The Ambiguity Of Privacy

Privacy is a significant concern in our growing digital age. The digital age has been growing since the PDA, which was one of the first digital devices created in the 1980’s. Although technology has improved notably, privacy is an aspect that still remains a grey area to its user. Ambiguity of privacy is a concern among the audience of the digital world. There are an immense numbers of people who have no idea where their digital footprint is being stored even after hitting that delete button.
There are many different digital platforms that invade user privacy. These platforms consist of social media, communication, businesses, entertainment, research, news, shopping, school work, relationship seeking, job locating. The biggest online culprits …show more content…
The primitive way privacy is used by the online world is through daily search records. Taking this online platform can give you suggestions related what one has searched. For instance, lets say a woman goes online to search for baby toys for her niece. The internet then takes that information and evaluates it as part of her character, in other words, characterizing her as a mother. “The ad network might then uncover her real name, e-mail address, phone number, and possibly home address if she were to sign up” (Sisk 106) for the websites coupon opportunities. By doing this the user can be given ads for baby products, sweepstakes, strollers, diapers, etc. when they are on the internet again at a later time. Another way computers use your information is through social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Snapchat. These media platforms not only give you ads related to what you like, but can also share information through what you and a different person likes, to give you “suggested friends.” Using social media can be a risky especially for teens because they don’t realize where exactly their information is going. A post over Facebook, for example, could be screenshot and stored on someone’s phone, therefore even after deleting this post it could exist somewhere else. Government and doctors are using “a number of data sources, including electronic medical records, medical and biological data …show more content…
This is due to the fact that many users think they are secure through the app or online forum when they are actually not. Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter are just some of the few social media platforms that do not have transparent privacy issues. Facebook is a communication platform which is widely utilized around the world. With over 2.2 billion users, one would assume Facebook would have a really strong privacy arrangement. “Although Facebook’s privacy policy indicates that it limits the availability of your information to third parties, it also states that Facebook may share information with “other companies, lawyers, agents or government agencies” (Facebook privacy policy) in order to follow the law” (Sisk 106). This means that when a person posts something or likes another post, that information is tracked and then transmitted to businesses or other government agencies for the betterment of right information getting back to the user. Another superficial feature of Facebook that was recently launched is the facial recognition aspect; when someone uploads a picture, Facebook automatically tags anyone else in that picture on its own. This proves that Facebook tracks and keeps tabs on your information. Furthermore, Instagram is another media app that allows a user to share photos and comments with their followers. When signing up on Instagram, an individual has to manually set the privacy