After watching the Ted Talks on privacy, I learned a whole new perspective on privacy on and offline. I found these Ted Talks to be really beneficial because I think it’s something everyone needs to come to understand since we are all being impacted by the digital world. We must come to understand that nothing is private whether it's from photos we post, calls we make, texts we send, health information, or our personal finances, we are always being traced. In these videos, I was able to better understand and analyze what goes on behind these websites and social media platforms that almost every single one of us takes part in, but most importantly, I learned how to protect yourself better and how to get away from it.
In the first Ted Talk video by Juan Enriquez, he discusses the idea of “online tattoos.” He used this as a metaphor to compare it to technology. The main point he was trying to make is that our online life and everything we do online stays forever, just like tattoos do. He alludes to the fact that we are always being traced and we probably don’t even know it. There are many applications online that can identify a person before they are actually tagged in the photo. This was a huge shock to me because I obviously knew that if you are tagged in something then it will stay with you, nevertheless, I didn’t know this was possible either. He also mentions in the video a website called Face.com that found 18 million different faces in the application itself. Then eventually Facebook bought this Website to then use it to help them tag their friends in their posts. This was scary to think about because I have realized in the past that when I tag people on Instagram, their exact profile shows up even if I have never tagged them in the photo, yet I didn’t think twice about it until now.
In the Ted Talk with Christopher Sohoian, he talks about avoiding surveillance that we have in our world. He talks about one of the biggest issues that affect us all which is having our phones in our pockets because our phones are constantly listening and collecting data on us. As technology is advancing they are finding easier and more ways to collect personal information about people. One example he mentions is phone calls. Telephone companies have found ways to construct them with wires built into them for surveillance. Not only do apps, websites, and other companies do the same thing, but there are also hackers that get into our personal information.
In conclusion, it is scary to think about the idea that we are always being listened to, and watched on our phones. However, it is equally important to understand the ways to help prevent it and the steps we can take to be more protective of ourselves online and off. We can start by doing simple things such as making our social media accounts private, not giving out personal information such as our emails, phone numbers, and bank account information, and reading through terms and conditions before signing up for things such as subscriptions. In the end, there is only so much that we can do, but it’s important to know before any online activity.
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