shouldn’t be expected.  This is the age of big brother and government and corporate surveillance.  Data is king, and the more you share online, on a website or on an app or social media, the more at risk you and your family members will be.  Stay safe and protect your privacy as best as possible.  Anything you say or do that’s transmitted over the Internet can likely be traced back to you.

C. Wright
© 2017 Russia PI™

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