Big Data and Privacy

Of all that I learned during this unit, I think that my main takeaway is related to the extent that our privacy is violated and how normalized this is (“Tracked, Tagged, and Targeted”). The sheer amount of data that is reported back to companies during our everyday lives is truly astounding, and it’s in ways that we don’t even always realize. Data can be shared from basically any device/service that has internet capabilities, including but not limited to, smart home devices (coffee makers, security systems that connect to a smartphone, even sex toys designed for long distance), email, social media, apps, and more (Hill and Mattu). After learning about the extent to which privacy is violated, it seemed like something that really should have dawned on me sooner. Thanks to shows on Netflix and other resources, I already knew that the real reason privacy is violated by companies is for advertisement purposes. As a result, people and their attention have been turned into the true commodity behind it all. This is a horribly scary notion that could actually influence our society in major ways.

While I believe everyone knows that their online presence cannot be totally private, it seems like many don’t know how non-existent any semblance of privacy is — or if they do, they don’t seem to care. In his TED Talk, Glenn Greenwald actually references Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984, during a discussion of privacy. He explains how dangerously altering it can be for a society to not have true privacy. In 1984, the characters were potentially always being watched, which affected the way that they behaved. The same is true for our society now. Most people do realize that they are being ‘watched’ in a sense, and our behavior has actually altered accordingly. The other danger that comes with a lack of privacy is that the society en masse is more easily manipulated and dominated (think marketing/advertising in this context). During this Big Data/Privacy unit, my favorite connection that was presented was this one — the reference to 1984. Of all of the information, it really helped me to gain perspective on the issue and realize the parallels between the book and our reality.

Works Cited:

Greenwald, Glenn. “Why privacy matters.” TED, October 2014, www.ted.com/talks/glenn_ greenwald_why_privacy_matters

“Tracked, Tagged, and Targeted” Technically Wrong, Chapter 6. Tad Shannon, CS 340 Computer Ethics WOU Canvas, wou.instructure.com/courses/4394/files/ 456263?module_item_id=125142

Hill, Kashmir and Mattu, Surya. “What your smart devices know (and share) about you.” TED, April 2018, www.ted.com/talks/kashmir_hill_and_surya_mattu_what_your_smart_ devices_know_and_share_about_you/up-next