by Brian J. Fox, Co-founder & CTO, Cocoon

On International Data Privacy Day it’s appropriate to ask ourselves, are we too connected? I used to own just my laptop and my cell phone, and that was good enough. Now, I’ve got a plethora of devices, and every one of them is connected to the Internet. I’ve got Facebook on my TV and phone, I’ve got Google Voice on my laptop and tablet, I have photo stream and GPS on my camera and my iPod. I even have Internet radio on my desktop and in my car.

As these new devices allow us to become ever more connected to the world, the opportunity for access to personal information is also increased. 

The demand for (and availability of) all these devices has made Internet privacy and security one of the most pressing issues facing us this year. While several bills have been introduced to address the issue – Do Not Track Kids and Do Not Track, for instance – this is baseline legislation that cannot keep up with the technologies that allow for more and more sophisticated tracking. It is the private sector that is coming up with the solutions that allow consumers to control how much information they share and how to keep their devices and networks secure.

I don’t think we need to choose between the convenience of these devices and privacy…consumers just need to know about the tools such as Cocoon now available in the marketplace that can keep their data secure and their personal information private.