Privacy Protection

Every year TIME Magazine selects a few outstanding, innovative products for inclusion on its Best Inventions list – a celebration of innovations that make the world a better, safer place.

This year we were pleased – though certainly not surprised – to see NordVPN on the 2022 list. We know a great product and a great company when we see one – that’s why we added NordVPN service to the enhanced IronWall360 security protection 360Civic provides to its premium clients. The service is also available to our basic subscribers for a nominal fee.

Over the last two years police officers have been retiring early or just flat quitting in droves. The numbers are staggering:

Social workers are entrusted not just with their clients’ health and well being, but also with protecting their clients’ privacy. Those experiencing assistance with child protection and difficult family circumstances understand how this information can impact their personal relationships and potential employment prospects, so any client information a social worker has absolutely needs to remain confidential.

Unfortunately, social workers also need to devote the same diligence to their own privacy.

Ten years ago, Social Work Today published an article entitled “Violent Crime and Social Worker Safety.” The article illustrated in sometimes-frightening detail how social workers can experience dangerous situations in their profession.

Not long ago in Washington DC, two federal judges addressed the Judicial Conference Committee on the Budget to request additional funding for security. They petitioned for a 7.2% increase in the current Judiciary budget of $8.6 million for investment in IT modernization and cybersecurity.

If you speak to most social workers they’ll tell you how rewarding it is to help troubled individuals improve their home, work, and family life. However, according to one survey, more than half will also tell you about the potential danger that comes from their profession, particularly due to threats from clients or those related to their clients that sometimes result in violence.

By now you’ve certainly heard about the attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, at their home in San Francisco. Unfortunately such incidents are no longer rare as the divisive nature of our national politics continues to intensify.

In just this current election season, a knife-wielding man attacked Lee Zeldin, a candidate for New York governor; a man tried to assault Senate candidate Don Bolduc at a campaign event, and a gunshot was fired at the family home of North Carolina Congressional candidate Pat Harrigan.

California has been at the forefront of online privacy protection since the state passed a truncated version of the GDPR privacy regulations established by the European Union. These regulations give Californians the right to know what personal information is being collected about them, whether that content is sold or disclosed (and to whom), and the ability to refuse to have that information shared.

From the moment TikTok began its ascent into a social media craze, questions were raised about the security of the data it receives from users, and how that data is being used in TikTok’s country of origin, China. At one time that resulted in government threats to ban the app.