When we talk about the advancement of the internet, one
aspect that isn’t talked about much is the issue of privacy. Now more than ever
companies are collecting our data on a daily basis – some by the min. The New
York Times recently reported on exactly how much data is collected. While the
data is anonymized, strung together, the result can paint a pretty accurate picture
of who you are. Meaning, it wouldn’t take much of a leap to identify you. It
goes a step further and unfortunately in the wrong direction: the data is
regularly sold without your knowledge.
“These companies sell, use or analyze the data to cater to advertisers, retail outlets and even hedge funds seeking insights into consumer behavior. It’s a hot market, with sales of location-targeted advertising reaching an estimated $21 billion this year.”
This is a super interesting read that will make anyone think
twice about their data. The larger question however is, why aren’t more people
worried and outraged about this? Personally, I think it’s because the ramp up to
this point of invasion has been a rather slow ramp up. For example, when I signed
up for Facebook in college, I never thought any of my data would be used for
any other purpose than to populate my own profile page. Fast forward many years
later, we now know it’s a lot deeper than we thought. It is up to the individual
to take an active position in controlling their own data – before some anonymous
(or not-so-anonymous) company does.
1 comment:
I've thought about this quite a bit over the past year and come to the following conclusions: people are either completely unaware OR they just don't care. With the steady drumbeat of privacy-related stories plastered around the internet, social media, and traditional media channels, the former seems increasingly unlikely, which leaves the latter--people simply don't care. But why?
One possible explanation is that the benefits of the data slurping outweigh the privacy costs. For example, do I really mind that Gmail is reading my e-mails if they provide good recommendations to autocomplete my mundane messages (https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/2146501/gmail-can-now-autocomplete-entire-emails-new-feature-called-smart-compose-heres)? Do I really care if Amazon knows my behavior better than I do if they provide excellent recommendations for the prices I want? Do I care if Netflix suggests the perfect new show for me that I've never heard of? With the data available it seems clear that the answer to those questions is, at this point, a resounding no.
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