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Created By : Arvis, Terecea, Arvis
Author: a.phillips
Internet For All, Privacy For All
My vision for the future of digital communications is for better accessibility, higher usage, and privacy protection.
The aspect I would like to see expand globally is the access and usage to the Internet, right now only 40 percent of the world population has internet access and I would like to see it get to 100 percent. Internet divide is what cuts people off from family, or prevent business arrangements. I believe it will better us as individuals to have access and being able to use the internet no matter where we are in the world.
The aspects I would like to see change is the issue of “privacy”, as I want more access and usage worldwide. The problem with this along with the issues of today privacy policies, it would mean more sensitive data falling in the hands of the information rich.
How we can change that in the future, is if our government steps in and put in place policies that protect people online life, thus making those platforms reevaluate and restructure their companies’ policies to fit within the confines of the law. I found an article “UN committee calls on countries to protect right to privacy” that’s show the work in progress that is being made to achieve this goal, it talks about the UN committee reaching out to countries to hold private companies responsible to respect human rights when dealing with personal data.
I am optimistic that this is something that will come into play, I believe the government will enact policies in order to protect their citizen’s information. Andrejevic used Gehl quote to illustrate the true cost of misleading policies, “In a typical Web 2.0 site, there is a surface, where users are free to produce content and make affective connections, and there is a hidden depth, where new media capitalists convert user-generated content into exchange-values” (279) Here we can see that “free” isn’t really free and the price we pay we are unaware of it, the invisible exchange of our sensitive data for money. And if they don’t do anything to prevent that their citizens would be a watering hole for new media capitalists.
1) Do you think it is necessary for the government to step in or do you think companies should just be more ethical about their privacy policy?
2) Would better access to the Internet worldwide change where you decide to live?
It Time To Start Reading The Fine Print
Who really read the terms and conditions, I know I don’t. Companies like Facebook and Instagram purposely make them long because they know the average person is not going to sit and read hundreds of pages of boring material, instead we go straight to “Accept” or “Agree”. Thus making us ignorant to what we agreed to and unaware of how our data is being handled.
The relation between the economic systems and the system of government control that we see in the documentary is that the companies we shop at are collecting and storing our day to day transactions and selling it to the government, who then goes and use it against us if we are perceived as a “threat”, in the name of national security of course.
Power is distributed unevenly in this society, the people who can afford to pay for highly sensitive data or information are those who have the most power. The affect of this uneven distribution has a negative impact on individual well being and their sense of freedom. Knowing one’s personal data is for sale is very upsetting, we put our trust in those companies and expect them to be ethical about our data and not sell it to the highest bidder.
The three stories that shocked me from the documentary was :
- Instagram being able to use your pictures and videos and sell them but don’t compensate you in return.
- Tom-Tom the navigation services company, was helping the police in Netherlands to set up speed traps by selling them consumer information.
- A writer who was doing online research to develop stories for a show was red flagged for being a potential murderer based on his search history.
(A very interesting article titled ” 13 Ways Policy And Politics Stole Your Privacy In 2016” goes into a detail about companies violating consumers privacy.)
1) Are you going start reading the fine prints for new or existing accounts?
2) Will you take more consideration in what you say online knowing that the government is watching?
The Eye In The Sky
Living a metropolitan city like New York City (especially after 9/11) digital surveillance is something we encounter daily in various ways from surveillance and store cameras to tourists recording their time in our city. We are constantly being watched and monitored and even though we don’t call attention to it, it still in the back of our minds.
During the week, I’ve visited numerous websites like Groupon, J. Crew, Yahoo Mail and Capital One. I have noticed when I check my emails, the ads section on the left was an ad of the recent shopping site I visited and along with that I also received a bunch of emails about credit cards offers from different companies. This calls to Andrejevic’s concept of market surveillance, they used my previous history online to lure me back to purchase more from that site, he calls it “predictive analytics”, he quotes “As one accounts puts it, “predictive analytics” – the attempt to unearth correlations from mountains of data – “uses past behaviour and complex algorithms to anticipate future behaviour by customer segments in a way that cannot be accurately performed using human intuition” (Business Times 2010, 8)” (Page 281).
I had a friend who downloaded a bunch of illegal movies and music that was available online for free, and unaware that those activities were illegal and ignore the warnings from Homeland Security, due to his ignorance, he was then lock out of his phone. (A relatable article.) This shows the digital authorities that takes place today without walls, which I find to be violating our personal “privacy” which isn’t so private. Foucault quotes “The disciplinary society, then, is a prison both within and without walls. One outcome of disciplinary action on this mass scale is ‘govern-mentality’, a new form of impersonal, rationalized, authoritarian rule.” (Page 211 – 212)
1) What kind of illegal online activities do you participate in knowingly or unknowingly?
