In Alice Marwick’s essay, How Our Data Are Being Deeply Mined she states that, “Social media allows us to collect and track data about ourselves” (Marwick 6). Social media allows us to connect with other people as well as ourselves, and through doing so, improving our lives. Unfortunately, the kind of information we share on social media is not only useful to us but also to data brokers. By using the pieces of information found about someone on social media, profilers are able to create a broader picture of them. These complete profiles then get sold and sorted by marketing …show more content…
The answer is simply to opt-out of loyalty cards and programs and steer clear of all social media and the Internet in general. That plan, however, is impossible in today’s day and age. We are tracked wherever we go, whether it be just driving down the street or shopping at the mall. In the words of Marwick, “The technology is developing far more rapidly than our consumer protection laws, which in many cases are out of date and difficult to apply to our networked world” (Marwick 9). The NSA needs to be scrutinized more closely and put under investigation that calls for more transparency in the collection of data. We must also apply pressure to private corporations to ensure that marketing campaigns don’t jeopardize our privacy. The more information the public has, the better equipped they will be to fight against database marketing and protect their