Privacy Lost

 Our world has changed positively and negatively, over the past twenty-five years since scientists at CERN created the World Wide Web. (https://home.cern) The positive changes include how the internet transformed how the world does business. The Internet made doing business, easier, faster, and more efficient. For example, before the Internet, documents such as contracts or invoices, had to be sent through the US Post office, or by courier, or faxed. All of which took time. Thanks to the Internet, these documents can be sent and received immediately through email or text. Another positive is how websites such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok enable us to keep in touch with friends and family who may live far away. We can keep them updated with pictures of what we have been up to. However, as wonderful as all of these positives have been, they have come at a cost. The cost has been our privacy.

Before the internet existed, we determined who saw our pictures, who we told about our vacations to Europe, and which concerts we may have attended. Today we post everything to our Facebook and Instagram accounts. When one signs up for one of these accounts to be private, one does not realize that when you sign up for an account and click "I agree", you not only give access to all pictures and posted digital information but also give the right to the host company to use that content for any reason for as long as the host company wishes, whether it is Facebook or Instagram. I know I didn't think about that when I clicked the agree button for all the apps on my phone and the websites on my computer.

The issue regarding the lack of privacy on the Internet affects us all. I learned from the TED talks we watched that even my emails to my friends and family are tracked. Every search I do on Google is tracked. People at these companies and the government can find out not only what I am saying to someone but what I am literally thinking about from the keystrokes I make on my phone or computer. That is scary. One thing that really disturbed me was when Andy Yen pointed out in his talk that we have actually "lost the idea of privacy." he believes that the next generation is being taught to share everything at an early age. He worries that if we don't do something to change this, that generation and every generation going forward will have no concept of privacy or what it means to have it. Can you imagine not knowing what privacy is?

Our US government needs to act to protect our privacy. There have to be laws that can be passed quickly to prevent these companies from taking ownership of our personal digital information in perpetuity. The US Government should first look at Jamaica's "Malicious Communications Act." Jamaica is the first country to actually take action to protect victims of people who share online digital pictures of a person without permission from the actual owner.  Jamaica has at least taken a step in the right direction by giving some control back to owners by creating a consequence for a person who shares someone else's digital information without the consent of the owner. The US government needs to step up as well. The government needs to protect the US citizen from having his/her digital information tampered with.

We need to have privacy for us to have a free society. We need to act immediately. We need to start working within the system we have right now. Instead of emailing, we should text. Texts cannot be wiretapped. Instead of phoning someone, choose to FaceTime them. As of now, FaceTime can't be wiretapped. An added bonus with FaceTime is that you get to actually see the person you are speaking with. As Neilo Lelne said in his TED Talk "If I Have Nothing to Hide is Data Privacy Still Important in 2020?", companies are harvesting data and giving the information to retail stores and political advertisers.

Privacy

We need to be proactive and make noise. We need to contact our representatives and let them know we need laws to protect our privacy now! As Denelle Dixon said in her TED Talk, "Online Privacy: It Doesn't Exist: Privacy and what we can do about it." She explained that once our information is posted we no longer own it. "It is stored and shared."  She suggests that we become (1) accountable for the information we put out there and report abuse when we see it. Don't just accept it. and (2) demand companies protect our information and if they don't then we should not use the app or website. 

Denelle Dixon

We must be willing to walk away. The online information that we are posting is a digital imprint of our lives. We should have the right to decide who we share it with and who we don't. Until the government does its job and protects our privacy, it is up to us to be more vigilant and discerning as to what information we post.