Gerrit (72) became the victim of a data breach as well as a car break-in. Coincidence?
To me, the tricky thing about privacy is that you can underrate the risks so easily. To name an example: last year I was informed by my car dealer that there had been a data breach, as a result of which the address and contact details of all customers had been stolen. I thought then, oh well, what use are my address details to people? I had not made the connection with my exclusive car at all, and I had forgotten the email very soon. Until a few months ago.
One night, there was a break-in in my car, and my airco and navigation were expertly removed from it. The damage ran into thousands of euros. Soon, I found out that there had been a spate of car break-ins in my place of residence that night. And what do you think? All cars of the same make. I also found an article online about an organised gang of car thieves that possibly uses hacked data.
When you put yourself in such a burglar's shoes, you will see that such an address list with exclusive car makes is very convenient, of course.
I will probably never know if there is a connection between the data breach at my car dealer and the break-in. But when you put yourself in such a burglar's shoes, you will see that such an address list with exclusive car makes is very convenient, of course. But that does not matter anymore now, it's all water under the bridge. It has made me more aware of the potential value of personal data that at first sight seem innocent, though.
In any case, I find that the automatism of ‘just give them what they want’ no longer holds water with me.
Where I used to share my personal data with organisations that I trust, without giving this a second thought, I am now sooner inclined to say ‘no’ if they ask for - in my opinion - an unnecessary lot of data. Or then I ask, for example, if only giving my email address is enough. In any case, I find that the automatism of ‘just give them what they want’ no longer holds water with me. After all, you never know into which hands your data may fall.
Did you know that...
- Everyone has a lot to protect where privacy is concerned? So even if you have nothing to hide?
- Every organisation may become the victim of a data breach? Make sure, therefore, that you always use your personal data sparingly.
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* The privacy stories on this website are based on actual reports to the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP). Due to the privacy of those involved, the personal data and some circumstances have been changed. We use models (stock photography) for the images in these stories.
Why is protecting personal data so important? These people share what happened to them.