The Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Activities (HAKOM) has published the application “Privacy Calculator” which was developed through the collaboration of HAKOM and the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER) at the University of Zagreb, as part of the research program “A Look into the Future 2020”.
The application is primarily intended to inform end users of internet access services about the potential dangers that may arise from providing personal data online. Many services available on the internet require users to register, during which users must submit their personal data. This method of registration is expected and common and should not pose a threat to users. However, fraud can occur if malicious individuals somehow obtain users’ personal data. The most common case of abuse on the internet is when someone unlawfully gains access to a service where the user has stored personal data and thus reads the data and uses it for unauthorized actions.
The “Privacy Calculator” operates on the principle that, after the user selects one of the offered parameters, it assesses the level of risk (low, medium, or high risk) when using certain services on the internet. At the same time, the level of danger is displayed on a scale, and depending on the level of the scale, the value and color change from green to red. The obtained value is linked to a real-life scenario presented in the form of a comic strip.
The goal of the application is to educate and raise awareness among users about the potential dangers of compromising user privacy if the data left on the internet becomes accessible to malicious individuals.
The “Privacy Calculator” application is available via the link http://privatnost.hakom.hr/index.php
