Is privacy dead?
THE
CHARGER
Issues surrounding privacy have increased today, yet we are not always aware when we are exposed. In this generation, with the internet being at the center of everything, people are willing, and sometimes unwilling, to give out lots of information online. Through social media and data tracking, much of our lives is vulnerable to theft. Whether it be as harmless as letting an app track where we frequently go, or as serious as entering credit card information into an untrustworthy store, people put all types of information online.
Although many people approve of companies monitoring them, the majority of people do not understand all the ways that they are tracked. Through terms and conditions that we all commonly ignore and check off, we agree to an all or none deal with regard to data tracking.
“Privacy is dead”; this phrase is quite controversial today, but there are many sides to this point with major companies in the spotlight for unethical ways of handling their customer’s data.
"Information and data about the user's life is gathered and reused."
Data tracking has quickly increased in popularity among companies. Through the use of smartphones and other devices, information about the user is gathered and reused with a purpose of predicting what we want to see and what we will do next. While it does help, it also exposes people to the threats surrounding data privacy.
The issue of how exposed a user’s data is arises when people willingly sign away their privacy but got more than they bargained for. For example, after deciding to click “I Accept the Terms and Conditions”, there may be a large increase in email offers and ads sent a person’s way. The emails come from the different sites that the user's data has been shared with. Additionally, some apps will track your location in order to offer deals for the nearby stores or area.
Companies use a variety of methods to extract as much information as possible and use it to gather, process, and transmit data. Personal data in this day and age is like a currency of sorts being traded, bought, and sold all around the world. A thriving economy built on the collection of information is growing slowly but surely. Companies are collecting information about consumers in order to sell ads more effectively. For example, in 2009, Expedia was selling their customers browsing data to advertisers in order to sell specific ads to them on other sites they visited.
So much data is collected and processed that companies struggle with protecting all of it. For example, our smartphones, fitness trackers, smart TVs, and other devices generate an immense amount of information ranging from browsing habits to our frequent locations and personal health information.
Oftentimes, commonly visited sites use cookies (a form of tracking with a purpose of delivering a web page specific to a customer) and other softwares to collect information about consumers and sell it to advertisers without the consumer's permission. Cookies have the potential to collect data about your search history, location, interests, items you return to frequently while shopping, and the amount of time you spend on a website. While these may not be personal, they are still bits and pieces of your private life being exposed to companies.
The biggest worries are pertaining to GPS locators in smart cars and smart phones. Automotive company Ford came forward to explain its data-collection practices, telling what data it collects and who they share it with. According to Ford's Data Privacy and Security Policy, Ford is committed to "protect customers' privacy and handle their data securely and responsibly as we explore new ways to deliver innovative solutions."
Many privacy activists advocate for the country's privacy laws to be updated and mass consumer surveillance to be regulated due to rapid creation of new technologies and their unknown capabilities. According to Jules Polonetsky, executive director and co-chair of the Future of Privacy Forum, “ad companies are willing to pay for information about their consumers to produce advertisements that target those who have already expressed an interest in their products.”
Polonetsky added, "In the U.S., we don't have a general privacy law. You don't have a right to not be surveyed." Polonetsky’s point is that there are laws in place to protect us but companies have done what they could to find loopholes in them.
A study conducted by MIT and University of Toronto, found that restricting advertisers from collecting data from consumers decreased the effectiveness of advertisements by around 65 percent in Europe. In response to this study, NetChoice determined that if the United States were to use this model, American websites would lose around $33 billion over the first five years of this model being in place.
Anna Eshoo, the U.S. Representative for California's 18th congressional district and an advocate for net neutrality, told State of the Union, "there is no silver bullet to remedy this privacy dilemma but increased transparency, accountability and coordination among government, and private industry can help put consumers back in the driver's seat when it comes to their privacy.”
With Eshoo's statement, there are laws set forth to protect consumers and their data, but with such a complex issue that has major implications to both companies and consumers, not too much can be done at this time. An easy way to for consumers to protect more of their data is to not be so quick to click accept on all cookies or location monitoring or terms and conditions just to continue moving through the site.
"Generally, if companies disclose what they're doing and don't cause you financial harm, the courts aren't giving people the right to take action," -Jules Polonetsky.
By Luke Boland
Creative Commons CC0. No attribution required.
Universal coding language is used for programming all sites on the internet.
Image courtesy of the Defense Advanced Research Process Agency
The lock over the universal coding language represents keeping data safe from others. Creative Commons CC0. No attribution required.