dgme102-onlineprivacy - Tumblr blog

[dgme102-onlineprivacy]

A False Feeling Of Protection?

[dgme102-onlineprivacy]

What to look out for

Privacy is something that people often take for granted, especially online where you can’t be entirely sure of who sees things that you post, and how that information is being used. Sensitive personal information is something that companies often ask for when signing up for accounts, and it is often not made clear what exactly these companies use people's information for. More often than not, users have to blindly place their trust in these companies to not use their personal information in an irresponsible way. With the advancement of technology comes new ways for companies to collect, use, and potentially sell this information without one's knowledge. In addition, the present laws associated with protection of consumer’s privacy do not currently cover all aspects of protecting a user’s data.  This makes it especially important for online users to monitor what information they post and give to companies, and check if the online privacy that they think they have is the same as what they actually have. Online privacy is something that people assume they naturally have, but with companies stealing information, online users will need to double check if they really do have privacy online.

[dgme102-onlineprivacy]

Are you actually ‘anonymous’ on the Internet?

A major reason the internet and platforms on it, specifically social media, are as popular as they are, is because of people’s ability to stay anonymous. When you are using the internet, nothing is stopping you from becoming a completely different person than you are outside in the world. People love the ability to stay anonymous on the internet because they can voice their opinions without facing any consequences. There is also the factor of feeling safe behind a screen. People feel safe and protected, because nothing can come and get you if you are not able to be physically confronted. That is where people are wrong, there are dangers to the internet. More specially a danger to your online safety. Corporations are able to access what people assumed would never be able to be accessed. Your private data can be breached and used by faceless corporations for their own gain. Is the internet really a safe place everyone can trust and use?

[dgme102-onlineprivacy]

Social Media Platforms stealing user information

Large corporations like Google, Facebook, and Amazon are notorious for taking user information. The information that Google has access to and uses is not overstepping the boundaries of privacy too much. It is corporations like Facebook and Amazon that people should be more concerned and knowledgable about. Facebook knows exactly when you log on, for how long you’re logged in, your private messages, comments, shares, and transactions you’ve made on their website. This might not seem too alarming to people who are aware of this, but to users who are not it can be quite a shock. Amazon keeps track of your IP address, browser type, payment information, and social security number. If you are using Amazon on your phone, they can see where you are located, can collect your data from your mobile carrier, third parties, and your credit history from credit bureaus (https://www.security.org/resources/data-tech-companies-have/).

It is not morally right that large corporations are able to profit, especially to such a large degree, off of our private data. Most all corporations that profit off of people’s data give a terms and conditions before someone creates an account on that platform, so unfortunately users are to blame as well. An article that surveyed Americans about data collection states that, “ 97% of Americans say they are ever asked to approve privacy policies, yet only about one-in-five adults overall say they always (9%) or often (13%) read a company’s privacy policy before agreeing to it” (Auxier). Though we want to blame companies for exploiting our data and profiting, there also has to be acknowledgement about how lackadaisical people are about righting what they think is wrong. 

Auxier, Brooke, et al. “Americans and Privacy: Concerned, Confused and Feeling Lack of Control Over Their Personal Information.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, Pew Research Center, 15 Nov. 2019, www.pewresearch.org/internet/2019/11/15/americans-and-privacy-concerned-confused-and-feeling-lack-of-control-over-their-personal-information/. 

Vigderman, Aliza. “The Data Big Tech Companies Have On You.” Security.org, 27 Oct. 2020, www.security.org/resources/data-tech-companies-have/.

[dgme102-onlineprivacy]

Should users get paid for their data

When looking at media platforms illegally collecting and selling their user’s data, a topic that often comes up is if these companies can continue doing what they are doing as long as they compensate their users whose data they sold. On paper this can seem like a very appealing compromise. In practice however, this arrangement will only amount to negligible return for users compared to the benefits that companies will receive. Even in a best case scenario, one could realistically only expect to receive pennies for giving their data to a website. In the long run, the few dollars one could receive from routinely giving their information out over the course of a year is simply not worth the risks associated with making your personal information public. 

Tsukayama, Hayley. “Why Getting Paid for Your Data Is a Bad Deal.” Electronic Frontier Foundation, 18 Dec. 2020, www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/10/why-getting-paid-your-data-bad-deal.

[dgme102-onlineprivacy]

Acts and Laws to stop the stealing of user information

There are many acts and laws set in order to deal with stealing of user information. Intending to protect privacy of children and education, FERPA, PPRA, HIPAA, COPPA, CIPA and Privacy Act of 1974 are all established by  government. These acts protect children’s privacy in different aspects. For example, the COPPA act safeguards the privacy of teenagers through limiting accession to student records. Olivia Levinson, who is the author of Embedded Deception: How the FTC’s Recent Interpretation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Missed the Mark, regulates advertisements playing on YouTube to prevent children from the threat of internet cookies on stealing personal information and selling that information for profit. The other five acts illustrate how privacy should be applied in order to stop them from being disclosed. Besides these six, there are acts focusing on protecting self-identification. For example, according to Federal Laws Related to Identity Theft, “ the FCRA imposes a duty on consumer reporting agencies to ensure that the information they report is accurate, and requires persons who furnish information to ensure that the information they furnish is accurate.” In Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act, the imprisonment of two years in reinforced due to  knowingly transfers, possess, or uses of another person’s identification without lawful authority. If the misuse of another person’s identification associates with terrorism, the victim is sentenced to additional term of imprisonment of five more years. Throughout the aid of the Fair Credit Billing Act, consumers are being protected from the harm of inaccurate and unfair credit billing and credit card practices.

Minnesota Law Review. 2021, Vol. 105 Issue 4, p2007-2053. 47p.

https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL31919.html#_Toc216156012

[dgme102-onlineprivacy]

Ways to protect your online information

With amount of hacking and potential breaches of data on the rise, it has become increasingly important for the individual user to protect their personal information. So what can you do to ensure that your data does not fall into the wrong hands? There are a number of things users can do and download to help keep themselves safe online. First would be a password manager. This is an application that automatically creates and stores different, difficult to guess, passwords for each website you register with. In the event of a password leak or hack, a password manager ensures that the password that a hacker gains access to is the only one, because each account will have a different password that needs to be stolen. Next is a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to protect your browsing data. To put it simply, a VPN acts as a middleman between you and any website you visit. Anytime you connect to a website, you are actually connecting to the VPN through a secure network, and then the VPN connects to the website for you. This prevents any potentially harmful sites from seeing your IP when connecting to them, potentially stopping them from using it to hack you. The final thing that users can install is an antivirus software. This will not necessarily help prevent any hacking or data theft, but It can help you identify and remove and potential threats to your personal information. 

In an ideal world, users would not have to face such challenges. Unfortunately, installing protective measures is not always enough to protect one’s personal data from being stolen. The most effective thing that can be done is to monitor what you browse, post, and download. Be weary of websites that ask for personal info, and make sure that you only give it to websites that are legitimate. 

Klosowski, Thorin. “How to Protect Your Digital Privacy.” The New York Times, The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/guides/privacy-project/how-to-protect-your-digital-privacy.

[dgme102-onlineprivacy]

Adapting as needed

It is true that the privacy protection laws are not mature enough to prevent people from worrying about privacy leaks. However, they are always being updated. Rather than stopping privacy leaks through legal action, it is also necessary to make everyone figure out it is not ethical to steal others’ personal information. All of them require more time spent reviewing and developing regulations and laws. However, these laws are not currently in place. This means that it is still necessary to monitor and check whether our online privacy is really secure or not.