2.1.1 What is Data Privacy?

Data privacy generally refers to an individual's ability to determine when, how, and to what extent they share or communicate their personal information with others. This personal information can include a person's name, location, contact information, or their behavior in the online or real-world environment. Similar to how someone might want to exclude others from a private conversation, many online users wish to control or prevent certain types of personal data collection.

Web2 websites, applications, and social media platforms often require the collection and storage of users' personal data to provide services. However, some applications and platforms may go too far in data collection and usage, leaving users with less privacy than anticipated. Other applications and platforms may not have sufficient safeguards in place for the data they collect, leading to data breaches that compromise user privacy.