Digital Convenience or Personal Privacy: The Truths of Living in a Connected World
With the advent of digital technology, people’s lives have been completely transformed, to the point where it’s difficult to imagine living without it. We now inhabit a digital society where everything from our finances to our social lives is conducted online. However, this convenience comes at a cost — every action we take is recorded, and converted into data that can be collected by companies. In a world where privacy is increasingly elusive, it’s critical that people be aware of how their personal data is being used. What are the costs of sacrificing privacy for convenience, and what happens if data falls into the wrong hands? Finally, we must consider the ethics of our online actions and strive to be responsible digital citizens who prioritize the well-being of the wider community.
Privacy in the digital age:
There are various ways to define privacy, but essentially, it is often thought of as the individual’s desire to manage or have some level of control over their personal data. Unlike physical spaces where visual cues indicate the level of privacy, it’s challenging to tell the level of privacy in the digital world. According to the report about the global mindset towards online privacy, people definitely care about their privacy. However, do they really know how private their personal data are? Some people assume that their online activities are private as long as no one is physically present to observe them using their smart devices, but this is obviously not the truth.
“What information does The New York Times on the Web gather/track about you?” discloses four types of personal data they collected.
· Registration Information
· Credit Card (for premium service only)
· ‘Cookies’
· IP Addresses
A major issue now arises as many people are unable to be aware of the fact that companies have already collected and utilised their personal data. In this case, how could they react to potential risks?
Digital Convenience —What costs do we pay for it?
Before addressing the above question, let’s first examine whether the collection of personal data in this digital age brings any convenience. The answer is YES.
For example, when trying to recall the restaurant you visited in London on October 1st and the activities you did before and after your meal, you can simply access your Google Maps’s “Timeline” which provides a very detailed record of every place you have been to and even the specific routes you took. Another scenario, as described by Bismah Yousuf on Medium, is when you shop for clothing online. The website will save your preferences through cookies and provide advertising based on your interests the next time you visit the site, which can actually save you a lot of time while shopping. Or even for teenagers, the personalised online experience would provide them more chance to make friends with a common ambition. Mainstream social media, such as facebook, may have more social activities recommended for them on the home page.
All of this sounds like a pleasant personalised experience that saves time and effort, but is it really that simple? Do people get this “help” truly free? “if you are not paying for it, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold” Andrew Lewis tweeted. As demonstrated by the examples above, people are engaging with large companies, and their engagement generates data. Companies claim that their focus is on the patterns and trends that can be extracted from consumer data. Thus, although consumers may not pay any money for online services, they are still paying the price in other ways, such as by giving up privacy and providing valuable personal information.
“tech giants prescribes what they want to see, what they want to acquire next, and how it should be structured, and it’s hard to resist” said Nanjira Sambuli, a Digital equality campaigner.
This brings us to the idea of surveillance capitalism and digital colonialism. For a small number of huge companies, consumer data is of great value for their prediction and modification of the behavioural data of the consumer. In other words, these tech giants as data controllers are way more powerful than we can image. Their monopolistic market position further fosters the extraction of data.
Data Security — Falling into the wrong hands:
If companies can easily access our personal data, there is a high potential for hackers to do the same in a worse way. An instance of this was the WannaCry ransomware attack, which was a worldwide cyber attack that affected over 200,000 computers worldwide. The hackers were able to take control of computer networks and asked for payment of a ransom in exchange for accessing your device or data again.
Also, data leaks may lead to the serious problem of identity theft. A seemingly minor incident can significantly disrupt your life, such as when someone uses your name to obtain and sign a mobile contract and then fails to repay the debt, it can damage your credit score. The leak of confidential data can result in a violation of government regulations. Additionally, leaks of very private personal data can leave individuals vulnerable to extortion, while the loss of proprietary data to competitors can even influence the survival of an organization.
Be a responsible digital citizen
The way people live around the world has significantly changed in the past half-century. As technology has advanced, the tolerance for freedom of expression has also has risen. It is crucial that digital citizens find a balance between the right to express themselves freely and protection from abuse. To some extent, the rise of digital life has also exposed the darker side of the internet. Responsible digital citizens must be aware of how our data is collected and used, have the critical thinking skills to assess online information, and be security conscious to protect our privacy. Ultimately, creating a safe and secure digital space requires the collective efforts of everyone.
Self-Reflection
Description of the experience
As one of the Gen-Z, the internet is a part of my everyday life. I want to evaluate the digitalisation from all aspects, not just the simple definitions provided by Google, but also how it affects all sectors of society, even including politics, culture, and more. As a final-year economics student, all my lectures in the past three years were based on economics, and my very few previous essay writing was also based on mathematical theory. This is my first time taking a blog-based course, and I’m really interested in it.
Feelings and thoughts about the experience
Before taking this class, I was drawn to its flexibility and the broad range of topics covered. I had no prior experience with blog writing, and I quickly discovered that it requires a great deal of expertise, despite being more informal than traditional essay writing. In the age of digital platforms, it is an effective way to communicate ideas. This course has changed the way I think about digital platforms and helped me to understand phenomena that I had previously observed but not fully explored, such as the differences between people’s online and offline identities.
Evaluation of the experience
Throughout this course, I had the opportunity to learn about areas I had not explored before, including copyright ownership of images. During my first assignment, I had used Google search images without considering the copyright issues at all. This experience has been valuable and will benefit me in the future. In terms of personal growth, I realized that my critical thinking skills needs a lot of improvement, which is also the most challenging part I found through out the course. I tend to shy away from questioning existing ideas and authority, but this course has taught me that progress comes from the ability to think critically and not just accurately summarize existing ideas.
Analysis to make sense of the situation
At the start of the course, I struggled with the informal style of blog writing, and I was unsure how to effectively engage the audience. Initially, I even avoided writing in the first person. However, as I progressed through the three assignments, I became more comfortable and realized the importance of a personal touch in engaging readers. Especially, I am grateful for the opportunity to review previous students’ assignments, which allowed me to gain new perspectives on the topics discussed, including some points that I had not ever considered before.
Conclusion about what I learned
Overall, this course has provided me with a more comprehensive understanding of the digital society, exposing me to a lot of interdisciplinary writing. Moreover, I have gained exposure to some whole new areas , such as smart cities, which I once thought were only a concept in movies, but now recognize are becoming increasingly integrated into our daily lives. Although I still have some concerns, I am now anticipating a future where digitalisation and intelligence play an even greater role in human life.
Action plan for future
I am determined to integrate the technical concepts I learned in this course into daily life, as well as to continue exploring the digital society. More importantly, I aim to enhance the critical thinking skills I developed throughout this course, so that I can express my thoughts more effectively and independently.
