Blog Post #7

Privacy Within the Age of Technology

Graphic Representing Lack of Privacy Online

The term "digital footprint" refers to the trail of information and data that an individual leaves behind on the internet. This is a concept that people should be greatly aware of, as it arguably relates to every person - though many individuals are not cognizant of it. People give up bits and pieces of information about themselves without knowledge of even doing so. This can happen while interacting on social media, while doing research on various websites, while shopping online, while sending emails, etc. - almost any time that an online, technological resource is used, data about the user is being recorded and stored.

Facial Recognition

"Your online life, permanent as a tattoo", the title of a 2013 Ted Talk given by Juan Enriquez, is the perfect simile to describe one's online presence. Enriquez relates online platforms, including "Facebook, Twitter, Google, LinkedIn, cell phones, GPS, Foursquare, Yelp, Travel Advisor" and more, as types of electronic tattoos. The more that a person uses online resources, the more that person's online identity is shaped, and the better that technology companies and artificial intelligence can predetermine what that person's next online moves will be, what mood they're in that day, how they're feeling, etc..

Graphic of Digital Footprint

Facial recognition has become prevalent within the world of technology as well, which has led to a whole new world of information that is now available to technology companies and AI. In his Ted Talk, Juan Enriquez mentioned facial recognition when talking about the company Face.com, which has "about 18 billion faces online". Face.com, in June of 2012, sold their company to Facebook. This offered Facebook, which was already a powerhouse technology company, just a fraction of the personal information and data that they have access to. In another Ted Talk, "How to avoid surveillance ... with the phone in your pocket", the very first piece of information that the speaker, Christopher Soghoian, offers is that "for more than 100 years, the telephone companies have provided wire-tapping to governments...Our telephones and the networks that carry our calls were wired for surveillance first." Soghoian continues to explain that our government, another country's government, a hacker, or a criminal could, consequently, be listening to any of our phone calls. This goes to show that it isn't just while utilizing the internet or different social media apps that our information is continuously being extracted and "stolen", but from the simple action of talking to someone on the telephone too.

Graphic of Digital Fingerprint

The U.S. Government Accountability Office's website states that "there is no overarching federal privacy law that governs the collection and sale of personal information among private-sector companies. There is also no federal statute that gives consumers the right to learn what information is held about them for marketing purposes and who holds it." It is a necessity at this point in the age of technology that the government creates and sets into place regulations and policies regarding rights that technology companies do and do not have with users' information. In turn, it would be mature and appropriate for big technology companies to create regulations of their own to follow, and to be straight-forward, open, and honest with their users regarding how their information is used, and the amount of information about each user that they really have. Unfortunately, these companies profit greatly by selling user information to various companies. This explains the reason why so many of these companies are so secretive about the amount of user information that they truly have access to, and what they then do with that information.

Online Security and Data

Taking proactive steps towards protecting ourselves from invasions of privacy online is extremely important, and should be top of mind while utilizing any online platform. Creating strong passwords, making social media accounts private, securing wireless networks, and avoiding oversharing on social media are simple preventative steps towards keeping our information private. More complicated, yet protective ways of securing our private information that many people don't think of includes using a VPN or private web browsing, installing software updates, setting up multi-factor authentication, and adjusting privacy settings.