2) Are you aware that Homeland Security have the power to lock you out of your own phone?
Digital Life of Collins
The person I interviewed is my oldest brother Collins, and he is 28 years old.
1. What social media platforms and apps do you use now and in the past?
In the early 2000’s, I used Hi-5, Myspace ,aim messenger, yahoo messenger, and right now I just mainly use Facebook, Instagram and Gmail.
2. Do you use your real name(s)? Have you ever used aliases or created fake accounts? Why?
I have used aliases or nicknames on some of my accounts to protect my real name, for platforms like hi 5, Myspace, and Instagram and I really only use my real name for my Facebook account.
3. What different personas do you construct in each of these platforms and how do they relate to aspects of your experiences in life?
I don’t have any other personas other than my genuine self, so what you see on my accounts is who I genuinely am.
4. Do the digital personas they construct help them cope with the problems they face or do they create new problems? In what ways?
He doesn’t need to construct a persona, because he is comfortable being himself.
Source Source
Like a lot of young adults today, Collins have maintained a lot of social accounts, instant messaging accounts. Turkle talks about it in “Identity in the Age of the Internet” “There are many others. On the Internet, Internet Relay Chat (commonly known as IRC) is another widely used conversational forum in which any user can open a channel and attract guests to it, all of whom speak to each other as if in the same room.”(Turkle 14) Even though he was referring to MUD user, it still applies to instant messenger apps like AIM and yahoo messenger, where you can chat with friends and family either individually or in groups on chat rooms.
Through the different apps, we like or follow the things we can relate to or whatever we find interesting “We correspond with each other. through electronic mail and contribute to electronic bulletin boards and mailing lists; we join interest groups whose participants include people from all over the world”(Turkle 148) “Aspect of The Self” We use the internet as an outlet and a communication board, we use Facebook to display our thoughts and images and Instagram as our daily gallery and anyone can like or comment on the posts.
How many social accounts have you have in your entire life?
Do you feel like it is necessary to take on a different persona(s) when you get online?Why?
Selfies taking new heights
Have you ever wanted to take a selfie capturing your entire background but you was alone or take a picture of your group but one person is left out because someone needs to take the picture. Even with a selfie stick you are still not able to get the angle you want. I am pretty we have all heard about drones, but what about selfie drones? According to this article the task of taking a good selfie get easier with this invention, but is it worth the money?
Credits
The purpose of this article is to show the latest innovation in the drone technology industry. When we think drone we think military, but based on the article the writer discuss about a company called “AirSelfie” that produces pocket sized camera drones that can be used by anybody with a smartphone.
The problem this article try to solve is whether or not this latest selfie technology is actually worth the money. The evidence used in the article was the purchased of the drone. The device was analyzed based on the characteristics that a consumer would expect from a selfie drone which are: compatibility to smartphones, components, size, camera quality, battery life and price.
In reference to Lee Manovich’s New Media principles, this technology describes the variability principle due to the different varieties of camera drones that ranging from military camera drones to media camera drones. He quotes “ Instead of identical copies, a new media object typically gives rise to many different versions.” (Pg 36).
After her analysis of the device, the writer states “If there’s a catch with AirSelfie, it’s that you only get three or four minutes of flying after 30 minutes of charging. That will annoy some people. Also, there’s no flash. But even given those drawbacks, early adopter types and selfie-hounds are going to think AirSelfie is pretty wonderful. And at $300, the price is right.”(Blaustein) I find it convincing due to this device drastically changing how we take pictures as individuals, and the easy usability of it, even with the drawbacks of having no flash and a limited flight time.
The only thing I feel that is missing from this analysis is the longevity of the device, its wear and tear and waterproof or water resistance capability. Other than that it’s a great device, I am big on the latest technology and to see how taking pictures is a big part of our everyday life, and there is a device to meet the “selfie” fab that is really popular in our social online world. I feel like this also touches on Nick Couldry “Digital Media and Social Theory” he says “if curious about the local patterns of order and resource concentration emerging in production and everyday life online” (pg 8)
I believe that this innovation will change the way we all take pictures as individuals, it ticks off a lot of boxes that we want and it is truly worth the purchase to finally get the perfect hand free selfie. I am looking forward to the release of the device and to see how it will shape our online life even more. Do you see yourself using this device? Why or why not? Would you pay the current price for it ?
Credit