How the Digital Age killed confidentiality.
It's true- the internet has shattered international communication barriers and the world has never been more connected. Keeping in contact with people, and updated on the happenings of people's personal lives, has never been easier.
But this newly established state of connectivity that has been derived from the creation and accessible nature of the internet also comes with a pretty heavy cost.
It's no coincidence that website advertisements seem to know all too well about that pretty yellow dress you've been eyeing off for the last week and a half. If you're wondering how advertisements know these personal details about you - it's by a simple invasion of your privacy.
The ability to violate your privacy is unknowingly given by users constantly online.
Most of us have at least one online profile on a free platform, usually Facebook or Instagram. These sites are the catalyst for users, who are mostly unaware, to give permission for others to view their information.
Free social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are directly partnered with numerous advertising companies and services. These relationships see advertisers pay for the running cost of the platforms in exchange for user data information. They then utilise this bought information to target and tailor their ads to match your interests, including your taste in dresses.
Numerous social media companies are selling out their consumers private information in exchange for profit. But how are they actually able to attain this information?
There are many ways in which your private information can be easily accessed and exploited. One of the most common ways is known as "Data Scrapping."
Data scrapping involved the tracking of online user's social activities including personal data such as web browsing history, log in/profile details, and even as far as what is being said in users "private" conversations online.
Cookies also aid in tracking activities and personal data - which are easily accessed, hacked and exploited by cybercriminals for corrupt means.
This sort of information is gathered and utilised by advertisers to create advertisement campaigns that are targeted to specific users, of specific demographics, with specific interests.
The question is, don't we as users of free social media platforms knowingly share this personal data?
The answer is yes, we do - but often data harvesters do not ask nor require the owner's consent when distributing this data to third-parties for promotional purposes, this action becomes ethically questionable and is an absolute violation of the users trust and privacy.
We are all well aware of the recent backlash Facebook received over this very issue.
So it begs the question of whether the convenient lifestyle created by the digital age comes at too high a price. With the continuous growth and development of technology looming over us, we must decide if the annihilation of online-privacy is a price too high tp pay for the advantages of social media.
If it is, how do we change the foundations of free online social platforms? But if we are willing to pay the price of our basic human rights, the right of privacy, to simply use these platforms - well then, maybe privacy is really dead.
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