Since the internet began to slowly revolutionize our lives in the 1990s, the number of people accessing online services has grown exponentially. The latest set of figures show statistics from January 2021, and they reveal that there are some 4.66 billion internet users worldwide.
Growth continues and digital services have to develop in order to cope. New innovations such as Artificial Intelligence and the Metaverse have been implemented in order to enhance user experience.
At the same time, some rather more mundane elements have to be continually updated. One of these areas is that of security and, with more users joining up every day, the internet simply has to provide a safe environment where personal information isn’t compromised.
Keep it Tight
Unless your intention is to purely browse for information, it’s almost certain that you will need to digitally share some personal information at some point. You may wish to register for newsletters or, more commonly, you may make a purchase online.
Name, physical address, email address and telephone number will need to be shared. Naturally, you cannot make that purchase without sharing some financial information too. It’s a necessary step in the journey for most of us and that’s why online security is so important in the modern age.
The Major Players
Ecommerce sites are the obvious examples of companies that require personal information in order for their platform to function. Amazon and eBay are among the major players while the big online supermarkets, clothes stores and food retailers are other options.
Essentially, anyone who sells a product or service will require some level of personal detail. It’s possible in some cases to carry out a transaction as a guest with just an email address needed for confirmation of the order.
However, if customers wish to proceed, there will always be the need to add some financial details for those who make a purchase.
Social media companies have also come under the spotlight in recent times. Questions over how personal information is used and how third-party advertisers can target those customers will always be raised.
There is, therefore, an onus on those companies to keep information private. In general, financial information isn’t needed unless those users elect to upgrade to a premium version of the service.
Taking a Spin
One of the biggest success stories of the digital age is the online gambling industry. The first sportsbook came online in 1996. Nowadays, online casinos are one of the most popular forms of online gambling and hundreds of new casino operators enter the market every year for players to choose from.
It’s a multimillion-dollar industry and one that needs to maintain tight levels of security at all times. Customers of online casinos and sports betting companies have to provide certain levels of information at all stages of their account.
Strict age restrictions apply in all countries where this type of online play is allowed. Therefore, personal information is absolutely necessary upon registration, and it simply isn’t acceptable to sign in as a guest.
New customers will also need to add funds to their account if they want to play any of the games that the casino provides. Debit cards are the most popular form of payment and, therefore, it will be necessary to provide those details too.
Online casinos and sportsbooks must have this information from their account holders and that means that they have a duty to keep things safe. High levels of encryption are used in order to shield customers and the majority of operators outline these details on their About Us page.
Key Security Steps
The various ways in which online companies keep our information safe can get extremely technical. Anyone who lands on one of those ‘about us’ pages may see details relating to SSL levels.
SSL stands for Secure Socket Level and it may be listed at 128-bit or 256-bit. Essentially, both of those levels are exceptionally high although 256-bit will naturally be more secure.
SSL technology provides a secure conduit between two websites that are exchanging information. That conduit employs high levels of encryption which mean that third parties cannot gain access.
This is the main path taken by online providers but there are other ways in which they look to keep their customers safe. Those digital casinos and sportsbooks will also require verification to ensure that account holders are who they say they are, and this approach is replicated in other industries.
If users are unsure when interacting with a website, they should either avoid the portal or contact customer services to discuss security levels.
Playing a Part
Users of these websites can play a certain role in keeping their information safe. As a basic point, check to see that the website address is prefixed by https. The ‘s’ stands for secure, and this is an initial indication that security is a major concern for the company involved.
When making a purchase, consider using an eWallet such as PayPal. As the transaction is carried out, no financial information is shared with the retailer and this is another level of security that the consumer can take care of.
Finally, the signing in as a guest option is another way of limiting the amount of information that you share when online.
We can, therefore, all play a part when providing any information online but ultimately we place our trust in the destination website. Customer security should be paramount and the need to provide a safe environment extends right across the internet.
