Privacy is Not About Perfection
Digital Privacy for Small
Businesses: Focus on Probability, Not Perfection
In the world of digital privacy,
perfection is an illusion. For small businesses, enhancing privacy isn’t about
achieving the impossible; it’s about improving your odds. Our goal is to help
you become a harder target, making it more difficult for hackers, leaks, and
scams to succeed. A reasonable investment in time and resources can
significantly reduce these risks.
On the other hand, some privacy
advocates might try to convince you that total digital invisibility is possible
without compromise. While their advice may sound appealing, it’s often
impractical and sometimes even risky. The reality is, perfect privacy is
unattainable for most businesses, except in extreme and rare situations.
Here are a few examples of
questionable, no-compromise privacy advice that often circulates:
- Whole
Business VPN: While a VPN can enhance privacy, requiring everyone in
your business to use one all the time can be a logistical nightmare. With
many websites and services blocking VPNs, it could lead to more
frustration than it’s worth, especially if your team isn’t tech-savvy.
- Paying
Only in Cash or Cryptocurrency: While this might sound good in theory,
it’s highly impractical and could even be illegal in certain cases.
Although targeted use of cash or crypto might make sense for specific
situations, trying to apply this strategy across the board is unrealistic
and can lead to legal complications.
- Going
Completely Off the Digital Grid: While the idea of operating entirely
offline might sound appealing, it’s not practical for most small
businesses. The modern economy is deeply integrated with digital systems,
and opting out completely would require a major lifestyle and operational
change, without necessarily improving your privacy.
A More Practical Strategy
Think of your small business’s
privacy as a fortress. While no fortress is completely impenetrable, the goal
is to make your defenses strong enough that potential attackers move on to
easier targets. This approach is about managing risks—understanding that while
complete privacy may be out of reach, significantly improving it is both
achievable and beneficial.
Striving for perfection is
exhausting and impractical for most small businesses. Instead, focus on being
“good enough.” This means creating enough friction to keep your
business relatively safe from hacks, leaks, and scams.
Adopt a Practical Approach to
Privacy
Tradeoffs are inevitable in both
privacy and business. Every small business has its own limits on how much
effort and money it’s willing to invest in becoming a harder target. The key is
to take meaningful action that offers the best return on investment (ROI)
without drastically disrupting your operations.
Rather than aiming for
perfection, prioritize strategies that meaningfully reduce your exposure
without causing unnecessary headaches. There’s a lot of bad advice out there,
but our recommendations are practical, insider-tested, and tailored to small
business needs. We acknowledge when something is overly complicated or
impractical and won’t pretend it’s the right solution for everyone.
TL;DR
That is why we created uRISQ to get small and medium
sized businesses started on the journey. One of the easiest actions a company
can take is adding a Privacy Policy on its website. It shows third parties you
take the time to announce you know you have valuable information. It is a lot
like security signs
In summary, the goal for your small business
should be to become a less attractive target—not to chase an unattainable level
of privacy perfection. Digital privacy is a journey, not a destination. By
focusing on probability over perfection, you can effectively protect your
business in an increasingly risky digital landscape.
