What is the difference between Security and Privacy?

The emphasis in today’s technology work is centred around security and privacy.

What differentiates them? Are they not the same thing? It depends on who you ask.

Privacy is the ability to keep our information private by controlling who can access it.

Security is the method to prevent those from gaining access to said information.

If we keep our information hidden through obscurity, without fundamental protections, it might be private but not secure. An example would be the secret tunnels in the haunted houses Mystery Inc. investigated, one clumsy dog and teenager accidentally finding the switch to open it.

We have many protections on the other end of the spectrum, but the information could be more well-hidden. An example of this would be Fort Knox – a large compound holding the gold reserves for the United States. It is very well guarded but not very secret.

When discussing security and privacy in the same conversation, we should expect our secret tunnels to be well-guarded. Often, security is viewed as limiting who has access to the secret tunnels. In the case of social media, the direction to the tunnels and a key to get past security is available if a company is willing to pay.

We have the right to expect our privacy to be protected, as it is a Human Right. If our governments and regulatory bodies are not putting the laws and expectations in place for companies to be upheld to protect our privacy and for it to not be for sale, they are violating our human rights.