As the past few years has seen more and more people turn to online services, a tech expert is stressing the importance of protecting your identity online.

 

Doctor Gordon Jones, the co-founder and CEO of a digital wallet company called Thrivacy, says this is especially important as people seek out services like healthcare and commerce virtually.

 

Here, Jones explains what a digital identity is and how it came to be.

 

“You get a digital identity when you go online onto the internet. Now, the creators of the internet did not plan on the internet having a way to identify an individual. All they were really doing was sharing research papers back and forth. We evolved the World Wide Web and web pages and websites and applications that we interact with that based on internet technology.”

 

Jones says it’s easy for users to use fake IDs online, and the task many tech companies are dealing with is making sure a trusted user can remain anonymous and secure their information while still being verified as a valid user.

 

Data breaches have occurred many times over the past few years in the country, including Ikea Canada this spring, Canada Post last year, and the Capital One breach in 2019.

 

For the full interview with Jones, catch Thompson Today at 12:40 and 5:10 this afternoon.