internet privacy: does it truly exist?
DESCRIPTION
Digital Flipbook assignment for FILM 260.TRANSCRIPT
Internet Privacy:
Does it Truly Exist?
By: Kristen Toso
Image: rosipaw
Today, there are over 2.5 billion Internet users worldwide.
With over 7 billion people in the world, that means that approximately 36% are using the Internet.
Source: Internet World Stats
Image: johnlemon
That’s a lot of people with, consequently,
a lot of personal data.
Image: Leo Reynolds
Image: Simon (via Pixabay)
...always under the
assumption that their privacy rights are being
respected.
Image: Nina Strelov (via Fotopedia)
However, throughout the Internet’s history, there have
been a number of privacy scandals that have shaken
users’ trust.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Violations of Internet privacy can happen to
anyone at any time, regardless of age, level of digital literacy, wealth, or any other factor...
Image: Wikimedia Commons
...which begs the following questions:
Can information be kept truly personal on the Internet?
Or, is Internet privacy simply an oxymoron?
Image:jamingray
Image: esthervargasc
Today’s social media
platforms, online
shopping websites,
financial services, and
other such sites provide
users with privacy
settings in an attempt to
protect their personal information.
Image:chiarashine
Even with these privacy settings, information can easily
be acquired and used without user permission by
different groups, including:
The more transparent users are in their online
profiles, the better that advertisers and corporations
can target them with products and services.
Source: Film 260 Lecture 02: i-Friends
Image: Wikimedia Commons
“...Google Glass opens an entirely new front in the digital war against privacy. These spectacles [...] represent a developmental leap in the history of data that is comparable to moving from
the bicycle to the automobile...
...It is the sort of radical transformation that may actually end up
completely destroying our individual privacy in the digital 21st century.” - Andrew Keen, CNN
Image: Wikimedia Commons
“People say very personal information to Siri [...] They are
encouraged to think of Siri as
their confidante and their assistant...
...But Siri is not just working for
you. Siri is collecting a lot of data
for Apple and for its business...
...And people should be very
mindful and aware of what’s
happening to their personal information...
- Nicole Ozer, Lawyer (ACLU)
Image: MattsMacintosh
Scams, phishing and fraud are examples of ways that criminals can steal information from Internet users,
which can have detrimental consequences.
Image: pallotron
Top continents from
which online fraud
originated from (2012):
1. Africa
2. Asia
3. South Amerca
4. Europe
5. North America
The most commonly targeted online services:
Retail, online dating, financial, gambling and travel.
Source: Iovation
Image: Simon Tong (via smugmug.com)
IP addresses, emails and social media activity can
potentially be obtained by the government under court rulings to closely monitor civilians.
Image: neeravbhatt
“Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets have a great deal of information about all of us — and the government wants to be able to
see it...
[...] the government scored a major win — and Internet privacy lost big —
when a judge ruled against Twitter in a fight over a trove of information
about [Malcolm Harris,] a political activist.” - Adam Cohen, TIME
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Image: araenae (via Deviantart)
In 2012, 849 requests were
made by governments all over the world to obtain
Twitter user information, with
80% of them being from the
United States alone.
Source: Twitter Transparency Report
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Users cannot assume
that privacy settings
are protecting their precious information.
Evidently, despite the belief that privacy exists, there is a real risk
involved with sharing personal information on the Internet.
Image: wallpapers-mobilewallpapers.blogspot.ca
Given this, there are preventive measures that you can take in order to protect yourself and
your personal information on the Internet:
in order to become more digitally-savvy.
Share Internet privacy tips with friends and family.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Image: Zomerstorm
Think critically about what you are sharing, where you are
sharing it, and who could potentially have access to it.
Image: Lip Kee
“A long-overdue bill in the
California legislature,
“The Right to Know Act,”
would force companies such
as Google and Facebook
to reveal what personal information they have collected
and how it’s being used.”
- Adam Cohen, TIME
Know, and fight for, your rights.
Even with these pre-emptive measures, it is difficult to
think that information can ever be private on the
Internet; as the saying goes...
Image: Chrisser
Image: Horia Varlan
What does the future hold
for Internet privacy?
Credits
All images are licensed under the Creative
Commons Non-Commercial Share-Alike 3.0
agreement and, unless otherwise specified,
are sourced from Flickr.
References