In the current technological era, citizens of nations' privacy remains at risk. As 94.5 percent of internet users today use social media, people's lives have become more exposed than ever. After watching a series of TED talks on privacy, I became aware of just how big of an issue it is.
A quote from one of the TED talks, "How else can one threaten other than with death? Immortality," really stuck out to me. He used that quote to describe how our individual online presence was permanent, and that they would far outlive us, perhaps forever. His comparison to them being "electronic tattoos" was a great way to get the point across. The following TED talk discussed how the government and police use high-power technology to track and collect data on us. Her viewpoint was that we as a people need to stand up for our personal autonomy and protect ourselves from the inevitable abuse of power by the government/police having this information. Her suggestion was to have the government pass laws demanding this information be deleted, only allowing potential criminals/subjects' data to be kept for examination.
All of these privacy issues directly affect me, my peers, and my family. It removes the sense of freedom as an individual knowing that you are being listened to, watched, and collected data at all times. It also makes me feel like I can't trust my own government knowing that I am being observed and everything I do they can access.
According to the videos, we as individuals can simply be cautious of what we post online, say online, or do online knowing that it is permanent. We can also use encryption tools to help prevent wiretaps. Lastly, while I know our government needs to collect data in some aspects for national security, they should limit databases and not collect on each person, just potential threats or targets.
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