Privacy?

            With the advent of new technology that allows people to give out so much of their information, it brings up the idea of privacy. Society’s expectation of privacy has changed because of new technology (Cakrani, 2013; Zuo & Jiang, 2013). New technology such as social media has allowed people to post their private information in a public web location. In fact, it has even created a culture where it is normal for private information to be posted on websites such as Twitter and Facebook (Cakrani, 2013). Before these types of websites were created, it would not have been a normal thing for people to give out their current location, job information, or personal information on the Internet. However, social media has created a society that holds the attitude that it is not only acceptable to put that information on the Internet, but it is almost essential to do so (Cakrani, 2013; Packard, 2013).

            There is an issue with this lack of interest in security and privacy, though. That issue is that privacy is becoming harder for people to obtain and maintain (Cakrani, 2013). With new technology comes new ways for others to get people’s private information which, many times, has negative results (Cakrani, 2013; Zuo & Jiang, 2013). The problem and cultural shift that has happened is the fact that people feel that is safer to release their information (Cakrani, 2013; Zuo & Jiang, 2013). Users of social media and other websites and technology like it, are lulled into the sense that what they are posting about themselves will be kept private. Unfortunately that is not always the case. An example outside of social media is cell phones. They allow people to access all of their private information on the go. Since it is people’s personal cell phones, they feel secure using it. However, others are able to hack into phones and get that private information (Zuo & Jiang, 2013).

            So how does society go about remedying this? There are two specific things that can be done. First, people need to realize how vulnerable they are making themselves when they post their private information on the Internet (Cakrani, 2013; Packard, 2013; Zuo & Jiang, 2013). Despite what a website or piece of technology may make people think, it is not as secure as they may feel. There needs to be a cultural shift in the opposite direction of what has occurred, which is to have people post less private information (Zuo & Jiang, 2013). Secondly, there is a flip side to the fact that new technology is causing privacy concerns. That is that there has also been technology that has been created as new ways to protect private information (Cakrani, 2013; Zuo & Jiang, 2013). Those types of technology have been created as a way to compensate for the easier ability of people to gain other’s private information. People need to be aware of those options to protect their privacy and actually be willing to use them (Cakrani, 2013; Zuo & Jiang, 2013).

References:

Cakrani, E. (2013). Technology and privacy, internet effects on privacy. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 4(9), 279-283.

Packard, A. (2013). Digital media law (2^nd edition). West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

Zuo, Y., & Jiang, X. (2013). Internet privacy. Studies in Sociology of Science, 4(4), 32-35.

This video is a Ted Talk given by Eli Pariser titled “Beware Online ‘Filter Bubbles.’” In the video, Pariser discusses the filter bubbles that the Internet has created. People receive information from websites such as Google and Facebook based on personal information about themselves such as the computer they are using and where they are located. The reason that this involves privacy issues with the Internet is that this information about people is gathered without the people really being informed.

This infograph shows the new privacy risks that have been associated with new technology. The information shown is a result of surveys conducted. This means that this infograph exemplifies the concern that people are now having about their privacy because of new technology.

The infograph below shows how technology has changed how people do work. It explores the idea of how work was done in the past versus how work is completed now. It then shows evidence of how technology is also changing the kind of privacy society needs to protect themselves. Unfortunately, I cannot make this infograph any bigger than it is, so I have included the link here: http://www.privacyawarenessweek.org/resources.html

References:

APPA. (2014). Technology is changing… so are the privacy risks. Privacy Awareness Week. Retrieved from http://www.privacyawarenessweek.org/resources.html

Pariser, E. (2011). Beware online “filter bubbles.” Ted Talks. Lectured conducted from Long Beach, California. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles

Travelers (2013). Technology poses emerging risks. Travelers.com. Retrieved from https://www.travelers.com/prepare-prevent/home/personal-privacy-risks.aspx