At Anonyome Labs, the makers of MySudo, we’re gearing up to celebrate Data Privacy Week 2022, from January 24 to 28.

The week-long event is an international effort to empower individuals and encourage businesses to respect privacy, safeguard data and enable trust. And that goal aligns nicely with what we do here at Anonyome Labs and MySudo.

Data Privacy Week is an annual opportunity to amplify the conversation about the real risks to our data privacy that exist in the highly connected digital world, and to encourage people to take action, such as downloading and using the all-in-one privacy app, MySudo.

Taking action to protect your privacy online is important because:

• Privacy is a fundamental human right.
• Web sites and services collect personal data about you — much of it highly sensitive.
• Businesses use your personal data to personalize ads and online experiences. They store your data, share it and sell it for profit.
• Businesses also use your personal data to set higher prices, control the content you see, and influence your purchasing and even political decisions.
• Data brokers are worse than the companies who collect the data. Data brokers aggregate and package up personal data and sell it for huge profit too. 
• Even governments can see what you are doing online. Governments do request access to personal data held by the private sector, and it’s the subject of much regulatory debate and consumer concern. In 2019 66% of US adults said they believe they face more potential risks than benefits from government data collection. 
• Most businesses use dark patterns to maximize the data they gather. Dark patterns are intentional user experience features of websites and apps designed to make it harder for you to do what you want on the site or app, either through complexity or deception. The goal is for the site to extract more of your data.
• Stored personal data can be caught in a data breach. A data breach is a security event where highly sensitive, confidential or protected information is accessed or disclosed without permission or is lost. Organizations, governments and individuals can be victims of data breaches, and usually these events are enormously costly in terms of time, money or corporate reputation. Here’s what to do if you’re caught in one.
• Criminals can use the stolen credentials to commit crimes like credit card fraud and identity theft. The dark web is thriving. Internet-connected computers are attacked every 39 seconds in the US and data is often traded on the dark web, an intentionally hidden part of the Internet where cybercrime flourishes. The COVID-19 pandemic is worsening cybercrime.

Those are just some of the reasons we participate in activities events like Data Privacy Week: to help inform people and to encourage them to act to protect their personal data. (Here are 14 real-life examples of the personal data we’re talking about.) 

Here at Anonyome Labs, the makers of MySudo, we believe being private doesn’t mean opting out of online services or hiding from the world. We empower people to be able to determine what information they share, and how, when, where and with whom they share it. 
MySudo is the only all-in-one privacy app on the market. It lets you speak privately, browse privately and pay privately, via digital profiles we call Sudos. You give each Sudo a phone number, handle, email, private browser and virtual payment card, then use your Sudo instead of your personal information. You can create up to 9 Sudos for everything you do online: shopping, socializing, selling and more. Download the app and then take 90 seconds to learn how to use it. Because until data privacy is better protected by the companies who collect it, the governments who access it, and the legal system, we all need proactive tools like MySudo. 

While Data Privacy Week 2022 runs only from January 24 to 28, you can take action any time of year. You can play a powerful role in helping your local community to be safer and more secure online too. Check out the National Cybersecurity Alliance’s library of free materials, tools and information that you can use to easily teach online safety at home, at work or in your community. Look at the See some of the suggestions for getting started on the Data Privacy Week website. 

You’ll also find plenty of insights into data privacy risks and preventative actions on the MySudo blog and the Anonyome Labs’ blog.