Privacy and Internet Technologies
Dr. Gates presented a lot of interesting material relating to privacy and how our information is collected, used, and distributed. The thing that stuck with me the most was his discussion of Facebook and the comic that he handed out. The comic depicted government members discussing how elaborately they could gather private information - or they could just check Facebook. Sure enough, we willingly give away our privacy and access to personal information whether we are fully aware of it or not. This prompted me to think about Snapchat. I've had conversations with people who believe that the facial recognition feature used to apply filters is actually being used to collect and document people's identities so that they may be better recognized if caught on camera somewhere else in the world. I don't think this is a particularly far fetched idea, and it's pretty scary.
I think we should be more aware of what kind of information we are making available. Social media can be fun and connect us, but it can also create dangerous scenarios beyond the government monitoring our activity. For example, there is a couple with 2 young children on YouTube and they vlog almost every day. We see really detailed, intimate parts of their life and we have watched their children grow up. A few years ago they started receiving disturbing letters and threats to their children. If I were a parent I would have immediately stopped vlogging altogether, but since that is their career maybe they felt like they couldn't. Fast forward a few years later and they have moved to another country, but we are constantly getting footage of areas closely surrounding their home, school, and neighborhood. It wouldn't take much work to pinpoint exactly where they live, what school their children attend, etc. which could result in really terrible situations if the wrong person got their hands on that kind of information. The point is, how much is too much? Can we really be angry about feeling like our privacy is invaded if we put everything about ourselves out there? What about rare, but extreme circumstances possible with the YouTube family? We need to realize that we also have to take responsibility for what we make available on the Internet.