Online Privacy Effects

When we comment on a Facebook post, send an email, purchase something online, or click on an advertisement banner that promises “70% off your first purchase when you sign up,” we give data trackers the information they need to create a digital profile of us. These profiles are compiled of personal information we give up when we do almost anything online, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain one’s privacy. The digital footprints we leave can curate a more personalized internet experience that caters to our needs, but what most of us are not aware of is that a digital profile can have detrimental effects when our information gets into the wrong hands. Companies that track online behavior glean information from browsers, ISP’s, and websites. They then develop a digital profile that delineates our interests, preferences, behavior, finances, and even health. These companies are not just using individuals’ information for their own benefit, either. They’re selling it to other companies. For example, Facebook might gather certain information by noting the article someone liked and shared, adding this to a digital profile, and then selling the collected data to an advertising company. Most people are either not aware that their personal information has become a commodity, or they feel it is a fair …show more content…
When those of privileged economic status want to uphold their privacy in the future, they’ll easily be able to pay companies (probably of which are the same that collect our information) that will protect them against personal data collection. Those who are not so privileged will be left to tiptoe around the internet, hoping their online behavioral profiles won’t get into the wrong hands to be used against them. The internet, a place in which the playing field used to be totally level, has never been at a higher risk for becoming a replication of our current and equally problematic class