10 Reasons Why Social Media Privacy Matters

Why do we fail to protect our right to private social media accounts and private online conversations?

Too often, we think that since we have nothing to hide, it’s okay for social media companies to collect our private information and track our online activity. But at the same time, we refuse to show our credit-card bills and to live in homes with no doors. Social media privacy is not just about having nothing to hide; it’s very much about private information being, well, private. Some things are no one’s business but our own.

We don’t broadcast our annual income, medical records or passport numbers using social media outlets. But let them steal our data so that we can use an awesome social network.

Here are 10 reasons why it’s essential to fight for our right to social media privacy.

1.Reputation

We can’t have 100-percent control over our reputation, but we should have some ability to protect ourselves not only from false allegations but also from certain truths.

It should be up to an individual to decide when and whether to publicly share news about an illness, sexual orientation, relationship status, or other deeply personal topics. Digital privacy helps us protect ourselves from judgments and avoid unnecessary problems at our workplace and with our friends and family.

2. A basic human right

Whether we have something to hide or not, privacy is a fundamental human right. We have the right to online and offline privacy in any circumstance. We don’t open the doors for strangers to see how we live within our homes so why do we “open the doors” of our social media accounts and allow a company or the government see our online activity and personal information?

3. Freedom of speech

We may strongly disagree with the bold statements of some bloggers about cultural and political issues. It can be tempting to think that some things just shouldn’t be allowed to be said online. Controlling some types of speech seems okay to keep unpopular messages from spreading all over the internet. But sometimes we want to explore ideas we don’t feel comfortable sharing with the world or our friends. Shouldn’t these conversations stay private?

4. We change

We all make mistakes and misjudgments from time to time. It’s part of growing and learning and becoming who we want to become. Privacy lets us put past failure behind us and have a second chance.

5. Online safety

We share too much information online: our credit cards are attached to our accounts, our travel tickets, insurance number, and more; we share our mothers’ maiden names, names of pets and children…and our birth dates. Once criminals get access to our Facebook account or email, they can easily steal our money and even our identity.

6. Saving money

We often think personalized ads are better for us, but these ads target us based on our online behavior. Advertisers use our search history to manipulate us to spend more. They know what we want to buy and how much we are ready to spend. So they “personalize” an ad that pitches the product or service that’s not the best or the cheapest, but that they know we will be tempted to accept based on our preferences.

7. Minorities

Governments spy on us to prevent protests and affect our vote. Privacy is crucial for people with opposing political views. Censoring people is a direct threat to any democracy.

8. Data is gold

Social media platforms say they are free to use, but we pay with our data. Storing, analyzing and selling our data makes money for social media companies but not for us. Social platforms like Facebook or Linkedin don’t care about our privacy and safety as long as they make big money on big data.

9. Lack of trust

Recent data breaches should make us think twice before signing up for Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Social media giants don’t put any effort to protect our data, so further data breaches are inevitable. As a result, these incidents affect election results and our behavior.

10. We protect our privacy

Even if we force social media owners to protect our data and keep it private, they won’t do it. They can’t. Their entire business model is based on selling our information. It is equal to losing the business for them.

Fortunately, we have more power and control than we think! By switching to privacy-friendly platform POP, we force other social media companies to change. POP protects our private information, our freedom of speech and hands the control to us.

Request early access: https://postopoly.app/