Privacy – the ultimate payment method of current world.
I can bet
that 100% of the people who read this post have no idea that they have given up
part of their privacy while doing so. Why u ask ? Well blogspot is collecting
data on you while you read for example.
What I want
to say is that most of you are not aware that most if not all of the free sites
are not actually free. They don’t take our money in exchange for goods, they
take the ultimate payment bite into your data, into your privacy.
So most of
us have probably heard about Cambridge Analytica scandal. For those unaware
Facebook shared over 87 million people’s data to Cambridge Analytica. After
exposure Facebook’s chief Mark Zuckerberg was questioned by US Congress on its
data leak, fake news and Russian election meddling suspicions.
Following
the scandal many have prophesied Facebook’s end, a downfall of Facebook’s user
base, masses deleting accounts. That never actually happened, Facebook’s usage actually rose even after
deletion of 583 million fake accounts following Russian interference in the US
election.
But why are
we talking about Facebook well out of all the sites I know it’s the biggest one
that takes a huge bite out of your privacy in exchange for its usage.
What’s
worse we love it !
We love the
idea of being part of Facebook’s community for such a small fee – it’s nothing,
right ?
But no one
really gets bigger scope, or its more convenient to ignore it : What if a 100
sites we use monthly collect data on us? Gmail reads your emails, Google
collects data on your searches, Windows tracks everything you do on your
computer and so on…
Nothing we do in the modern world goes unnoticed. We can no longer be sure that our words are not getting recorded for future use or that our actions noted.
Nothing we do in the modern world goes unnoticed. We can no longer be sure that our words are not getting recorded for future use or that our actions noted.
Watch the video and look at date it was published.
Scary isn’t
it ? Its been 4 years and nothing has changed. It’s gotten even worse !
There is one
scary joke I heard that is becoming more and more true each year:
“An ad on
Google search engine says : We are hiring! P.S. Don’t send CV’s we already know
everything, we will call you.”
So with
that gloomy joke I want to ask you:
Should we
become cautious of what data sites, apps, companies collect on us?
Is it a
problem that in order to live in the modern world we have to give up parts if
not all of our privacy?
Would you
pay for services like Facebook if they were to not collect data ? Or would u stop
using them?
What’s your way of fighting the invigilation? Or
you just don’t care?
Sources:
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/mark-zuckerberg-faces-tough-questions-from-us-congress-on-facebook-1.3456921 (details of Cambridge Scandal)
TED talk archives can be found here
Comments
We can't determine whether is it a problem or not because it depends. For example I don't like exposing my data but I have friends that don't even care about it. For me it's a problem but they don't consider it as a problem.
I would pay for keeping my data private but it would be hard to trust company like fb.
In my opinion, our world at some point in history humanity simply became too globalized and now we see cons of this globalization. Privacy problem is one of the results of this globalization. If the world is so connected today that means that boundaries between our real life and digital slowly become to disappear. And this is all because of our desire to tell everybody about ourselves and stay in touch with rest of the world. We became so open that companies like Facebook started to exploit this weakness and here we have results. Like it was mentioned in the article if you want to use something you have to pay a price. If you want to use social media then be ready to sacrifice some part of your privacy.
I am not sure about this one, it depends on terms of service and what guarantees they would give me.
I think you simply should be aware of your actions online and understand all possible consequences of those actions.
Well after Facebook's scandal have you explored any other options like Twitter?
Do you think that alternative to Facebook exist nowadays?
I would like to know which of the Google services you deem useful and valuable.
What price would be right on those services?
You asked me if I would pay for Facebook if it didn't collect my data, but how could I know that it doesn't?
Saying >my life is not so interesting that hackers can blackmail me with something.
is exactly what is tackled within it.
If thats the case then come and share your passwords with us :)
Are there any services u deem necessary?
I think so, however, it is a new problem, and as you mentioned quite well, people still are not aware what is the price of privacy. They, I, don't really understand what bad can happen if big companies know everything on you. I guess it's just the question of scales - if they know everything on billions of people, they will probably not have time to focus on you anyway.
Is it a problem that in order to live in the modern world we have to give up parts if not all of our privacy?
Again, it probably is a problem, but the future is to show what the actual price was. Now we are living "on a loan" - getting free stuff and giving away our personal data, which does not do any harm to us apart from getting spam e-mails. But sadly, in the future, maybe we will start paying a bigger price - but then there will be no turning back.
Would you pay for services like Facebook if they were to not collect data ? Or would u stop using them?
No, I wouldn't! That's the thing - money is very "countable", but paying with our privacy seems like buying something for free. I'd much rather pay with privacy than real money.
What’s your way of fighting the invigilation? Or you just don’t care?
I usually don't let the sites send me any newsletter and click "No" on questions about finding my location. But if I'm put against the wall, and it's a no-go without accepting the terms of invigilation, I usually accept them and don't care.
Wouldn't it be wiser to avoid such sites ? Every time i encounter an "unskippable opt-ins" on site i just go to a different one for example.
Definitely yes. But sometimes it's much harder, because of the data selling between the companies makes it much more difficult than average person thinks it is.
Is it a problem that in order to live in the modern world we have to give up parts if not all of our privacy?
Yes, and it's the problem not only with the morality, but the human laziness as well. And unfortunately it all started not so long ago.
Would you pay for services like Facebook if they were to not collect data ? Or would u stop using them?
Personally I don't know. It mostly depends on the price and usefulness of the service. In fact I really don't like the Facebook at all because of hard invigilation procedures.
What’s your way of fighting the invigilation? Or you just don’t care?
Mostly I use VPNs, Thor and Linux based operating systems, but the best way to fight invigilation is to not provide data at all anywhere digital.
In my opinion, mandatory. people should be careful and caution about every service, and the mostly, the biggest one.
Is it a problem that in order to live in the modern world we have to give up parts if not all of our privacy?
Yes, for me definitely it is a problem. I am hope that this will change someday. Now, people can choose more secure and more private competition services.
Would you pay for services like Facebook if they were to not collect data ? Or would u stop using them?
Maybe I would pay, but stopping using fb is not easy because there are almost everybody.
What’s your way of fighting the invigilation? Or you just don’t care?
I used to use some of the available apps for protecting my privacy.
Let's say that I;m just aware of info I put online ;)
I care about my data. That's, in my opinion, the bays way of fighting with invigilation. I think before I click share buttons or submit a form to a suspicious website.