Blog #8

 BLOG #8

Internet Privacy Violations 

Introduction

Undoubtedly you experience several online ads mystically tailored to your interests daily. There is no magical coincidence in that aspect, mainly when you routinely use the Internet. In case you marvel at how the online community knows so much about you and your interests, then the key lies in their violation of your privacy. Presently, an online competition for businesses has stiffened; hence competitors online resort to any resolve to maintain their relevance, even if it translates to secretly obtaining your private data. The most disturbing aspect of this online privacy violation is that you never know who uses your data and for what purposes, whether the private corporations or the government. The unregulated use of personal data is frightening. It puts the users at risk of infringement on our personal space with its implications affecting us and our families' privacy, a maddening violation that the government must put to an immediate end. 

 

Nothing Is Free, and So Is Internet

Going through the Internet platforms such as social media platforms, advertising themselves as free, a person may believe that their information is secure because they have personalized passwords. On the contrary, a hidden cost prevails through using them. Most internet sources have direct partnerships with various advertising services and advertising agencies where they reap big by selling your data. Privacy concerns are inherent to using the Internet because the user's personal information is continually shared both actively and passively by just using the Internet (Durnell et al., 2020).  A closer analysis of the cookies or recommender systems reveals that they aim to track and record the commonly visited websites. Such information is essentially utilized for generating search results, frequently sold to organizations for creating ads or even accessed by the government. By sharing such private information, we expose ourselves and our families to different dangers and risks associated with unknowingly sharing our locations, health, finances, and other sensitive information that make us vulnerable to many infringements.

 

Is the government not protecting us enough?

Undeniably, the government has exposed us, and more needs to be done to restrict the violation of our privacy and those of our loved ones. Living in the digital era is a privilege we all have embraced, but if this technology that we highly rely on turns against us, the government needs to do more than it currently does. Legislation is vital in enforcing laws, and the government needs to pass more comprehensive data protection laws which hold companies and individuals accountable for their data collection laws and their use of people’s s personal information (Web Foundation, 2021). On the other hand, we should not wait for government protection to protect ourselves and our families. We should not ignorantly disclose our data on the Internet without considering suitable approaches to ensure and guarantee that we are exclusively in control of all our data. 

Conclusion

The Internet is unsafe, and the earlier we appreciate that fact, the better we can enhance our online privacy. On the same aspect, the government should not be reminded of its obligations to protect its citizens but instead pushed to undertake more effective measures of ensuring individual privacy and protecting us from privacy violations online.

References

Durnell, E., Okabe-Miyamoto, K., Howell, R. T., & Zizi, M. (2020). Online privacy breaches, offline consequences: Construction and validation of the concerns with the protection of informational privacy scale. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 36(19), 1834-1848. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10447318.2020.1794626.

Web Foundation. (2021). International Data Protection Day: 5 steps governments and companies can take to respect and protect our privacy online. https://webfoundation.org/2021/01/international-data-protection-day-5-steps-governments-and-companies-can-take-to-respect-and-protect-our-privacy-online/.