Personal data breaches seem to be happening endlessly. As even Japan's bullet train reservation services are affected, I find myself wondering how much of my own information is already out there—and what my personal data is actually worth.
Unauthorized access exploiting vulnerabilities in computer software has led to an endless series of personal data breaches.
Now, even a reservation service for Japan's Shinkansen bullet trains has reportedly suffered a data breach. I wonder whether my own information has been exposed, but at this point, I have no idea what I should do about it.
To begin with, I no longer know how much personal information I have registered, where I have registered it, or which IDs and passwords I have used for each service.
I must have entered personal information into services I haven't used for years. In fact, I may have been even more carefree about registering my information in those days, when I trusted these systems without a second thought.
When these problems first began attracting attention, experts offered advice such as changing passwords. These days, however, they seem almost at a loss themselves, reduced to telling us to be careful of suspicious emails.
After all, their own personal information has probably been leaked as well. Perhaps there is little they can do about it either.
When I think that many of the people I pass on the streets every morning and evening have probably had their personal information exposed, I find it frightening. Or perhaps, more than anything, it makes me realize just how completely we have all been drawn into this computerized society.
Criminal groups sometimes demand ransom payments from the companies they attack. The amounts can reportedly reach billions of yen, but how is the value of personal information determined in the first place?
I have no real idea what the market value of personal information might be. Surely, its value differs from person to person. So is it priced in bulk, as a package of personal data?
Meanwhile, some of the people whose information has been leaked are preparing to file a class-action lawsuit. They are seeking compensation of 50,000 yen per person if an image of their driver's license was exposed, and 30,000 yen for those whose other personal information was leaked.
How were these amounts calculated, I wonder?
Years ago, magazines used to have pen-pal sections near the back, where people's names and home addresses were openly printed.
Back then, we hardly gave a thought to the possibility that such information might be used for criminal purposes. It is one of those memories of the good old days.
Today, dating apps have more or less taken the place of those old pen-pal columns. And I imagine that the personal information stored in these apps includes much more detailed descriptions of people's individual tastes and preferences.
Although it is not really my concern, I cannot help hoping that such deeply personal information has not been leaked as well.
Some things about us are simply too personal to have a price tag.
・・・Data breach | 情報漏洩。個人情報の流出を指す一般的な表現 |
Vulnerability | 脆弱性。ソフトウェアなどのセキュリティ上の弱点 |
Unauthorized access | 不正アクセス |
Without a second thought | 深く考えずに、疑いもせずに |
Be at a loss | 途方に暮れる、どうしてよいかわからない |
Ransom payment | 身代金の支払い。サイバー攻撃でも使用 |
Market value | 市場価値 |
In bulk | まとめて、一括して |
Class-action lawsuit | 集団訴訟。日本の集団訴訟と米国の制度には違いがある |
Pen pal | 文通相手 |
Dating app | マッチングアプリ |
Tastes and preferences | 個人の好みや嗜好 |
Too personal to have a price tag | 値段をつけられないほど個人的な |
#DataBreach #PersonalInformation #Cybersecurity #DigitalPrivacy #IdentityTheft #Ransomware #OnlineSafety #データ漏洩 #個人情報 #サイバーセキュリティ #情報セキュリティ #プライバシー
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