#7

Privacy, Online and Off

We, as a society, have gotten used to technology and data collection in our lives. When a "cookies" agreement pops up, we don't bat an eye at it. When an intriguing advertisement appears in our feed, we don't hesitate to click on it. In his Ted Talk about the permanence of online activity, Juan Enriquez says that "maybe all of you and all of us are very close to immortality." Enriquez calls attention to the real dangers of digital tattoos and brings up valuable lessons that we can apply to prevent these dangers. For instance, one simple action people can take is to avoid reckless online behavior. We should put careful consideration into what we post online.

A real-life example of someone's digital imprint drastically affecting their life is Darieth Chisolm's story. Her nude photos were posted on a website by one of her ex-partners. Situations like this can happen to anybody. Especially with the ease at which we can upload anything onto the internet, now more than ever, people find themselves victims to what Chisolm calls "revenge porn." Whether someone else posts a negative picture or we post a negative picture, that image stays with us forever. This non-erasable history oftentimes hurts our careers, relationships, and reputation. Even if people work to build their credibility back up, a past post or comment can influence opinions on someone for the rest of their lives. I remember a few years ago, director James Gunn got fired from Disney for uploading jokes about pedophilia on his Twitter. Although his fellow Guardians of the Galaxy colleagues advocated for him, much of the public still found a hard time justifying his actions and accepting that he was a changed man.

Another scary thought is that this situation does not happen only online. Privacy concerns have been increasing regarding physical behavior as well. Lawyer Catherine Crump's Ted Talk dives into how the police track citizens - threatening or not. They can look into almost every detail of people's everyday lives with advanced surveillance equipment. For instance, just with street cameras scanning license plates, the government keeps tabs on every single place each car is located throughout the day. This can infringe upon our private business, as officials know when we go to church, see our family, and conduct other personal tasks. This becomes an even more concerning issue when the government observes people's lives with a discriminatory agenda. This happened in New York City when the NYPD would drive police cars with surveillance systems by mosques to determine who was attending the Islamic services.

One way we can protect ourselves from such situations is to be careful what we display to the public. This could look like choosing not to post a photo we wouldn't want our employer to see. We can also invest in applications or devices that automatically protect us. In Christopher Soghoian's Ted Talk, he shares that companies like Apple and WhatsApp, by default, set messaging systems to use encryption to protect user's private conversations. While there seems to be a lot consumers and businesses can do, there is more controversy surrounding government involvement. It becomes a difficult subject to discern what the best course of action is because the government utilizes surveillance technology and social media tracking for national security purposes. Their use of such technology has helped them to catch terrorists and other threatening groups. The main concern with this is that the general public's privacy is compromised or jeopardized in the efforts to have such security. 

Ultimately, it's important that the government still respects and aids people in their digital privacy because unprotected online actions still subject the public to being tracked by groups other than the government. People like stalkers or identity thieves can more easily collect private information when security barriers are low. As we go about our days and browse online, we must be aware of what our physical and digital imprints may mean for us.