Blog #8 Online Privacy

Online Privacy

I have my iPhone by my side at all times; me and about 1.5 billion other people. I hate when my Siri accidentally turns on, like when I am in a silent classroom and all of a sudden you hear “I’m sorry I didn’t get that”. It is simply embarrassing! But, after watching some videos about privacy online with artificial intelligence, it may be a little more than just an embarrassing moment in class. These applications are listening to us. What did Siri hear when she decided to start listening, is this data being recorded, did anyone else also hear it? These are all questions that are running through my head now when I hear that Siri voice.

It was an eyeopening experience after watching these TedTalks. It showed how little we think about our own privacy with technology. As I talked about in my post about the Diffusion Theory, when we put out this information on social media, it is out there for whoever wants to find it. When you search something, it is recorded that you searched it. The government can flag searches and keep tabs on anything you do. This is both terrifying and comforting in the same way, though. Knowing that there are people out there searching things with mal-intentions, it can be recorded and flagged.

Digital Tattoo

When watching the TedTalk “Your Online Life, Permanent as a Tattoo” Juan Enriquez tells the audience a story about taking a photo of a random person in a bar, he talks about how your phone could recognize that person even if you do not; he states “​​everybody turns out to be absolutely plastered by electronic tattoos”. This stuck with me. In school, we always learned about our “digital footprint”, the idea that everything we do online leaves a trail behind it and can that trail can be traces back. But, we never talked about how social media creates a permanent documentary of our lives throughout the years. The comparison of your digital footprint to a tattoo solidifies how important it is. This TedTalk was worth the watch, check it out.

There is a lot we could do to protect our privacy within social media and the internet. For example, limiting what we post online. Making sure that what you post doesn’t give away too much information about your personal life. Limiting who you give out your email, phone number, or other personal information to. There are a lot of ways to protect your privacy online but it is mainly just about being conscious of what your posting and where you're putting your information. 

  

How will you begin to protect your digital tattoo?