Blog #7 - Privacy

PRIVACY

Privacy now means something very different than it did 50 years ago or even a decade ago. Privacy used to be defined in such a way that made security a luxury compared to now, where companies have your information regardless if you think you are giving it to them or not. They have complete control of knowing who you are and any other personal information that you deem worth an invasion of privacy. 

Since I was born, privacy has been something that has been declining. Personal privacy of Americans is almost non-existent anymore and is hardly talked about anymore. A couple of years ago there was a large outbreak of conversation regarding privacy on the internet and off of social media and other electronic forms. 

                                            

Ted Talkers Juan Enriquez, Catherine Crump, Christopher Soghoian, and Darieth Chisolm only reaffirmed the idea that privacy is a large issue in the United States and large companies are taking advantage of American citizens and using their resources to profit and benefit from them.

Enriquez divulges into how tattoos, or more specifically electronic tattoos, can hold all of what companies can entail. He describes how FaceBook, Instagram, and other companies can use their presence to gain personal information by looking at your profile, who you follow, and your interests. He says people should go through different lessons to advise themselves and others on how to be mindful of presence online and offline. He wants people to be mindful of what they post online ensuring nothing harmful can be spread online if mindfulness is in someone's head.

Crump, Soghoian, and Chisolm advise others to do things like pay attention and say something if you see corruption. Data collection is now extremely common and the government can gather personal information on people that wouldn't have otherwise been shared had electronic methods not had been invented. 

The internet's popularity will never fade, and that is a scary thing to realize. This affects me because I've been around technology for as long as I can remember. Privacy is something everyone craves, so without that people begin to feel unsafe and unsure in their environment. My family and I are affected by privacy every day. We will continue to be affected by the issue of privacy in the world because of these companies existing.

The government should be making sure that Americans have their rights to privacy intact by actually doing something and being helpful to many people. It seems like the government isn't doing much, but they should be doing something. Hopefully the government can be better and do better in the future, but for now that is up in the air.

We can make sure to put a persona of ourselves online and make memories in real time rather than online to protect our privacy. Privacy Invasion will still occur, and it's up to us to make sure that what we present ourselves as is perceived as a good online presence. It's difficult to escape the risk of Privacy Invasion if you own an electronic device, but be mindful that what you put online is how others view you. Americans don't feel like they have privacy, and they should. The government and companies need to do better for Americans or else the privacy issue will continue.