The Mosaic Effect
See your identity pieced together from stolen data.
Introduction
An older post resurrected from another platform because it will always be relevant.
Despite the recent high-profile breaches, the impact of the mosaic effect remains understated. This interactive article from ABC and the creator of Have I been Pwned visually (and scarily) gets the point across with mosaics! It is a timely reminder to minimise the PII we give out and not to reuse passwords.
What is the Mosaic Effect?
The mosaic effect demonstrates how seemingly innocuous pieces of information, when combined, can create a detailed and revealing picture of an individual’s identity, much like tiles forming a complete mosaic. No matter how insignificant each data breach may seem, it can contribute another tile to this unintended portrait. This piecemeal approach to data collection and the subsequent risk of re-identification in data sets that were thought to be anonymous or de-identified is an increasingly prominent concern in the digital age.
The risk also extends beyond the individual and into organizations. Inadvertent disclosure of sensitive information through various seemingly harmless data releases can lead to security vulnerabilities, making companies an unwitting participant in this digital patchwork of information.
What can you do?
Aside from minimising PII and not reusing passwords, the more cautious among us may want to consider using masked emails and pseudo-anonymising PII for online services.
Masked emails are aliases that forward to your real email, helping keep your actual email address out of the public domain. This can be a valuable tool in combating phishing attempts. Pseudo-anonymising data or replacing private identifiers with fake identifiers or pseudonyms can reduce the risk of identity theft or data misuse.
Password managers are more than just convenience tools; they’re a crucial component in the fight against the mosaic effect. They encourage strong, unique passwords for every account and service, making it difficult for attackers to decipher your digital identity even if they gain access to one set of credentials.
The mosaic effect underscores the need for a proactive approach to data privacy. By being vigilant about the data we share and how we protect it, we can thwart the efforts of those who seek to piece together our digital lives. Protecting our real identities only takes a little effort but can profoundly impact our digital security and privacy.