In the day of ever-growing modern technology, privacy is an issue most humans are confronted with regularly. In Cas 272, an important topic most of this semester was how technology such as smart phones and other mobile devices creates an environment in which users can consume information in the matter of seconds. This accessibility and quick access to information directly ties into the privacy issues that we face today.
New technology has paved the way the last 10-20 years. Such technology has been a blessing for our society as it provides enormous benefits for our economy, education, business, and everyday lives. However, nothing is perfect and our rapidly developing mobile devices have some serious flaws. Privacy has always been a concern for humans for as long as we can remember. With the emergence of mobile devices and the social media apps that they provide, that concern has grown quite exponentially. Social media always anyone to see what YOU are all about. Someone half-way across the world can see where you are, where you live, how old you are, and what you like to do in your free time. Obviously, they can only see such personal information if you provide it. That is where the other half of the problem lies; the conscience decision we make to post sensitive information (which by the way a lot of people do not care what they post online). By posting your home address or updating the status of where you are, you are allowing hackers and someone who might consider you a target to easily acquire information they need to make you said target. I know what you may be thinking, “wow this guy is really paranoid”. Although that may seem to be the case, Robert Siciliano said it best, “I’m not paranoid, I’m a grounded, down-to-earth, conscious being with an awareness of what’s going on out there”. Essentially, the world is very unforgiving, especially with the information and advantages you may give it by posting sensitive information online.
Now, let’s take a look at what privacy issues we might be facing online. Many people are very reckless in what they post on social media. For example, kids who are underage often post pictures of them partaking in the consumption of alcohol. While this may not provide a physical risk to your well-being, it certainly has negative impacts on your future. Such photos may prevent a young adult from getting accepted to a college or even the opportunity to receive a scholarship. Some employers even check your social media pages before hiring you and if you post sensitive material, it may cost you a job in the future. Humans are very judgmental, and when it comes to the real world (i.e. college and jobs) character and good judgement are highly valued qualities. It’s not hard to restrain yourself from posting pictures detrimental to your future. Hell, I even ask friends not to post pictures of me if I know it may be harmful to my appearance or safety. Another privacy issue we face has to deal with our personal safety. As I mentioned before simply posting our home address or commenting where we are at a specific moment can put you in harm’s way. You may not realize you are a target of someone until it’s too late. A question most of you may be asking is who may be targeting you? The answer is that it could be anyone with any motive for any reason. One common example could be someone that wants to take you to court for legal action. They may look to your social media ac
counts to gain leverage over you in court. Another could just simply be someone looking to harm you. My last example, which is a bit more extreme, deals with how the government uses modern technology to their advantage. In the last several years we have had leaks from Edward Snowden and most recently WikiLeaks, that described how government agencies have the ability to hack our mobile devices and TV’s to spy on us. Obviously, this topic is highly debated as some think it is morally acceptable as long as it is keeping us safe from attacks, while others think the opposite. Because of this I’m not going to touch on this issue any further, just be aware of what you do on your mobile devices so that you don’t contradict yourself.
Anyways the moral here is that you must make a conscience effort to not post things that might contradict you in anyway. If leaving a post, video, or picture off the internet means keeping your career and self safe then it is all worth it. I know this may be hard for many people out there as humans have grown somewhat narcissistic when it comes to posting on social media (i.e. posting for likes, favorites, retweets, comments). Also, here is an article that lays out actions you can take to running a clean social media site.