Matt Hashim Appears on Arizona 360 to Discuss Online Privacy

Matt Hashim, assistant professor of management information systems in the Eller College of Management, recently appeared on the Tucson and Phoenix affiliates of PBS to discuss his research on online privacy and what individuals can do to protect themselves.

Hashim warned that if an online platform such as Facebook or Twitter is free, it’s because they are using and collecting our data and then selling it in other ways to make some money. “We need to know that there’s not really this expectation that everything I do is between me and that particular site that I’m going to,” Hashim says in the segment. “There may be some sharing or some use of that data in other ways.”

Hashim also urged people to set up two-step authentication. It refers to when a website needs a user’s password and a secondary code that is often sent to the user’s phone in order to login. He also cautioned against being too trusting when using public Wi-Fi.

Hashim earned his PhD in 2011 from Purdue University. He brought with him to the Eller College vast industry experience in the information technology field, including working as a network administrator, programmer and systems management manager. His research is focused around information security and privacy, digital piracy, experimental and behavioral economics and electronic commerce.