Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Does privacy matter?
Before the ubiquitous adoption of technology, information about you was hard to come by. It seems now more companies are demanding that customers relinquish private information in order to use their products or services. Why does Staples need my email address?
Please read the following, offer your opinion on the article and support your findings with one statistic about people your age and their views on privacy.
http://www.salon.com/2014/10/30/im_terrified_of_my_new_tv_why_im_scared_to_turn_this_thing_on_and_youd_be_too/
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I don't think the fact that our privacy is being violated is necessarily surprising, but what I do find shocking and even sad is that we're not really doing much about it. Why isn't this a bigger issue? Do we really rely on technology so much so that we'd give up our personal information just to be instantly satisfied with watching a YouTube video on our TV? Or is it that we don't know what we're relinquishing to advertisers and other third parties? Are the people in charge just not well versed in technology to make decisions for the better? Say, the Supreme Court Justices? I bring up the Supreme Court Justices because of the recent controversy with unlocking the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone. There are plenty of people of the opinion that the Supreme Court is just not tech savvy, and their lack of technological intelligence can seriously impact the outcome of this decision and other cases involving technology, and more often than not, for the worse.
ReplyDeleteIn general, I don't think teenagers care about their privacy. We connect to Wi-Fi networks all the time without questioning what information we are at risk of giving away. I remember going to the library last year and a very succinct warning explained the information any person connected on the unlocked network could potentially retrieve.
It’s amazing that something that simple, that most of us do on a daily basis, can have serious repercussions.
One statistic that I read online which particularly interested me was that “[in a recent study] 56% of Millennials [claimed that they] would share their location with companies in exchange for coupons or deals.” We live in a world where we constantly want to share with others. Take, our fascination with social media, for instance. I think we’ve come to a point where sharing has no limits. Hey, at least someone is listening.
Excellent Taylor. It is scary when to think that judges or elected officials are voting on bills or laws and not knowing anything about the technology they affecting. "Former head of US Homeland Security has never used email"...https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/mar/08/sxsw-government-cybersecurity-hacking-privacy-nsa-peter-singer
DeleteHere is another great example: Oracle is suing Google for $9 billion claiming copyright infringement. Only 1 juror has a computer background: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/05/jury-is-picked-for-9-billion-oracle-v-google-showdown/
DeleteOf course, there is no such thing as totally privacy unless you found some way to hide yourself in the woods for some odd years and the government can't seem to track you down because you've fallen off the map and are no longer in their records or the thoughts inside your head. Other than that, we really have no privacy. It's no surprise really. I'm not naïve to think that we have total and utter privacy because we don't.
ReplyDeleteI've known that any technology that can use your voice for data is obviously going to be listening in to everything that you say. Like when you use the computer to look up a specific dress. You see ads about dresses in EVERY website you go. The computer records what you look up and uses it accommodate to what you like. Same thing for sound recording technology.
I don't own a smart tv but I have a friend who does and ALL her tv ever does, EVERY time she turns it on, show's her something relevant to what she was just discussing in a conversation with a friend. Everything we own: phones, computers, TVs, and even our ipads, track our thoughts, desires, and needs no matter where we go. How scary is that?
Just like how people skip the terms and conditions and just click “I agree” to everything, so do people overlook the fact that nowadays, everything is prying into our private lives. Did anyone stop to think that when you install an app, why it has so many requirements such as access to your photos and your camera? Now almost any app has the permission to watch you or access any accounts on your phone. But, the problem? You can’t use the app without giving it permission to do this. If you don’t agree with their terms, you can’t even push the install button.
ReplyDeleteOk, so say you are fine with trustworthy apps like YouTube handling your camera and other things. What about Facebook which has run into numerous privacy issues? Or what about third party applications, which come with the longest permission requirements? Why does a simple game needs access to my contacts, photos, and microphone?
Nobody seems to think about privacy today, especially teengaers. A statistic from Pew Research Center has shown an increase in teens voluntarily sharing personal information. 91% post a photo of themselves, up from 79% in 2006. 71% post their school name, up from 49%. 71% post the city or town where they live, up from 61%. 53% post their email address, up from 29%. 20% post their cell phone number, up from 2%. With these alone, you are inviting anyone to get to know your personal life and intrude whenever they want. I’m not saying don’t post pictures of yourself or what high school you go to, but I have seen people post home addresses and voluntarily ask anyone on their 300 lists of friends to text them because they’re “bored.”
