These ventures, often called side hustles, provide a flexible way to earn extra income alongside a full-time job. According to Lending Tree, about 55% of young workers have a gig outside their primary job, indicating how these gigs have now entered mainstream culture.
The attraction of crafting your career, choosing your hours, and sometimes even working from the comfort of your home, combined with the potential financial gain, makes this new work paradigm irresistible to many.
Diving into the Privacy Abyss
Yet behind this rosy picture lurks a darker reality. Each time you sign up for a new platform, fill out a profile, or connect with possible clients, you hand over critical information about yourself. This can include your name, contact details, social security number, and in some cases, even your bank account details.
Jason Adler, a software engineer at Repocket, shares that “The trail of data we leave behind on these platforms can paint a comprehensive picture of us as individuals.”
Your personal information is collected every time you sign up for a new platform.
The data includes important things like your name, contact details, and sometimes even financial details.
This data is often stored and can be used to create a comprehensive picture of you.
Extracting Value from Your Data
Data has become the new gold in today’s digital economy, and online platforms are the new gold miners. By collecting and analyzing data, platforms gain insights that enable them to design tailored services and advertisements. Your data being leaked, misused, or even sold can lead to severe consequences. According to Statista, data breaches exposed more than eight million records worldwide in 2023.
Jason Adler further explains, “While some platforms treat this data responsibly and use it merely to improve user experience, others are less scrupulous. It’s not uncommon for platforms to sell user data to third parties. Moreover, some of this data can be improperly secured, leaving it vulnerable to data breaches. Besides, in some cases, you might not even be aware of how your data is being used and who has access to it.”
Data is the new gold in today’s digital economy, and platforms are the new miners. Platforms gain insights from this data to provide tailored services and advertisements. Your data being misused can lead to adverse effects.
Steps Towards a Secure Side-Hustle
The truth is that participating in today’s digital economy will always come with a trade-off between convenience and privacy. But that doesn’t mean you can’t take steps to mitigate the risk to your privacy while side-hustling.
Always read the privacy policy and terms of service of any platform you sign up for.
Limit the amount of personal information you share.
Use strong, unique passwords for each platform, and enable two-factor authentication where possible.
Regularly check your privacy settings and be aware of any changes.
To quote Jason Adler, “Nobody is going to care about your privacy more than you. Therefore, it’s crucial to stay informed and vigilant, always be aware of the potential risks and strategize accordingly.”
We cannot ignore the allure and potential benefits of online side hustles. Yet, it is equally essential to recognize the potential privacy trade-offs involved. In this digital age, it is crucial to carefully safeguard your privacy while carving a niche in the online economy. Balancing the opportunity presented by online side hustles with the need for privacy isn’t just smart – it’s essential. So, while diving deep into the world of side hustling, let’s not forget to come up for air and check on our privacy. Are you doing everything to protect yours?
By Jason Adler, a software engineer at RepocketThe post The Allure and Rise of Online Side Hustles first appeared on IT News Africa | Business Technology, Telecoms and Startup News.