Privacy, Online & Off

While I believed I had a decent understanding of my privacy and what a digital footprint is, the issue appears to be much greater than I could have known. Previously, I believed my privacy was only slightly unsafe, and the issue was only online. Through the TED Talks we watched in class, I have realized how poorly the government handles security issues, and even uses these issues to their advantage. This is a problem that not only effects me, but also my family, friends, and everyone around the world.

 

 

I was shocked when Catherine Crump pointed out that we can't even drive our cars around without that information being noted somewhere, in someone's system. Things like the Automatic License Plate Reader can pin point everywhere we have visited in the past, which are things that are added to our personal dossier. This dossier is like the government's version of our personal portrait. The major issue here is how easily this portrait can become inaccurate. The collection of this location data was new information that left an uneasy feeling in my stomach. While I understand the argument that this tracking is necessary, especially for the police, because it tracks the people doing illegal things, this brings about the major question of "What about those of us who are not doing illegal things?" The truth is, more of us are living normal, legal lives than not, so the government has no need to track our everyday movements. It is invasive, and I believe with enough research we could find a way to limit location tracking of the general public and only use it when necessary. 

 

 

 

  While solutions too the privacy issue may not be an immediate, simple fix, especially on the government scale, there are things we can do to protect our online privacy. After learning how unprotected Google Chrome is as a browser, I made the switch to Firefox as soon as possible, and I believe everyone else should do the same. Just like any online website, browser, or application, it still isn't perfect. This is why everyone should clear their search history, cookies, and cache at least weekly. Small actions like this can be part of a huge step in minimizing your digital footprint. Even if you have nothing too hide, giving the rest of the world too much information can result in miscommunications, and ultimately an infringement on your safety. Because, if the government knows everywhere you went last week, who else does?