With a rise in Cyber Security and the whole privacy issue with Apple bringing matters like this to light, hopefully people would start to be smarter in their choices and companies go back to their old ways of pleasing people with products that aren’t monitoring my every click.
Wow. 20% post their cell phone number!!! Nice Tiara.
DeleteAfter reading the article about the use of smart tvs, I'm surprised on how much control these companies have over us. It is stated that as technology, advances, so does the government's effort to gain access and control over it. The more someone know about us,the more power they can have over us.
ReplyDeleteMany people have information that we will like to keep private. That information is our personal data that could be used to affect our reputations; and it can be used to influence our decisions and shape our behavior. It can be used as a tool to control over us. And in the wrong hands, personal data can be used to cause us great harm.They could know everything about you by just listening to your conversations and watching you while you use your technological device.
Technology is becoming a serious threat to our privacy. Privacy is about respecting individuals. If a person has a reasonable desire to keep something private, it is disrespectful to ignore that person's wishes without a good reason to do so.
Privacy is a limit on government power. I figured that when you use your phone and its connected to wifi, I already knew that people could trace where you are or what you're doing on that device. But, I still believe that privacy matters. It should only be infiltrated if it's an emergency that jeopardizing yourself or someone's safety.
Privacy is something that is within the right of every person that is born on American soil. It is a right that seemed to be infringed upon with the advent of technology. In the terms & conditions of social media platforms, televisions, iPhones, iPads and other devices consumers practically agree to sell their whole lives to these companies. We agree to allow these products to survey our whole lives and throw products that they think we want into our faces.
ReplyDeleteCan we truly be mad at the companies? Or is the blame on ourselves? We agree to these things so how can we in turn talk about how privacy is stripped from the American people. If someone were to read everything that is given to them when it comes to these technologies I'm sure that they would feel differently.
The object of the matter is that privacy does not exist within the growing technological world. Everyone has a technological footprint, even the ones that are technophobes. Somewhere out there someone has their information. Sure this is terrifying that someone is always watching you but it is necessary in helping when in life or death situations.
I do think it’s a bit weird that a TV has a “facial recognition feature”. That’s pretty extreme. I understand what the creators were thinking...There is something amazing about a television with this many capabilities, but at the same time, are they really necessary?
ReplyDeleteThe main problem is that the everyday man or woman doesn’t know a lot about the world wide web and the amount of data that travels across the globe. We don’t always realize just how much information we’re sending out there.
I’m perplexed when a Macy’s ad for summer dresses appears on the side of a completely unrelated web page just moments after I was browsing Macy’s website. It’s kind of disturbing, the way my computer is saving information without my knowledge.
Again, I understand the thought process behind this. It was probably meant to make life easier for us by keeping track of our interests…
But like I said, it’s not really necessary.
Internet privacy is definitely a serious issue. I think we need to better inform people so that they can understand what they’re getting into.
Unfortunately I don’t think most teenagers care about privacy. Either they don’t think about it, or they don’t care. I know many people who’d “friend” a total stranger on Facebook or “follow” some random person on Instagram simply “because they can”.
The statistics from this website just reinforces my belief:
http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/05/21/teens-social-media-and-privacy-2/
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with social media...The problem is that it is used by many teenagers who simply don’t think things through. And that’s what can lead to problems.
The ads that follow you are creepy. Here's how to get rid of them: http://www.howtogeek.com/183786/what-is-the-fastest-way-to-clear-the-cache-and-cookies-in-google-chrome/
DeleteGood work Madeleine!
Privacy does matter, especially when you are at home. Being At home is one of the places where no matter what you should be able to do anything freely and no worry about someone looking or listening to you. A smart TV, I feel, will honestly blow over. No one wants to have something listening to their conversations just to see what you are interested in. Edward Snowden was the first to let people aware that the government had complete access to their technology and evan still after that people are trying to modify tech.
ReplyDeletePrivacy is very important to me. How do so many telemarketers get my phone number? Its amazing how much information is out on the internet about me, and the scariest thing is I put most of it out there. A smart TV being able to listen and remember what I'm saying is extremely creepy honestly.
ReplyDeleteI was on my computer yesterday online shopping and because of this discussion I was really paying attention to advertisements. So, later that day I was watching a YouTube video and an ad for the site I was at earlier came up! I was so freaked out.