Blog# 5:
In a recent interview, head of Microsoft’s applications for
HongKong shared his opinion about data privacy
of users. Every free app that is made
available to the consumer is collecting valuable information that can be used
to track a user or sold to companies and marketers. The investment into
creating the app is well returned in following the user and arriving at a
comprehensive digital persona that can be used to find the appropriate buyers.
While
most people are aware that the photos they post are stored, they do not realize
that meta-data about the camera brand/type, lens, and geolocation can also be stored
as a part of user’s history. Similarly, he says, when he signs up for an app
that says it’s tracking “vibration information,” he would never guess it was
extrapolating transportation data like whether he was in a bike or car.
Technology companies need
to increase transparency on how they communicate information about collection
and use of data. To that end software developers need to play a greater role in
privacy protection, creating tools that allow users to visualize and easily
reconfigure their company’s data policies.
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