Blog Post #7

 

Unveiling the Stealthy Overreach of Digital Privacy

In today's digital age, our own personal data individually and as a society is taken and kept away through ways without user's knowledge. From new technology and forthcoming changes to the use of cookies, government privacy within technology, and learning to live with the AI's use of data, it can be understood that there is no such thing as true privacy in the digital age.

From the videos showing in this weeks assignment, the issue of email protection was raised. In the Ted Talk, it recognizes that within a lifetime of having emails, sending emails, and receiving emails, this tells the government about more than just your email. This can be in regards to things you like, people you contact, and it even gives your computer the key to your data. This can be done without the user even knowing.

Issues like these raise concern for society and may affect us in many ways. An article written by Medium states that with the increasing use of social media people are willingly sharing their personal information, such as their name, address, phone number, credit card information, etc. This information is then used by companies for targeted advertising and data mining. The problem is that this personal information can also be accessed by hackers and other users, who can use it for identity theft, fraud, or other crimes.

As for ways the government should be handling the security of private information used through technology, I think VPNs should be provided in the installation of all applications to keep all personal data, even location services unrecognizable or unseen. This would help eliminate malicious online actors and improve cybersecurity.

The best possible way to protect ourselves from invasions of our privacy is to change passwords for most things, use VPN's, use credible sites, do not click on advertisements, and make sure you keep all personal information private, without saving passwords or hints about yourself on your device. These are the best ways that can mostly ensure your personal device-use and privacy.