The age of big data has also ushered in the age of unrestrained data collection through methods such as monitoring, observability, cookies, and logging. This often leads to a significant loss of privacy, exacerbated by vulnerabilities and data breaches. Regulations exist to increase privacy and transparency, but we must go beyond to ensure that users' data (our own data!) is properly and responsibly handled.

In this talk, I discuss the risks caused by overcollection, current regulations, and methods for developers and companies to reduce, anonymize, and secure user data.

Presented at Vancouver.dev DevTalks v6 in August 2024.