Online privacy has become a huge issue with many companies starting to offer higher security so that consumers can feel safe on their platforms. However, many consumers feel that protecting themselves from various corporations is also equally important, and this has resulted in a number of trends emerging that might continue in 2022. Paying attention to these trends can be useful because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up making it clearer where things will go.
2021 might just have been a watershed year as far as privacy is concerned. Companies like Apple started to become a great deal more open about their privacy practices, and they adopted a consumer focused privacy approach with all things having been considered and taken into account. This has made it so that advertisers and the like have had to start looking into changing their own techniques in order to mitigate the loss of data that Apple’s opt-out default has caused which is another thing that could come into play.
Apple has certainly been a trendsetter in this regard, and it might make a lot of other companies try to follow suit. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that not all of these companies are going to be quite as transparent as Apple has decided to be. While they might try to emulate Apple’s messaging on such topics, that does not necessarily translate to improved privacy but would rather be used as some kind of marketing gimmick.
Instead of trying to reduce the amount of data that they collect, various companies might just end up opting for techniques that are somewhat less obvious. That means that they would still be collecting the same amount of data, it’s just that the vast majority of users are no longer going to be aware of the fact that this is what is occurring. This might actually reduce privacy since users would feel at ease due to false promises that these companies are making to them to further their own interests.
One thing that may very well go away in 2022 is third party tracking in the form of cookies. Cookies exist in every single web browser, and some of them are essential due to the reason that they can allow websites to better understand your needs and conform to them. However, in many cases cookies are used to track user behavior to make it so that they can be shown ads that are a great deal more likely to be something that they would be interested in to increase the chances that they would click on said ads.
With both Apple as well as Google moving away from making third party tracking possible by discontinuing the use of cookies, many firms are going to be working very hard to find alternative means. The demise of cookies has already begun and there is a strong likelihood that it will kicked into high gear in 2022, but it probably won’t be completed by 2023 with Google already delaying their discontinuation for a wide range of reasons. This would give various companies a grace period in which they can acquire alternative data farming methods that aren’t reliant on cookies and the like.
Another trend that we are likely to see is less of a focus on passwords and two factor authentication and an increased emphasis placed on biometric authentication and the like. Passwords have long been considered highly unsafe, and two factor authentication was meant to bolster their security. However, it has become clear that two factor authentication is insufficient as well, and biometric verification might just be the only thing that is truly safe from hackers and other kinds of malicious actors.
Now, while privacy trends are moving in the right direction in most situations, they might be going the opposite way when it comes to the workplace. We might start seeing an increase in workplace surveillance in 2022, especially with so many employees starting to work from home. Privacy is an issue that is likely not going to go away anytime soon, and many workers might feel like their privacy is being violated while they are trying to get their job done and this is something that might see some pushback in 2022.
Read next: Based On Analysis These Are The Top Android Antivirus Tools Of The Year, Both For Business And Basic Users
2021 might just have been a watershed year as far as privacy is concerned. Companies like Apple started to become a great deal more open about their privacy practices, and they adopted a consumer focused privacy approach with all things having been considered and taken into account. This has made it so that advertisers and the like have had to start looking into changing their own techniques in order to mitigate the loss of data that Apple’s opt-out default has caused which is another thing that could come into play.
Apple has certainly been a trendsetter in this regard, and it might make a lot of other companies try to follow suit. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that not all of these companies are going to be quite as transparent as Apple has decided to be. While they might try to emulate Apple’s messaging on such topics, that does not necessarily translate to improved privacy but would rather be used as some kind of marketing gimmick.
Instead of trying to reduce the amount of data that they collect, various companies might just end up opting for techniques that are somewhat less obvious. That means that they would still be collecting the same amount of data, it’s just that the vast majority of users are no longer going to be aware of the fact that this is what is occurring. This might actually reduce privacy since users would feel at ease due to false promises that these companies are making to them to further their own interests.
One thing that may very well go away in 2022 is third party tracking in the form of cookies. Cookies exist in every single web browser, and some of them are essential due to the reason that they can allow websites to better understand your needs and conform to them. However, in many cases cookies are used to track user behavior to make it so that they can be shown ads that are a great deal more likely to be something that they would be interested in to increase the chances that they would click on said ads.
With both Apple as well as Google moving away from making third party tracking possible by discontinuing the use of cookies, many firms are going to be working very hard to find alternative means. The demise of cookies has already begun and there is a strong likelihood that it will kicked into high gear in 2022, but it probably won’t be completed by 2023 with Google already delaying their discontinuation for a wide range of reasons. This would give various companies a grace period in which they can acquire alternative data farming methods that aren’t reliant on cookies and the like.
Another trend that we are likely to see is less of a focus on passwords and two factor authentication and an increased emphasis placed on biometric authentication and the like. Passwords have long been considered highly unsafe, and two factor authentication was meant to bolster their security. However, it has become clear that two factor authentication is insufficient as well, and biometric verification might just be the only thing that is truly safe from hackers and other kinds of malicious actors.
Now, while privacy trends are moving in the right direction in most situations, they might be going the opposite way when it comes to the workplace. We might start seeing an increase in workplace surveillance in 2022, especially with so many employees starting to work from home. Privacy is an issue that is likely not going to go away anytime soon, and many workers might feel like their privacy is being violated while they are trying to get their job done and this is something that might see some pushback in 2022.
Read next: Based On Analysis These Are The Top Android Antivirus Tools Of The Year, Both For Business And Basic Users
