Privacy Issues and Digital Footprint
Privacy issues with online tools have been such a hot topic as technology has continued to increase and spread into more and more people’s lives. Safety and privacy have been something that I have not really cared about till recent years. When I was young, I begged my Mom for Instagram, and after many months of pleading, she finally allowed me to get it but demanded that I make my account private and that she knew every person who followed me. At the time, this was excruciatingly embarrassing, and I felt emotions even close to resentment when she would take my phone and go through it, making sure I wasn’t breaking the rules she had set. Now, I am quite thankful that this relationship was established with the internet. Knowing that there was accountability for the people that I followed and what I posted gave me a good idea at a young age of what to post, follow and comment on. And if I had completely unrestricted access to the internet, I could have gotten into deep trouble with not only my digital footprint but my safety. As I mature, I know that the internet is not a place for a thirteen-year-old person to have free range. An experience that I had that taught me this was Omegle, and if you know what this website is, you know where this story ends. It blows my mind that young kids can go on websites like these and meet with strangers who often have malicious intent. There is no protection for them, and there safety and privacy are put at risk as soon as they click. I hope going forward, all kids are educated and taught about the importance of digital safety and how dangerous it is to have their information online, as they are at risk, and so are the majority of people who do not consider their information as a tool.
Another issue I have with privacy issues is the collection and distribution of people’s information for financial gain. This was a debated issue as it was not confirmed, but after the company Meta was taken to court by the US court over this matter, people began to become more aware of this issue. Still, companies like TikTok can collect insane amounts of data such as IP addresses, geolocation-related data, keystrokes, access to file names on devices, and search history. If this sounds insane to you, I urge you to read TikTok’s terms and conditions all this info and more is written, yet no one bothers to care. And as we continue to through the information age, this information is crucial for countries, and yet no one is aware of it. I really hope the education system is preparing kids for this, as I know most people who partake in social media or who have online tools are wildly uneducated on these things, and I think it should be a skill that students are being equipped with going forward.
