Is collecting data scarier than living in Autocracy?
Untouched civilizations stare at aircrafts with fair and there is nothing to be surprised about. When we don’t know something, we are afraid. And when we don’t have enough information, it’s easy to be ruled.
I grew up in a small country in a very small town. Even these days there is not much knowledge about internet and data that is collected from social networks and in 2000th, it was beyond the reality. When my friend moved to USA to study journalism in 2006 and asked me to register on Facebook to share pictures and communicate, I was so confused… I could not imagine what it could be. I think I was very first user of Facebook that time in my city.
Even I did not know anything about data for years, it looked always doubtful for me. I always had feeling that there was something I did not know. When I found out there was data in our life and there was always somebody who was watching us, I got little scared. But then I realized when you don’t have anything to hide there is nothing to be afraid of. I started using every single social network I could use. It was my choice to be open for people or for companies. Even I was born in Soviet Union and idea of democracy sounded crazy, my family always taught me to be who I am and that freedom and human rights were most important. I don’t believe that there is a democracy if somebody is telling you how to live your life.
USA beacon of democracy?
I moved to USA to live the full life of freedom. To be who I am and to be open as much as I wanted to be. From one side, it sounds crazy that using social networks can be that important for people but it is! I remember when I was controlling every single word, post or picture and how tiring it was! Yes, I moved to USA because I wanted to live in democracy, in freedom. I can’t imagine that social network like TikTok, that brings so much joy and happiness to people can be under the discussion and be banned. Now I’m thinking do I really live in the USA, the beacon of democracy or I moved to North Korea and do not realize it?
Why US wants to ban TikTok
TikTok is the third most installed app in the world and may be that’s the reason there is so much talks and concerns around it. It became so powerful during last few months that US government got scared that Chinese government is using the app to collect data on Americans and that is the reason they want to ban TikTok.
Yes, TikTok stores American’s user’s data on servers outside of China, but U.S. officials are concerned that data can end up in the hands of the Chinese government for espionage or other means even though TikTok says it would not share American users data with the Chinese government.
The democratic representative Mr. Khanna says that Americans should be protected. Sure, I want us to be protected if there is prove, that Chinese government can use all this information against the US government and people. That’s understandable that government wants to defend their citizens, but is not it better to explain what data collecting can bring to a single person? So, they won’t look at data like untouched civilizations at aircraft and decide if they want to use social networks or not?
How data works
When we follow a link for example from Facebook to another app, a little piece of metadata hitches a ride that tells our servers we are there from Facebook. That means all our movement is detected and there is somebody who has information what we do, what we like, where we spend and how much we spend. It may sound scary if you don’t understand why it is happening and this can create wrong imagination that somebody is spying after you, but let’s see another side; It is my life, I want it to be transparent, and I like when smart data knows what I can afford and what I’m looking for and gives me endless options to choose what to buy. It makes my life easier weather I’m looking for vacation, Nike sneakers or just simple information about newborns as I’m expecting.
Collecting data does not scare me, me but living in “north Korea” really does. In Democracy freedom has special value and importance, and if I live in democracy, even discussion about banning social networks makes me feel shy.
