Blog 7 Digital Privacy

 

• How do these issues affect you? You friends and family?

The lack of privacy in the online world has become more and more apparent over time. Targeted ads, data mining, lack of rules, and shady terms of service are just some of the issues that have arisen for consumers. Both companies and individuals can access your private information. This information can range from pictures posted on your social media page to know where you live and go to. Another group that has access to this information is the government. All of these groups can use this information to send you targeted ads, stalk you, or perpetrate other nefarious activities against you. The government especially can do some shady stuff with your information. Recently police cars have begun to be outfitted with license plate cameras. This is meant to be used to keep an eye out for cars involved with criminal activities. But this same technology has been used to create a watchlist of license plates. The NYPD created one such watchlist for Mosque goers. The thought that the government is watching you for your religious beliefs is heinous. Another heinous thought is that companies can use the data they have on you, and sell it to others or even government bodies. Anything you or your friends post or agree to has hidden consequences that can affect your life in a big way.

• What should the government be doing about these issues?

I think one of the first things the government should do to combat this lack of privacy is to force companies to make a more layman's version of their terms of service. I am not entirely sure how they could achieve it, maybe make it at an eighth grade reading level. The next thing they should do is make it harder for themselves to have access to online data. This especially includes the tracking of phone calls and license plates. One of the last things they should figure out is how to handle cases of/similar to revenge porn. No one government should police the internet, but there has to be a small amount of moderation on it.

• What can we do to protect ourselves from invasions of our privacy?

I think there are three ways you can protect your own privacy. The most difficult of these would probably be reading the TOS (terms of service) for all the apps and media platforms you are a part of. Unfortunately, at the moment, you need to be able to understand all the legal and technical jargon stuffed in the TOS. A more approachable method is to simply limit how much you post on social media platforms, and watch for cookies on the websites you go to. The last piece of advice I can offer is to get a reliable VPN. They can encrypt your data and make it harder for any type of cyber threat to get your data.