In an hour alone I have found a pair of glasses that to purchase, new songs to listen to, a restaurant from which I could order delivery, and a pair of shoes that I’ll most likely order within the following week. Within that hour alone I have had the convenience and accessibility to update my style, my tastes, and even the food that I’ll eat. But at what cost? at face value, it only cost me about $225 for the glasses and food that I ordered. As for the convenience to purchase such items? It only cost me my privacy and freedom. Within that hour alone I had inadvertently given third party advertising companies the data which tells them the services I use to look for glasses, the types of styles that I was looking for, my credit card information, shipping address, the artists that I listen to, the genres of music I listen to, the several platforms I use to listen to music (Spotify, Youtube, Apple Music), the app I use to order food, the kinds of food I was craving, my location for delivery, and the websites that I use to look for sneakers.
On a daily basis, individuals are unknowingly reporting all kinds of informations through the internet to companies that sell your data to third party advertising companies, all so that that they could better cater different products and services to you; the consumer. Although this further enables convenience for consumers to customize their daily experience, at what point is the line drawn for data collectors to infringe upon your privacy? “Thanks to the capability of interactive networked technology, consumers are being enlisted and equipped to assist in the process of their own manipulation” (Andrejivic, 15). This elusive term “interactive” has evolved in its meaning as the distribution of knowledge starts resembling a one way street, as third party advertising companies learn more about you with every second used on the internet meanwhile we still know little to nothing about these third party advertising companies. As Adam Alexander expresses in his article on The Guardian accountability and monitoring needs to be enforced on such third party companies. With our limited knowledge on what these companies do with our data, Alexander states that our society is worse than that of George Orwell’s. The extent to which my “consumer profile” is collated and stored for future third party use should stop once it begins to subject me to very distinct and unique sources of information, as opposed to my entertainment. Customizing my profile to provide me entertainment I’m more inclined to watch is great, but limiting the different sources for knowledge is a hinderance and a danger of our overall existence. Knowledge is power, and interference in our knowledge is interference in our power.
“We are talking about the most powerful mind-control machine ever invented in the history of the human race” (TheGuardian). With this constant surveillance through our navigation on the internet, it is only obvious for a disciplinary power to hang above our heads when using the internet . However, in contemporary methods of piracy, it is almost a culture to commit illegal practices to obtain entertainment. For example, there are certain website that a person can go to to download or stream a movie that has just hit the theaters. The same applies for music as well, yet no one seems to bat an eye when they illegally do so. The risk of being persecuted for such actions is close to none, so people all over the nation(s) continue to do so, despite this “electronic panopticon”. For me personally, this hasn’t hindered me from doing such minor offenses, and probably won’t stop me from doing so in the future as well. I have downloaded several movies off of putlocker and have downloaded even more songs from other website, just like every other friend that I have.
The topic surveillance via cyberspace is prevalent and evolving issue that can be talked about for years to come. However, I will end this post with the following two questions:
1.) Is there a way for the people to regain control of their privacy, or is it too late?
2.) Within the next century, do you think privacy will still be a right, or a privilege?
I honestly don’t think people are going to regain control of their privacy. If people want their privacy then they need to stop using Facebook, Amazon, Smart Phones, or credit cards etc. Every time we used an electronic device or create an online profile, we are giving our rights of privacy and in exchange we get ” commodities” and we humans like things to be done quick and easy.
Great post.
In terms of privacy related to consumer profiles online, I think that will continue to be valuable for companies and will be hard for consumers to not share their information with them. But I believe there will a huge climb in people taking precaution against their privacy and there will be a big demand for companies protecting information.
I feel like the common theme for this topic of digital authorities is that there’s always someone trying to get around the rules. For example, the group Girltalk with sampling songs, YouTube converters to download songs, or ad-blocks plug-ins for your browser. It makes attempts to regain freedom but privacy… not so much, in my opinion. Privacy might end up being a privilege for the next four years if you catch my drift.
The only way for people to regain control of their privacy is to stop using social media/the internet all together, which will most likely not happen. Our society has become so comfortable to everything being one click away, and not having to leave your home to get something.
Our continued internet usage exposes us to increased spy by unauthorized third party. With time our privacy will only be a matter of privacy and not right given that there will be a lot through the realms of internet usage. However, the only way we can regain control of our privacy is be minimizing our surfing time, which may seem difficult given our increased dependency on the internet